Lenovo no longer offering XP downgrade rights options

I've looked through every single notebook on their site, and now none of them offer XP downgrade rights options. Even if you select windows 7 pro or higher, the XP recovery DVD option is blank. It looks like Lenovo was the last hold out to offer it, until now.

Just saying.

One interesting thing though, you can now configure an L412 with discrete graphics, and opt for a PC DOS license which takes nearly $200 off the price.

 

Panasonic still has XP downgrade options for all Toughbook models








Alex

 

I just wish they offered PC DOS on their other machines. I get Win7Pro (and other versions of Windows) completely free through my university MSDN Academic Alliance program. That said, I think I currently own 4 or 5 different licenses of Win7 and Vista... just waste of money, that I couldn't prevent.

As far as the XP downgrade goes, Win7 are a bit faster anyway... I don't see much reason to keep it now that Vista is sort of obsolete.

 

@ unreal25

Panasonic keep the xp option not for speed , but for software compatibility
Government and some large corporations (the bulk of panasonic users) are slow to update their software










Alex

 

tier one computer companies have stop offering XP downgrade as per agreement with Microsoft from what i am reading... L412 aims at cheaper end of the market, where the customers are extremely price sensitive, so if offering no OS can give the laptop an edge over competitors, then i guess Lenovo won't hold out not offering such packages.

 

Consider it a blessing in disguise… I’d only use Windows XP if there was a gun pointed at my head…

 

so what are you using on the T41?

 

OpenBSD 4.8…

 

I didn't know that. I guess they must be the last of the last then.

Downgrade rights were extended to 2020.
Microsoft extends Windows XP downgrade rights until 2020 - Computerworld

Digg - Microsoft extends Windows XP downgrade rights until 2020

 

you are legally able to downgrade, but whether you can get a new laptop with the XP installed as part of the win 7 downgrade is another matter.

 

I wonder how the discrete graphic card on the L412 preform to the intel graphic card.

 

Ah ok, valid point. Personally, I'd still rather wrestle with running stuff in XP compatibility mode than actually running Win XP. But I guess sometimes a user who gets the laptop for business doesn't have that option.

 

Ok well, the L412 with PC DOS option is only available on the SPP site I see. Sorry about that.

 

Odd...did this just happen? I was spec-ing T410 laptops for fun last week, and getting XP media was still an option.

Could it be because was going through the Family and Friends group?

 

I think that as per agreement with MS in the beginning of the year, all computer manufacturers will stop selling XP downgrades by the end of this month (Oct 2010).

lead_org is quite right, you can still downgrade yourself (which requires a bit of your time and effort!).

Just FYI, the Lenovo Outlet is selling out all PCs (desktops and laptops) they have left with XP downgrade until October 22. You may want to check there.

 

As per my post here, Microsoft extended their downgrade rights option until 2020.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6762721-post9.html

 

Yes, meaning they will provide *support* for XP until 2020 (the end of lifecycle of Win7). However, no manuf will ship XP downgrades after the end of this month. Users will have to do it themselves.

Quote:
"The big change is that system will not continue to be sold with manufacturer-installed XP downgrades, but that Microsoft will force the end-user to perform the transition him-or-herself at home."

 

Downgrade rights means just that. The manufacturer has to provide the end user the ability to downgrade their license, which means they have to provide you with XP. Whether that comes pre-installed or on a disc is up to them.

 

downgrade rights mean you have the right to downgrade, it doesn't mean that Lenovo or any laptop manufacturers are compelled to sell you the XP pro downgrade discs after you purchased the laptop.

 

Exactly. No manufacturer will sell pre-installed XP downgrade from now on. If you want it, you can DIY.

 

I think that the responsibility for this should be properly assigned.

XP's lifetime had more than been exceeded so in effect Microsoft essentially terminated sales or support after a certain date.
as they would normally.

Renee

 

And how would one recieve a downgrade disc? From Microsoft? They told me they no longer manufacture XP discs (when I called last year to get a replacement for a defective disc I had).

 

you have downgrade rights, but that rights do not entitle you to a physical set of discs from the laptop manufacturer.

Microsoft does not stipulate how you are getting the discs or installation file, they just guarantee that your license is valid for either XP or Win 7.

You can get the XP pro ISO from MSDN. You can also purchase the discs from places like ebay.

 

I will report the status after the end of the month on XP restore disks from Panasonic
Currently they are available as an option , and I beleve they will continue to be available
Panasonic may be the last manufacturer that gives the customer that option




Alex

 

MS doesn't really care about how a private party will receive downgrade disks. They didn't take the decision to support XP until 2020 for you and me, anyway. This decision was based on their business customers who were simply refusing to upgrade their multimillion hardware (most of which does not support Win 7). These customers have their own XP CDs (usually VLK, at least the large corps) and simply want to downgrade to Win XP once a couple of new stations are bought or replaced. They don’t really need the installation disks (or even the single-user licenses) for that matter. They just need to keep using their current software without much trouble. That’s my take of it. Also IMO, I believe that several of these customers, when they upgrade, they will go for Linux once their IT departments are up to it.

Panasonic still offers it for their business line of notebooks, although I believe this will soon stop, and Lenovo used to do this until recently - did you ever see XP downgrade available for IdeaPads? I can’t remember seeing that, ever, although I may be mistaken.

 

I don't think it is the software they are unwilling to upgrade but rather the hardware which costs millions (if we are talking about a large corp.) and most of which has specs that simply do not support Win7. There is not a lot of 3rd party software than *cannot* run on Win 7 64 bit, and even then, they would have XP mode.

Also, speed-wise, I am not sure I agree. I mean, in theory, yes, Win 7 and esp. @ 64 bit is much faster, however, third-party software developers are not nearly able to keep up with OS development. Currently there are very few applications (if any) that can take advantage of multicore processors and virtualization technologies, etc., etc., in Win 7. And, processing 64 bit of info is always slower than processing 32 bits. In my (not extensive and by no means professional) experience, Win XP (stock) always feels a bit snappier than 7 (on the same exact system). Not to mention one important advantage of XP, as far as I am concerned: safely stripping-down the OS (nLite), thereby resulting in uber-light and fast system response, starting from booting up all the way to using it, and shut down. There is absolutely no comparison between nLited XP and stock Win 7 in terms of speed. I am talking about stock Win 7 because I am still waiting for an error-free alterative to strip down Win 7 (vLite does not work very well with 7, and RT Seven Lite is not quite there, yet).

 

I quote from Lenovo Outlet: "Last change to get Windows XP before it's gone FOR EVER! ... blah blah blah ... Sale ends Oct 22"

 

Update on XP from my contact at Panasonic

So It looks like Panasonic is the last holdout and only with 2 models out of 20 or so

 

I don't think I like that very much. Thanks for the report.