14 DAY TRIAL // Best Buy is one of the latest companies that have decided to support Microsoft’s efforts to get rid of Windows XP once and for ever, so starting today you can purchase new PCs running Windows 8.1 at special prices from either retail stores or their websites.
If you decide to abandon Windows XP and buy a new PC from Best Buy, you are eligible for a $100 (€73) discount that’s supposed to help you buy some new stuff for your computer.
What’s more surprising is that Best Buy isn’t necessarily trying to push users to Windows 8.1 but to any new platform out there, be it Windows, Chromebook, or even Apple.
“Get a minimum of $100 toward the purchase of a new Windows computer, Apple computer or Chromebook1 when you trade in a working Windows XP laptop at a Best Buy store,” Best Buy says in the description of its new campaign.
The new campaign is only available for 12 days, so if you’re planning to upgrade from Windows XP and purchase a new computer running any of the aforementioned platforms, you might want to have a look at Best Buy’s offers which are available via its online store or in any retail store across the United States.
“Now through 4/19/2014, bring in your working Windows XP laptop and trade it in for a $25 gift card plus a discount coupon good for $75 toward the purchase of a new Windows computer, Apple computer or Chromebook. This offer supersedes trade-in values provided by the estimator tool on our Trade-in page,” Best Buy says.
Just as expected, the campaign promo then goes on to reveal the risks of staying on Windows XP after the April 8 end of support deadline, explaining that users who do this could be vulnerable to viruses spyware and other malicious software. “Over time, you'll also encounter more and more peripheral devices that won't work with Windows XP, and your computer will become harder and harder to maintain,” it notes.
Despite tomorrow’s end of support, 28 percent of the desktop computers worldwide are still running Windows XP, with many users claiming that they have no intention to upgrade in the coming weeks. Of course, the main problem is that upgrading to Windows 8.1 also involves new hardware, so the overall costs of the entire transition is much higher than some might be tempted to believe at the first glance.