Microsoft to ease XP activation with SP3
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The change does not apply to existing Windows XP installations upgraded to SP3. Those copies, which have presumably passed the activation stage previously, will not request the key again, Microsoft said.
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Microsoft has doubled the period of time it will allow business users of Windows XP to delay installing Service Pack 2. Customers who wished to avoid having systems updated while they were testing the upgrade
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Microsoft announces end of support for the upgrade, urges move to SP2.
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Nudges users with Vista talk, again Microsoft yesterday quietly dished out a beta version of its Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), but also continued to bang the less-than-convincing "Vista is better for you" drum.â¦
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Microsoft's support for Windows XP SP1 ends next wee, and it's urging users to upgrade to SP2 immediately.
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REDMOND, Washington Microsoft has delayed the automated distribution of a major security upgrade to its Windows XP Professional computer operating system, citing a desire to give companies more time to test it.
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Paying customers only: Microsoft. Company has blocked registration codes that are known to be from illegal copies. Q: I thought that Microsoft was going to make Service Pack 2 available to all XP users, licensed or unlicensed.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft is extending the time it will allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and retail outlets to sell PCs with Windows XP as customers continue to balk on upgrading to Windows Vista. Microsoft had planned to stop selling XP through OEMs and retailers on Jan. 31, 2008, while custom system builders have until Jan. 31, 2009, to pre-install XP on machines. But becauseÂ sales of VistaÂ PCs have not been as strong as expected, OEMs and retailers have asked Microsoft to extend XP's availability. OEMs and retailers will now have until June 30, 2008, to sell PCs with Vista pre-installed on machines, Microsoft said. Retailers also can sell XP out of the box until that time if they choose, the company said. "While we've been pleased with the positive response we've seen and heard from customers using Windows Vista, there are some customers who need a little more time to make the switch to Windows Vista," Microsoft said in a press statement. Microsoft also is extending the life ofÂ Windows XP Starter Edition, the version of XP for emerging markets. The software will be available until June 30, 2010, so users in those markets can take advantage of low-cost, hardware-constrained PCs that Vista may not be compatible with. Vista requires hardware upgrades that most PCs running XP do not have. Per Microsoft's policy as of 2002, a new Windows OS would stay on the market about four years after its original availability date. But XP was released on Oct. 25, 2001, more than five years beforeÂ Vista limped out the door to consumers Jan. 31, 2007, after several delays and a major code overhaul. Microsoft had high expectations for customer adoption of Vista, and claimed the launch would be one of the most successful in Windows history. Unfortunately for the company, those predictions so far haven't panned out, and in July,Â Microsoft lowered its projections for customer adoption of Vista. The company had said the split between XP and Vista sales in its fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, would be 15 percent to 85 percent; now the company is saying the split will be 22 percent XP and 78 percent Vista. According to some, that may even be optimistic. Paul Ghysels, a custom system builder who owns the Neighborhood Computer Store in Moraga, California, said that Microsoft has "really blown Vista." He said he's not surprised Microsoft extended the availability of XP for OEMs. "I figured Microsoft would have to come up with something because Vista is so unprepared for the market right now," Ghysels said. He added that the extension likely won't affect his business much, since most of his customers come to him because they are already disillusioned with the major PC manufacturers and thus unlikely to want a name-brand PC pre-loaded with Vista. Vista Service Pack 1Â (SP1), a rollup of updates for the OS that Microsoft has said will be available in the first quarter of 2008, should make Vista more market-worthy. In fact, many consumers and businesses have said they would wait for the update before moving from XP to Vista.
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Microsoft has launched a do-it-yourself kit to help IT professionals assess their software&#39;s compatibility with Windows XP Service Pack 2. Fears among system administrators and IT managers that XP SP2 may
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The software giant&#39;s much anticipated security-laden upgrade for the Windows XP operating system is finally available for installation.
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Â Microsoft Corp. is giving users more time to prepare for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) by doubling the time a special registry key will prevent PCs from automatically downloading and installing the mammoth update.
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With automatic download of Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) enormous SP2 security patch to the Windows XP operating system set to begin, the industry still waits to understand its ramifications. Home users that have their preferences set to receive operating-system updates as they are made available by Microsoft may be surprised to learn that some of the software they already run on their systems could be disabled by SP2 or may run very differently.
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BigFix, an enterprise security vendor, announced yesterday that its BigFix Enterprise Suite &quot;supports and simplifies&quot; the deployment of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).
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You&#39;ve been patient. You&#39;ve done what Microsoft asked you to do. You&#39;re ready to download Service Pack 2 for Windows XP.
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Microsoft wants to make it easy for users to upgrade among editions of the next Windows.
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SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft Corp. has pushed back automatic distribution of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) to allow business users more time to instruct their machines to skip the update.
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Now that Windows XP Serviced Pack 2 (SP2) is available at Windows Update for online update of both the XP Home Edition and XP Professional Edition platforms, you need to be prepared for the changes youâll see as a result of the security controls XP SP2