ESP Projects Ltd: IT Support - Sheffield

Microsofts’ shiny new operating system, Windows Vista, is demonstrably slower than its predecessor Windows XP even with the beta version of Vista’s first major update - Service Pack 1. In a test conducted by Devil Mountain Software, Windows XP with SP3 managed to complete tasks twice as fast as Windows Vista with SP1! Microsoft clearly state that both of these Service Packs are still in beta testing (i.e. not finished), but this poor performance does not bode well for the new software.

Uptake of Vista especially in the commercial sector, remains sluggish, with only 13% of companies saying that they plan to upgrade all of their PC’s to it, and that’s after almost a year of the new system being available. The same survey  - of 961 IT professionals (by King Research) -  showed that 44% of companies are considering alternatives including Mac and Linux.

Microsoft have extended the period that  PC manufacturers are permitted to sell machines with Windows XP pre-installed to 31st January 2008.

ESP’s advice: any PC with Windows Vista can be downgraded to a corresponding version of windows XP, but that process takes time and may incur a cost. If you want PC’s with Windows XP pre-installed in a hurry, buy them soon!