Android is making it’s way to the netbooks market which was initially dominated by Linux, then trumped by Windows XP. Acer’s stand two months ago was that Android was not ready for installation and sale on netbooks market.

Just recently, they have changed their viewpoint and announced that they have finally decided to load Android on netbooks starting the third quarter of this year.

Ok, I thought that was interesting to see in a few months from now; but apparently, Acer has taken the suspense and played it safe. Acer has announced that they are offering a dual-boot of Android and Windows XP for their netbooks.

That is the safety net they are playing considering that people just can’t live without XP and users who get a kick out of the discounts on Android might soon be shipping the product back to Acer.

What was supposed to be an interesting move to see became utterly boring.

Image from Android logo.

Microsoft still believes that Windows XP is going to be useful even after the launch of Windows 7 and as such, they are extending the life of the operating system for one year after the launch of their newest operating system, at least for netbooks.

Windows 7 is scheduled to be released at a later time this year, which means that Windows XP would be extended until 2010.

Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Microsoft Windows product management group, said that — “OEMs that are using Windows XP on netbooks will have the ability to install Windows XP for one year –12 months – after Windows 7 general availability”.

There is continued support for Windows XP which would only help Microsoft boost the netbooks sale furthermore, as the old operating system remain appealing to a lot of customers.

Microsoft realize how many users are still relying on Windows XP to power their businesses and probably home computes. As such Microsoft is not abandoning Windows XP by placing a feature in Windows 7 which allow users to easily virtualize the operating system.

The mode of Windows 7 is called XP Mode or XMP which allow users to run applications in Windows XP from within Windows 7. This feature works alongside the compatibility mode of Windows 7 that provide powerful support and user experience.

With this feature, there shouldn’t be a lot of cry babies once Windows 7 is out.

John H. Gohde’s article would have been relevant back in 2007, but his Windows Vista viewpoint today (2009) is blast from the past. Ok, maybe he went into hibernation deep into the Amazon river that he came out with no idea of what has transpired in the last two years.

A very good reason not to buy a new computer is that you are likely to get stuck with the Windows Vista operating system. Even Microsoft itself has accepted the fact that Windows Vista failed in the market place. Commercial businesses wisely did not buy into Vista

My advice is to only accept only Windows XP installed on your next computer purchase. Microsoft has been using the sales strategy of offering a new operating system every three to five years. It was not long before commercial businesses grew tired of upgrading so often. Businesses simply never bought into Vista. And, saw no economic justification to upgrade to a lot more bloated and slower Vista when Windows XP was working just fine.

I work in a large scale technology, consulting firm and our Infrastructure colleagues have noted how many enterprises with over 250,000 laptops, and over 100,000 applications in their inventory have been successfully  migrated over Windows Vista. The cost of massive deployment, security benefits, support costs, and the rest have significantly brought massive savings to the company as opposed to remaining in Windows XP.

While not a lot of companies can hire our firm and pay for the upfront cost and get their ROI savings over time, it is unfair to dismiss Windows Vista at this point because of uninformed folks like John. Companies who don’t hire technology firms should look into hiring competent CIO and technology leaders within the firm to be able to adapt and see the ROI from deploying new technologies. Firms who can see the light against the bad media publicity surrounding a product are those that are most likely to benefit from the technology’s offerings.

The article written is found here.

By now, everyone is aware that the biggest competitor of Microsoft Windows Vista is it’s predecessor, Windows XP.

With the release of Windows 7, enterprise businesses are expected to skip migration to Windows Vista and wait for it’s successor.

Currently, Windows XP’s market share is 62.85 and shipment of the operating system would continue on netbooks. Given the explosion of netbooks, it is more likely that XP would live longer than Vista.