The extended availability of XP on new PCs will gladden the hearts of many Windows users. For a few unfortunates, however, the XP option is coming at great cost.
Eric Krangel reports on the Silicon Alley Insider blog that Dell has gradually been inflating its surcharge for "downgrading" a PC from Vista to XP. The bite rose last June from U.S. $20 to $50, then spiked in October to $100, and now is a whopping $150.
The fact that Dell's customers appear to be willing to pay this amount or more to avoid Vista may be the greatest indictment of Microsoft's unloved OS.
The reality is that the Redmond software giant has been forced by popular opinion to provide customers with a Vista-free option — an extended life for XP — more than two years after Vista's rollout. Depending on your point of view, this concession can be interpreted negatively as an act of desperation or more positively as a burst of marketing acumen on the company's part.
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