Ballmer hints at XP reprieve
25 Apr 2008 | 10:04 BST
MS in listening to customers shocka
MICROSOFT CEO Steve Ballmer says he doesn't rule out a U-turn over the demise of Windows XP.
While stopping far short of announcing a major rethink over the venerable old OS' June 30th death warrant, he certainly appears to have his hand hovering over the lever in preparation for a bit of handbrake turn action.
"XP will hit an end-of-life. We have announced one," he told Reuters yesterday. "If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter, but right now, we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments."
Ballmer is still putting on a brave face over the somewhat tepid response to Vista, maintaining that many customers are choosing to buy the OS. While this is true, it's mainly down to punters getting Vista pre-installed on new PCs rather than people going out to buy an upgrade.
It is, however, encouraging to see that the company is at least entertaining the possibility of actually listening to its customers. µ
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