Windows 7 Downgrade (->XP)?!

[PiqueABoo]

A burning question recently is how much longer you will be able to downgrade to XP. The MS line that seems clear is that an **OEM** Win7 can be downgraded to XP for 18 months from release or until the first service pack. So with rumours of the first Win7 SP turning up in the **autumn** time is apparently running out for that. However there is a less clear exception for Volume Licence customers (not sure what kind that has to be) who can apparently downgrade a Win7 to anything they want forever.

Now you may or may not have some fancy schools licensing in a Secondary, but I'm currently wondering about some Primaries i.e. places where having to: a) Get a system that supports Win7, b) potentially upgrade a lot of OK-for-XP-and-working-happily kit to more-powerful-OK-for-Win7-and-who-knows, will be a very big deal/expense and the economic mood isn't exactly in tune with that.

Obviously their existing XPs will be fine and MS supported until April 2014, it's adding new workstations that's the problem. And if they've got CC3 then unavoidably get a few new Win7 stations, that will need CC4 to integrate them which is more expense etc.

Can anyone correct or add any clarity to this at all e.g. if some little Primary needs to add a couple of XPs to an existing happy system next year, then how would they do it??

[Richfrombechtle]

Hi,

You're right that OEM has the downgrade timelimit while that isn't present in VL (Volume Licensing). How do you currently acquire your OS licences, do you just use the OEM that comes with the machines?

Cheers
Rich

[PiqueABoo]

It's not me who personally acquired any licenses, I'm trying to establish the general case.

[SimpleSi]

There have (AFAIR) been many deadlines on the death of XP for us who just buy their OS wit hteh machine but they've all been extended so far so maybe we'll be lucky again

And AFAIK, XP Home is still going to be available on netbooks below a certain spec with no time limit on that at the moment

But the tide IS coming in and we are going to get wet

regards

Simon