As scary as the June deadline might be, it doesn’t mean enterprise XP users are without hope.
According to our colleague Galen Gruman of InfoWorld, volume licenceusers will still be able to install XP Pro after the order cutoffdeadlines. “If you have a volume license for any version ofVista (not just Business and Ultimate), you may install XP Pro on yourVista PCs using the ‘downgrade rights’ granted in the volume licence,”according to Gruman.
“To downgrade, you can use your existing copy of the XP Proinstallation images. Microsoft will also supply an XP Pro ‘downgrade’installation disc or disk image after the cutoff dates. As notedearlier, OEMs can also do the ‘downgrade’ for you in some cases.
For those that get XP through subscription services, providers arethe licence owners and therefore should still be able to offer the OSto customers, althuogh you should check with your local Softchoice rep(or other Canadian provider) to see what the terms and conditions are.
As for support, that’s supposed to end around April, but given thenumber of Microsoft-certified partners in Canada, there is likely to bea hot economy among resellers who assist customers with their effortsto extend XP. To find some of those firms, check out CDN’s list of the Top 100 Solution Providers in Canada.