The Dell Community has contributed: 9380 ideas | promoted 642127 times | 71593 comments

How IdeaStorm Works:

Post Promote Discuss See
Operating Systems Comments | Operating Systems Ideas
630

Offer A Free Downgrade From Vista To XP

630 points posted to Operating Systems by huper 04/24/07

I for one have had it with Windows Vista. I find this software so full of bugs that I am spending more time transferring log files to Microsoft than getting actual work done. They are certainly not paying me for my time to repair their flaky software! When I got my Dimension E520 it came loaded with a 2.8Ghz Duo Dual Core Intel Processor, 2GB of RAM, 256MB on an NVIDIA card & 2 - 250GB hard drives. Surely this system would be powerful & I could focus on writing & getting work done quickly. But no, the slow speed of this operating system taxes the hard drives & CPU so they are regularly running at 75% & 89%. I have tried changing the swap file to use a different drive, removed non essential services as well as swapping out memory from one slot to another. I have used every OS both client & server since DOS 1.0 & this is by far the worst! (Except maybe BOB or ME). Dell wants to give users an upgrade to Windows Vista within a certain time frame. How about offering a downgrade to XP for people who don't want Vista? Otherwise I will be checking into which Linux version will best run on this hardware.
MCSE since 1996 & now an extremely disgruntled Windows Vista hostage! I will happily surrender my Windows Vista disk for one with XP it!!

reg
04/25/07		 XP should be a cheaper option than VISTA - not only because it is established software with better usability,
but because XP will save Dell time & money trying to answer all the VISTA support calls
- Vista support could turn into a Real Profit Margin eater...
jmxz
04/26/07		 reg:

You're forgeting the laws of supply and demand. Regardless of which is more established,
1) XP's in higher demand, not the least of which because it works and Vista doesn't yet; and XP has better for the customers EULAs.
2) Vista has higher supply - because Microsoft's printing them faster than they can give them away.

Vista should be cheaper than XP, and indeed cheaper than No OS - because Microsoft should have to pay you to beta test their unfinished late OS that noone wants.
reg
04/26/07
cullend
04/30/07		 It is impossible to downgrade from Vista to XP. You have no idea what your talking about if you think you can. Are you on like 32kb dialup, if you are spending more time uploading logs to MS... You where probably using the BETA of the product. Nice one
reg
05/18/07		 My buddy just bought a new Vista machine - ended up having to get a new scanner and camera - $$$
ended up costing him A Lot more than he originally planned on spending...
jorge
05/19/07		 XP should be more expensive because it will soon be a collectors item, especially the original install CD and booklet.
jmxz
05/19/07		 @cullend: "It is impossible to downgrade from Vista to XP. You have no idea what your talking about if you think you can. "

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this.

Are you saying can one convert a Vista computer to an XP computer? Of course one can. At work we do this with our new computes.
In that sense, certainly I can convert from Vista to XP.

Are you saying that it's impossible to "downgrade" a computer when making the conversion from Vista to XP - because it should be defined as an upgrade instead (for example the performance benefits of using XP instead of Vista - http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/67016) I agree - going from Vista to XP is an upgrade.
jmxz
05/19/07		 Also note that Dell already does let (some) people return unwanted OS's: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/66143 ...

This refund-of-the-unwanted-OS technique might work at getting you your Vista->XP upgrade.
kenjennings
06/04/07		 Has anyone been able to successfully return Vista for an XP replacement.? I wish/hope it is possible. My wife bought a 1505 laptop before Dell began (re)offering XP on it. So, we were stuck with Vista. Having worked with it for several weeks now, Vista is a royal pain in the behind. I wish I could return the Vista CD and get an XP replacement.
jmxz
06/04/07		 jmxz:

I haven't hear of any Vista->XP upgrades - but I hear some Linux users have gotten refunds with just a couple customer support emails and phone calls. With others it seems to take threats of taking them to small claims court (apparently the license agreement is in your favor if you never even booted the OS - otherwise you're at the mercy of their customer support wanting to make a happy customer). Sounds like it all depends which customer support rep you happen to reach - some make it painless, some make it hard.

The only official Dell statement I've seen is that they do it on a case-by-case basis:"Dell doesn't have a Windows refund program, but giving a refund in an individual case isn't forbidden, either." http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2006/110806-dell-windows-refund.html
dainbug
Mar 12		 I've had the machine 2 months and I've had nothing but problems with Vista. Finally this morning it crashed for good. (My guess is Vista found a bug in itself and tried to remove it!) Now the 'TECH' says, reinstall Vista...Shouldn't Computer TECHs take some kind of Hippocratic Oath that doctors do?..."DO NO MORE HARM!"

Please "downgrade" me to something that works!
fargo
Mar 12		 It is impossible to downgrade from Vista to XP.

cullend I'm afraid your misinformed there are pc shops all over the usa that are back logged with people
having vista removed and xp installed can't say I blame them
robamobabob
Apr 24		 Yeah. I got a laptop and it can't run with this "Vista" garbage. I know you guys have been fighting back and forth about whether or not you can downgrade to XP; and I was wondering if you can or not and if so, how?Any help would be nice. Thanks.
cobminor
Apr 28		 I would like to see a Dell procedure for this posted on their website, similar to what Sony did a while back. So many people want to revert to XP it would be nice of their chosen supplier to give them a hand.
robert_p
May 1		 Hi Everyone,

I'm Robert_P the Small Business Liaison for Dell Community.

There's a post on direct2dell today that addresses this topic. Here's the link:
http://direct2dell.com/smallbusiness/default.aspx

Now you can chose to downgrade.
jmxz
May 1		 @robert_p: "Now you can chose to downgrade."

I see that mentioned Small Businesses in particular.
Would you know if similar is likely to be coming to other customers?

But in either case - Thanks for the Update and Thanks for the progress in this Idea.
kenjennings
May 1		 Only business customers can choose to upgrade to XP. Bummer.

At this point Vista has caused my wife so much grief an upgrade to XP doesn't have to be free. A reasonably priced (rather than full retail) CD with the correct drivers for her laptop looks fine to me.
jmxz
May 2		 @kennjennings:
Yet people didn't like the Idea of charging more for XP when it was submitted earlier
Please log in to post a comment
recently promoted by: