Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!feeder.erje.net!eu.feeder.erje.net!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: polygonum Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: Microsoft slips WinXP holdouts $100 to buy new Windows 8 PCs Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 21:18:53 +0000 Organization: me Lines: 35 Message-ID: References: <85500b-1i21.ln1@news.chingola.ch> Reply-To: rmoudndgers@vrod.co.uk Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: individual.net WAnPuwtP+pQ98jUiod06ZQmXETseii2KwQO+F+yY4vtVGIppo= Cancel-Lock: sha1:aYPnqLvYY5EMJMfWwjnpdwak0PU= User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:24.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/24.4.0 In-Reply-To: Xref: csiph.com comp.misc:1906 On 22/03/2014 19:21, Aaron W. Hsu wrote: > On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 19:05:01 +0000, RS Wood wrote: > >> Unless they're trying to capture hold-out businesses? My company ran XP >> until last year, and now we're on Win7 (which is pretty damned good). >> But those businesses probably also know what they're getting into, and >> have chosen to stay put because of unique apps or custom workflows or >> other such truck that wouldn't be possible on newer, incompatible >> versions of the OS. > > I have a friend who is doing a series of XP -> Win 7 upgrades for a > company. The problem appears to be more one of management than about > technology. I think it's difficult to quantify the benefits of upgrading, > and it's all too easy to quantify the cost. Couple this with a dirth of > clear, well documented upgrade paths written by competent engineers that > know a thing or two about what the company does, and, well.... > > Other than the horrible confidence Microsoft instills in customers > concerning the privacy of their data, Windows 8 is one of the most > innovative and forward thinking operating systems. That's also probably > why some businesses are very scared of it. > Being also involved in many upgrades and replacements, I see all too many companies struggling with the cost of changing from XP. Most particularly those companies which are less financially strong now than when they bought their XP boxes. Upgrading existing machines is often very short-sighted - the machines have given their best for many years, now all too many have disc drives that sound bad, USB sockets that don't work, video capability not up to even very ordinary monitors of today, filthy keyboards and mice, ... Yet the cost of even a fairly low-end machine after allowing for a Pro OS (so it can join the company's domain), and all the setting up is pretty darned significant. -- Rod