Microsoft Should Make Windows XP Free To Tackle Piracy and Linux
There has been lot of discussion about new operating systems cropping up to beat the legacy of Microsoft based operating systems, however much they try they have not been able to penetrate the market and may not be able to do in the future.
However more than anything, one thing that changed everything for Microsoft was Windows XP, it actually was really the most accepted operating system Microsoft ever made and will always remain that way, no matter how much Windows Vista or Windows 7 improved, Windows XP will still be remembered by many as a operating system they can always fall back on.
However now that Microsoft has decided to retire Windows XP in the coming year, it would make a great decision to offer a free if not a open source version of Windows XP to users.
This would definitely cut down privacy and stamp Microsoft’s authority on a lot of people who are solely concerned that Microsoft sells operating systems at a cost they cannot afford to buy at.
With Windows 7 already making a huge impact on people, letting out Windows XP for free will not only increase the credibility of Microsoft, it will also enhance their image among people who hate them for the price factor.
If Microsoft makes the decision to make XP free, it will not have to compete with the growing popularity of Ubuntu and other Linux based desktops, since most of the people moving to them are looking to save costs while building affordable personal computing systems.
Will providing free operating system make a loss? Not that we think, in fact it will bring more and more people who are breaking away from Microsoft back home.
What do you think about this? Should Microsoft give away Windows XP for free? Join the discussion and let us know.
Author: Keith Dsouza
I am the editor-in-chief and owner of Techie Buzz. I love coding and have contributed to several open source projects in the past. You can know more about me and my projects by visiting my Personal Website.I am also a social networking enthusiast and can be found active on twitter, you can follow Keith on twitter @keithdsouza. You can click on my name to visit my Google+ profile.Keith Dsouza has written 4369 articles for us.
The author of this post can be contacted at keith@techie-buzz.comComment Using Facebook
12 Responses to this Article | Share your Opinions/Comments
We moderate comments to prevent spam. Moderation is done within few hours. Please try and stay on topic and refrain from using abusive language. If you think there is a problem with this post, please email the post author or send us an email at tips@techie-buzz.com with the URL and the problem you see and we will rectify it as soon as we can.
I agree they should make the XP Professional Edition available for FREE of Cost :) .
Nice thought, makes sense for them to do so but there is no way they will ever do it! With XP free would you switch to Windows 7 or Vista…ever?
privacy? you mean piracy.don’t you?
XP is awesome (that’s what I am currently using on my old desktop). But remember that XP also had its share of hiccups. I remember people hanging on to 98 SE2 because it did everything they needed and was lighter and more stable.
SP1 helped matters and SP2 was awesome. XP got rock stable and became highly polished (almost not bugs) over the years.
Releasing XP for free would have ben an awesome move. But something like this requires thinking outside the box.
Possibly MS doesn’t want to do it because it would mean that they would have to continue to support XP (through security updates). If it doesn’t then expect them to get quite a bashing from the press. If it does then XP would actually start costing them.
They can’t make it free and non-open source, that would cost them a lot of money for support.
They also can’t make it open source, because a huge community will form and finally bypass windows (8, 9?) in both stability and usability.
Also, the WINE project will gain all source code and all windows applications will run near native on UNIX machines too.
I think this is not the way to go for windows, although I love the concept.
No way. XP is already 8 years old, we don’t need it hovering around for another 8 years. It took far too long to get people off the 9x platform.
Releasing XP for free would only encourage its use. The industry needs to move forward and XP needs to die in the next few years.
The next step is 64-bit, and I’m hoping the PC manufacturers really push Win7 with 64-bit.
As much as I agree with your suggestion I think it would be a bad idea for Microsoft. The problem that I see is that if I was offered XP for free I would not purchase another operating system for years. Plain and simple, XP is great.
Also, with the bad taste of Vista, I feel that many people are not really inclined to purchase Windows 7 for worry of the same situation. That said, XP free will equal no sales for Microsoft.
A free XP will cost MS, but an open source XP, will expose it, and destroy it. With poorly written code, patchwork and stolen code snippets all over it, MS will die saving the code.
Though, an open source XP will create XP distros as we have for Linux, and will establish MS as a strong competitor in the Open Source World.
That way, they will have things to learn and given the number of MS fanatics and Linux haters, an Open Source XP will see a very positive response.
It would also shut the FOSS MS haters, who would look like complete lunatics raising fingers at MS anymore.
@pallab, @Robert, cost for free support, true. But, that cost is near minimal compared to the gains it can make by continuing paid support for XP. The prime reason for this is that many institutions and offices using licensed XP with paid support are reluctant to upgrade their hardware. That way, they will continue using XP. My college uses XP in spite of having dual core desktops, which are quite capable of running Windows 7 with aero turned on.
Nope. what I think Microsoft should do is recycle XP. Rework it to include all the service packs and updates, include fixes for all "annoyances" that have cropped up over the years, integrate Geswall or Sandboxie, replace system tools with SysInternals utilities, add the functionality of many of the 3rd-party tools now availablble (like ERUNT, for example) and sell it all over again. I'd buy it. Let XP live again as XPX!
Microsoft can sell windows xp at token price also if they want
like it
Microsoft should release XP second edition next year, and abandon the crap Windows 8 idea. which will be too inspired by Mobile phones OS.
I beleive they should make all wersions of windows xp free because it would make computers cheaper, give some people a taste of wndows for the first time and then eventually microsoft will have more paying customers for its newer OSs. microsoft should also make windows vista basic free to everyone. xp should become open source.