

Microsoft offers Windows XP users $100 off new Windows 8 PCs - tweakz
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2014/03/21/microsoft-offers-windows-xp-users-100-new-windows-8-pcs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheNextWebPolska+(The+Next+Web+Polska)

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adamio
Interesting switch tactic, possibly could be expanded into MS Store discounts
for showing Android, iOS, and Mac OS.

Apple stores will transfer your PC docs to a Mac, I think for free via
Personal Setup. Will MS stores do this too?

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r00fus
Is there really not corresponding service that PC stores provide?

Perhaps that's a pain point that MS really needs to step up - i.e., help
vendors selling Windows PCs to provide this service with some first-party cert
or standards that a customer can use to feel more comfort around?

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ww520
I still have some of the XP CD and the Windows XP certificate. Do they count
as proof of XP owner?

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tarre
I think they would be better off offering Win7 at discounted price. My wife
asked me to install Ubuntu on her new laptop after short experiment with Win8
and now she is also trying to convince her very untechnical parents to switch
from Win XP to Ubuntu.

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brunnsbe
I understand Microsoft's concern but stuff like this will not help. Take my
neighbor for example, I'm quite sure he will still be using his old computer
until it breaks, happily running Windows XP with no idea that the support or
updates (that he never have installed anyway) has ended, people like him
doesn't understand what it's all about and therefore doesn't care. All I can
do is to tell him that it's time for an upgrade but he will insist to keep on
using it (at least I managed to install Firefox and Avast on his computer a
couple of years ago).

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sliverstorm
It would be fine to use antique computers, if they just weren't networked.
Like the old 486sx running DOS in the labs at my alma mater.

Although the air gap _was_ a pain in the butt. Who ever thought I would be
buying floppies in 2011.

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tokenizerrr
Only available in US and Canada, though.

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keithpeter
And the Apple store near me was full as I went past today (Birmingham UK).
Nice to know Microsoft are not really interested in us.

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ParkerK
It's likely legal stuff, when stuff isn't available in the UK or another
foreign market, it's not that they 'don't care' it's that they simply haven't
worked out all the details, or simply can't.

The EU has a completely different set of laws than the US does, so promotions
need to be rolled out separately.

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Pxtl
Looking at the store - it's frustrating how it seems like HP is the only
company that makes the kind of machines I want to buy, and I _loathe_ HP
hardware.

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theklub
Does HP actually make anything in their products other than the case?

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sliverstorm
Laptop motherboards are usually custom designed for the OEM's design, although
sometimes that's contract work.

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JimmaDaRustla
Might need to scrounge around for my old XP license...

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ugexe
Were you already going to purchase a new windows PC? Is your time worth so
little that you would look for an XP license and install it to something and
drag it into a b&m store to save $100 on a windows PC from the microsoft
store?

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Pxtl
Most geeks have one tech-toy they're contemplating buying at any given moment.
If a $100 discount is enough to push them over? It's absolutely worth 20
minutes to rummage through your bin and find that old box you kept for spare
parts. My time ain't free, but it's sure worth $100 for 20 minutes of
rummaging.

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sliverstorm
_scoff_ Your time is worth a pitiful $500/hour to you? ;)

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noir_lord
$300 ;), (60/20) * 100

Or about 0.5267BTC wait 0.612BTC no wait 0.5267 again :D

~~~
sliverstorm
Why did I think an hour had 100 minutes? It wasn't even that early in the
morning.

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circa
I don't think there is a physical Microsoft store anywhere near me. There are
3 Apple Stores within an hour though.

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agumonkey
Too bad selected machines cost at least 599$, I'd get an Asus T100 for my
mother asap otherwise.

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general_failure
This is a bad deal. Don't buy windows 8 even if its free. Its such a big step
backwards.

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qntmfred
Windows 8 is a big step backwards from Windows XP?

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GFischer
For some use cases, it certainly is.

I'm extremely regretful of having installed it at the family law firm... I had
to customize it a lot for it not to interfere with the normal business
workflow, and it still manages to botch things. Many business users don't want
anything to do with a touch screen interface, I still can't understand why it
wasn't "opt-out".

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ProfOak_
This is kind of like getting the "Windows tax" refund. Neat.

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bananas
Glad I kept that ThinkPad T43!

No wait... No Microsoft stores in the UK.

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lucb1e
Microsoft has stores? I honestly didn't know that. Did know of Apple stores,
but they also sell hardware instead of just Microchip Software.

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general_failure
Its a sad sad place. They are also strategically placed near apple stores
which makes it even sadder. The apple stores are full and brimming with
activity. The ms stores are almost always empty.

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bananas
I live right near an Apple store in Surrey, UK. I rarely see anyone buying
anything - it's people playing with things.

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Pxtl
It doesn't seem like they move a lot of product, but Apple stores actually
have some of the highest sales-per-square-foot in the entire retail industry.

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pasbesoin
Let me buy a damned non-OEM, non-third-party-warehoused Windows 7 (Pro)
license for my mother, who is NOT comfortable and not likely to become
comfortable with Windows 8.

Killing Windows 7 license sales scant months before XP EOL is yet another
clusterf-ck on MS's part.

P.S. "The customer is always right." Now that you have more effective
competition, MS, it may be time to heed this.

P.P.S. If anyone has a valid, reliable source for these (I mean, for purchase
-- I'm not asking for anything dodge-y), I'd appreciate a pointer.

