14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Vista made downgrading a hot subject. Not only for Microsoft, but also for end users and business customers. Incorrectly associated exclusively with the move from Vista back to Windows XP, instead of the extra benefits that Microsoft is providing business clients with the added rights associated to the license of the latest Windows client, downgrading came to represent a solution to the users' frustration. Instead, downgrades are nothing more that an expansion of the rights stipulated in the Windows Vista End User License Agreement, permitting customers to run both XP and Vista on the same machine, under the same license, with no extra costs, but not concomitantly.
Another generalized misconception is that Microsoft has introduced downgrades with Windows Vista. This could not be further from the truth. Downgrades rights have initially been associated with the licensing evolution of Windows XP Professional, and only continued with Vista. You will be able to access the complete guide of Windows Vista to Windows XP downgrades here. But with Vista, the Redmond company is also allowing its original equipment manufacturer partners to not only offer downgrade rights, but also provide the means, the media, and the support necessary for customers interested in purchasing and upgrading to Vista, but still stuck running XP because of the limitations of the IT infrastructure.
Case in point: NEC Computers. As of the beginning of February 2008, NEC Computers has introduced a new solution aimed at both its desktop and notebook products and designed to permit IT administrators to downgrade from Vista Business to XP Professional in no more than 15 minutes. The NEC Flexload solution comes to respond to customer needs that have made the investment in acquiring Vista, but need to continue to run XP until the infrastructure will be ready for the latest Windows operating system.
"The user can burn the recovery data from the Vista machine so they can load it in the future. They then run FlexLoad, which is bespoke software. It converts the machine to XP using the second DVD. The machine is licensed to run Vista, but is now running XP. When the customer wants to run Vista, they can take the burned DVD and reinstall Vista. This solution also allows customers to downgrade to XP after the summer deadline," explained David Newbould, UK product marketing manager to Techworld.
The NEC Flexload solution comes with NEC Computers's VERSA notebooks and POWERMATE desktops, and is essentially a kit formed out of two DVDs, and the migration from Vista Business to XP Pro, supported by the downgrade rights offered via the NEC's Vista licensing terms, will only take 15 minutes.
"We still offer NEC computers running XP as an option for customers," said David Newbould, UK product marketing manager, as cited by PC Advisor. "However, NEC FlexLoad is designed for XP users who may want to upgrade to Vista in the future. Customer demand for this Vista downgrade varies. Generally speaking, large corporates are slower moving towards Vista, than the SMB market."