Debrief: Windows XP era draws to a close Video

Debrief: Windows XP era draws to a close Video Transcript

[ Music ] ^M00:00:04

>> So goes Bill Gates, so goes Windows XP at the end of the month Microsoft's co-founder transitioning into a new role unrelated to that. At the end of the month Microsoft will bring down the curtain on the Windows XP era. My name is Charlie Cooper and I'm here with my colleague whos dot come Ina Fried. Ina as of June 30, big PC makers will no longer be able to sell Windows XP PCs. People have liked the product. Why is Microsoft pushing this?

>> Well, I mean they have a new product and the thing they want to sell is Vista. Part of what is important for Microsoft is to move on, is to not give an option. This debate has gone on from their prospective long enough and they want to move their whole business to Windows Vista.

>> Will the company still be supporting XP if you buy on the open market through a retailer?

>> Sure. So Windows XP support is not going away. Mainstream support continues through next year, then there's extended support through 2014. What is going to be hard to find is a new computer with Windows on it or a box copy of Windows XP.

>> And this is part of a transition as you suggest. When they look back on the Windows XP era, will Microsoft consider that both a technological and a business success?

>> Definitely, I mean if you look at the landscape before Windows XP, particularly on the consumer side, the ones before that, Windows ME, Windows 98. From a consumer experience they were a lot less stable. That said, you know long time Windows watchers tell me that windows, there was a save Windows movement for every OS. There's people that don't want to give up. So it's not like this is the first time that people have been bemoaned the end of the previous Windows version.

>> It's true but at the same time there has been a lot of resistance from some quarters towards the adoption of Vista, rightly or wrongly the rep is that, well there were problems and XP's the safer choice.

>> Definitely. I mean there are things about Vista that have definitely gotten on peoples nerves and have you know, really created a lack of movement to the new operating system. Corporations still not moving very fast at all to Windows Vista. They'll keep using XP businesses. This move doesn't make businesses move at all faster to Vista.

>> In fact, recently there was a report from a company called Evans Data, which shows that fewer than one and ten software developers is writing applications for Vista. Microsoft says, well we're happy with the way things are going despite the fact that well this drum beat of negative news keeps on coming.

>> Well, it's not like those are all Mac and Linux developers, they are writing for Windows including Vista, what they're not writing is Windows Vista specific programs and that is an issue. It's one of the reasons that Microsoft is stopping selling XP. The more Vista machines that get out there the more that number will change. Right now it doesn't make sense if you're a developer to write an application that only runs on Vista because Vista still makes up just a small percentage of active PC's. Microsoft needs to get that number up and it's really important. Part of what really hurt Microsoft this time around was a lot of the changes that came in Vista, a lot of benefits were under the hood that really only get exposed when developers write Vista specific programs and as you point out that's not really happening yet.

>> Thanks Ina. On behalf of Ina Fried I'm Charlie Cooper. ^M00:03:29 [ Music ]