Dell Evades Windows XP’s June 30 Cutoff

By exercising so-called "downgrade rights" included with certain copies of Vista, Dell can preinstall Windows XP on its machines well into the future - but consumers still foot the bill for Vista.

If the impending death of Windows XP all seemed very unlikely given how many people still rely on the operating system for their day-to-day business, it should come as no surprise that  computer manufacturers have found a legal way to offer the OS after June 30 – and Microsoft still makes out on the arrangement.

Dell is among the first manufacturers to take advantage of Microsoft’s “downgrade rights” that come with the Business and Ultimate copies of Windows Vista, a little-known option Microsoft offers Vista buyers that allows them to trade in the Vista key for a Windows XP Professional key. Although this has always been an option offered by Microsoft, Dell is the first to offer Windows XP preinstalled, saving its customers the effort of uninstalling Vista and reinstalling XP on their own.

While this allows Dell to continue selling what its customers want and Microsoft to continue racking up “sales” of Vista on paper, the consumer still ends up forced into paying a premium for an operating system they don’t want. The only upside: consumers who choose to downgrade to XP will always have the option of installing Vista later at no additional price, if they ever decide they’re ready to move on.

Dell calls its option Windows Vista BONUS, and offers it for free on Latitude, Optiplex and Precision systems, but charges $19.95 on Vostro and XPS machines. While the company will support both XP and Vista for those who choose a factory downgrade, those who choose to downgrade on their own will not be able to use Dell support for XP issues.