“Dell is bringing XP back,” Ina Fried reports for CNET News. “Amid significant customer demand, the computer maker said on Thursday that it has returned to offering the older Windows version as an option on some of its consumer PCs.”
Fried reports, “Like most computer makers, Dell switched nearly entirely to Vista-based systems following Microsoft’s mainstream launch of the operating system in January. However, the company said its customers have been asking for XP as part of its IdeaStorm project, which asks customers to help the company come up with product ideas.”
“‘We heard you loud and clear on bringing the Windows XP option back to our Dell consumer PC offerings,’ Dell said on its Ideas in Action page. Users get to vote on various suggestions, and the notion of bringing back XP got 10,000 ‘points,’ making it among the most popular requests but well below top picks such as adding Linux or OpenOffice.org to its PCs,” Fried reports.
Fried reports, “Analysts say Dell’s move is not a good sign for Windows Vista. ‘That there is remaining demand from some segment of (the) consumer market points to the inability of Vista to resonate with consumers,’ IDC analyst Richard Shim said.”
“Microsoft product manager Michael Burk said in a statement: ‘Dell is responding appropriately to a small minority of customers that had this specific request. But, as they have said before, the vast majority of consumers want the latest and greatest technology, and that includes Windows Vista.’ The software maker has said it will stop selling Windows XP to large PC makers by January. Smaller computer sellers, known as system builders, will be able to sell XP machines for an additional year.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Vista’s reception is almost zunelike. Here’s an interesting bit of information: We went to Dell’s “IdeaStorm” website and checked it out. It seems that individual posts aren’t totaled together, so, for example the suggestion that Dell offer Windows XP is measured only by the post receiving the most votes. The post “Don’t eliminate XP just yet” has received 10,768 points, which seems to be the one to which Fried refers in his article. There are other calls for XP; they just receive less votes. Now, you can search the ideas, so that’s just what we did. We searched for “OS X,” found a bunch of posts asking for Dell to offer Mac OS X, and totaled them up. There are currently 7,751 votes for Dell to offer Mac OS X spread throughout Dell’s IdeaStorm site. That’s a story we haven’t seen covered; not that Apple would license Mac OS X to Dell, but that people are clamoring for Dell to offer Mac OS X.
One of the clearest posts also has a good number of votes already (440). It’s titled simply, “Add Mac OS X.” We wonder if any media outlet would cover it if that one got enough votes to move it up the “most popular” list?
Related articles:
Fortune: Michael Dell reiterates he’d love to sell Apple’s Mac OS X if only Jobs would license – January 22, 2007
PC box assemblers like Dell and others wish Apple would license Mac OS X – August 31, 2006
Michael Dell say’s he’d be happy to sell Apple’s Mac OS X if Steve Jobs decides to license – June 16, 2005
Fortune: PC makers realize Mac OS X is superior to Windows, they’re wooing Steve Jobs for licenses – May 26, 2005
Beleaguered Dell’s numbers don’t add up – April 09, 2007
Jim Cramer: Michael Dell is no Steve Jobs – March 30, 2007
Beleaguered Dell finds evidence of misconduct in internal investigation – March 30, 2007
Market researcher suggests that beleaguered Dell open high-end nightclubs – March 19, 2007
Beleaguered Dell slashes forecast for notebook shipments by 20-percent – March 13, 2007
BusinessWeek: Beleaguered Dell pulling out the pink slips? – March 08, 2007
Beleaguered Dell: Shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders – March 02, 2007
Beleaguered Dell’s earnings drop 33% – March 01, 2007
Beleaguered one-trick pony Dell faces unclear future – February 14, 2007
Biting words on Apple come back to haunt Dell – February 10, 2007
Dell faces investor lawsuit over ‘illegal Intel kickbacks’ – February 02, 2007
Michael Dell is no Steve Jobs – February 02, 2007
BusinessWeek: Welcome back, Michael Dell – don’t get too comfortable – February 01, 2007
Rollins out as beleaguered Dell’s CEO, replaced by Michael Dell immediately – January 31, 2007
Total eclipse of Michael Dell goes off as predicted – January 10, 2007
SEC starts formal probe of beleaguered Dell – November 16, 2006
Apple does it again: New Macbook Pros much cheaper than Dell – October 25, 2006
Dell feels the heat from Apple – October 04, 2006
The Motley Fool: ‘Intel to Dell: you guys stink’ – September 28, 2006
Beleaguered Dell’s OS-limited PC sales ‘declining rapidly below expectations’ – analyst – September 21, 2006
Fortune compares Mac vs. Dell: ‘you’ll get more for your money with Apple’ – September 11, 2006
AP: Time to think different, Apple Mac beats Dell on price, software compatibility, and more – August 23, 2006
Dell profit falls almost in half; announces informal SEC probe – August 18, 2006
Dell cannot compete with Apple’s new Mac Pro price or feature set – August 15, 2006
Bear Stearns: Apple’s new Mac Pro, Xserve pricing well below comparable Dell systems – August 09, 2006
Dell warns of earnings miss; shares plunge 15% – July 21, 2006
Survey shows big jump in consumer interest in buying Apple Mac; Dell takes steep slide – July 06, 2006
Dell warns 1Q earnings will miss mark; shares tumble – May 08, 2006
Apple passes Dell in market value – May 02, 2006
InformationWeek: Apple Mac run Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux; Dell and HP should be concerned – May 01, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Apple Mac is #1 in European education market, pushes Dell down into second place – February 03, 2006
Steve Jobs emails Apple team: Michael Dell not the best prognosticator, Apple worth more than Dell – January 16, 2006
Hint hint, huh?
…They’re bringin XP baaaack.
That Windows Vista don’t know how to aaaact…
I just voted for it! Let’s go everybody!
http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/61867/Add_Mac_OSX
MDN MW: “gave.” I “gave” at the office.
Just added my vote
James,
I just voted for it, too!
All you do is register with any old unique name, make up a password, give any old email addy (doesn’t have to be real), and you can vote for it.
Class Windows versus New Windows. Damn, isn’t this the same the Class Coke versus New Coke story all over again but with software? When history is your best product, there is no innovation, right? Maybe it is reasonable to talk about Microsoft in the past tense when XP trumps Vista.
Just voted. Up to 510 now…
“Beleaguered” must be MDN’s favorite word or something
voted – 521 now
the comments with adding mac os x are pretty interesting in their own right. someone also pasted in the joy of tech comic about the many versions of vista!! it is also funny that a lot of people want an alternative to ms office. this is really, really bad news for microsoft.
Makes me wonder if Apple is “primarily” a Hardware company and Microsoft being “primarily” a Software company, how come Microsoft’s flagship product, Windows, suck big time and isn’t anywhere near the quality and excellence of OS X?
That’s ironic. hehehe.
Don’t start with the hardware, i’ve heard enough of zune’s failure. hehehe.
Jim – TIV,
Actually, the points increase by 10 with each vote, so you didn’t vote.
I did. It’s up to 620 now.
“If anything happens to Vista, anything at all, I swear to you I will get very choked up. Honestly. There could be tears.”
Is this when the Wow starts?
Why would any Mac user want stupid cheapo Dell to offer OS X? That would defeat the whole purpose and stability of Mac OS X because it would be opened up to millions of other configurations that Apple has no way of keeping track of like they do now. It would ruin what we all love about OS X.
If anyone truly wants to use OS X, get a Mac! There’s no reason not to now with competitive pricing and Windows compatibility.
Makes me wonder if Apple is “primarily” a Hardware company and Microsoft being “primarily” a Software company, how come Microsoft’s flagship product, Windows, suck big time and isn’t anywhere near the quality and excellence of OS X?
That’s ironic. hehehe.
—
Cuz it’s open architecture, and arguably, build on a circa 1983 foundation (pre-mass market Internet)
Are you new?
Let the death march begin.
What what what?
Should we move back to Os 9 too?
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EXACTLY why Apple could afford to take extra time before releasing Leopard. If Vista had made even a competent showing during it’s first three months, Apple may have compromised a little on features (and related testing) to get Leopard out as soon as possible. But since customers are asking for XP instead of Leopard, why not take use a few extra months to make Leopard perfect.
> Makes me wonder if Apple is “primarily” a Hardware company and Microsoft being “primarily” a Software company…
Microsoft is “primarily” a software company that relies on its Windows monopoly to avoid competition. Apple is a hardware company that distinguishes its hardware (in a competitive market) through exceptional software. Both are unique in their own way, but I’d rather be Apple right now.
It has been widely reported that Dell is using LINUX on his home PC. That says a lot about his feelings about Windoze.
Why the hell hasn’t anyone suggested that they shut the company down and give the money back to the shareholders?! It’d be such an obvious thing to do, ya know…?
mike, I think you’ll find that was a rhetorical question from denuj
Unpossible!
This vote is a wee bit pontless, since Apple is not yet going to offer OSX for PCs. Or are they? I think it will eventually happen once the Mac reaches about 10% of the market. Given that Apple has become a much broader electronics device manufacturer, they’re now making a lot more money on non-Mac hardware products. That means they will soon be able to licence OSX to other vendors without wrecking their hardware profit margins. However… maybe it will be sooner than we think. I do wonder if the “secret feature” they’re hiding from Microsoft is that Leopard will be offered for general release to PC users. It would take more time to develop a basic set of drivers for common hardware, so could this be why we’re seeing a delay until October? The general “meh” reaction to Vista, could be a big opportunity for Apple to take really big chunks out of the OS market.
I would vote for them offering DOS and higher prices