The Windows Legacy

It is expected that the new Windows 7 replacing the ill-fated Vista will appear around January 2010. However Microsoft have already announced that anyone with Windows 7 will be able to downgrade not only to Vista but also to Windows XP, an operating system that was released in 2001. This means that some users will be stuck on operating system technology which is almost a decade old. That is a very long time in computing terms.

This must be a worrying thought for the company with clearly the most dominant numbers of desktop computer operating systems on the planet. But perhaps not as worrying as the fact that XP is really the only option for those who are following the current trend towards cheap and low spec netbook computers. And XP will soon transition to the almost unsupported stage, maybe not so important for the mass consumer market but certainly so for Microsoft's corporate customers. Maybe Windows "8" will overcome the Windows legacy? We shall see.