Ballmer hints at extension for XP

With concern over the end of the road for Windows XP reaches feverish levels, Microsoft appears to be altering yet again its timeline for killing off the popular operating system, which would ultimately force people into upgrading to Vista.

The latest news comes from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, reacting to criticism at a recent news conference, who said "XP will hit an end-of-life. We have announced one. If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter, but right now, we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments."

As of now the June 30 deadline stands, but PC makers may be encouraging Microsoft to get "smarter" by taking the rare step of openly combating Microsoft's direction that vendors move from XP to Vista. HP, Dell, and Lenovo have all said they will downgrade operating systems on new machines from Vista to XP at customer request and will continue to do so until 2009 (specific ending dates vary).

Note that no one's breaking the law here. Legally, anyone with a volume license or an OEM license for Vista can downgrade to XP without having to pay extra for the OS. The only exception is for those who purchased "full packaged product (FPP)" editions, which do not include downgrade rights, though Windows Vista Professional and Ultimate editions do. Whether XP drivers are available is another issue.

If asked, many companies will include an XP disc with your order, but Dell is installing XP at the factory as well. Cnet also offers some additional helpful advice on obtaining XP if you're buying a Vista machine.

My best advice is that if you're buying a new machine and want XP, get on the phone instead of using the company's website to configure the product. Salespeople can make options available, like downgrades, that you won't get online.

Of course, all of this could be moot in the next month or so if Microsoft bows to pressure from users to continue to sell XP. Stay tuned to see if Microsoft has a change of heart before the end of June.