From InfoWorld:
When Microsoft stopped selling new licenses to Windows XP on June
30, it gave users and PC makers a “downgrade” loophole so that those
who wanted XP could still get it, even though they still had to buy a
Vista license.
According to data from theexo.performance.network,
35 percent of Vista-equipped PCs have been downgraded to Windows XP.
“That’s way out of proportion for even the dramatically unpopular
Windows Vista,” says Randall C. Kennedy, an InfoWorld contributing
editor, whose company Devil Mountain Software developed the Windows
Sentinel tool and analyzes theexo.performance.network
data. (More than 3,000 PCs are monitored worldwide using the tool, in
both the free InfoWorld Windows Sentinel version and in the more
extensive version provided to Devil Mountain clients.)
The idea of a downgrade option is nothing new for enterprise
licenses, since it can take several years for large organizations to
plan out and deploy significant new software, under schedules that bear
no resemblance to a vendor’s product schedules. But in a twist of this
policy, individual users can also “downgrade” to XP from Vista Business
or Ultimate (and later restore Vista if they desire at no extra cost).
Most major PC makers offer users the option of downgrading to XP on at
least some models, typically those sold to small businesses and gamers.