Windows 7 RC and XP given extensions on life well into 2010

Whether or not Windows 7 does launch in October as previously suggested, those who have (or plan to get) Release Candidate will be happy to hear that Microsoft won't be pulling the plug until June 1, 2010, well over a year from now and 11 months after its initial expiration date. After that, you're gonna have to fork over the Benjamins for one of the retail SKUs if you wanna keep 7 alive. As for those still living in Redmond's past, the company's also extended the life of XP, at least for OEMs. Companies using the older OS will still be able to install it on netbooks for up to one year after 7's official shape date. Seeing as the new system's likely to have a more expensive licensing fee, it's probably the best move if the company plans on keeping that 96% grip on the netbook OS market.

[Via gadgetmix]

Read - Windows 7 RC extension
Read - Windows XP extension

[Trent @ May 1st 2009 12:37AM]

Wow, pretty generous of them i would say. Awesome.

[vvnraman @ May 1st 2009 4:35AM]

Whatever thoughts of generosity you're having would go away once you see Steve Ballmer's face.

****Imagines kicking him in the face****

okay so here's the thing...

My Dell Studio 15 arrived in the first week of February 09, and the first thing I did was download Windows 7 and install it. Now i've been using it for the past 3 months and I must say that I don't want to go back to Vista Home Premium any more. I recently installed Jaunty Jackalope (a.k.a Ubuntu 9.04) which I would use only for programming purposes, but i'm NOT going back to Vista Home Premium.

So now that they have released the Windows 7 RC which they'll letting people "test" till the next year, what do you think their real plan is. They plan on making us slaves again so that when the final version comes out they can charge whatever they want and we'll have to buy it.

You know with all this piracy business with the Windows OS not going on so well, they had to do something like this to make people use Windows for free.

[Levi @ May 1st 2009 10:21AM]

I'm not one to pirate, but Windows is the exception. When the OS is by far the most expensive part of building a PC, I will kindly tell them "thanks but no thanks," and continue to install the same XP Corp that me and all my friends use.

I'll most likely not pay for 7 either, unless they've made it infinitely more annoying to use an unactovated Windows copy since XP. Then I'll pay for an OEM copy on eBay.

[yes @ May 1st 2009 12:38AM]

this is nice!

[Corey @ May 1st 2009 12:40AM]

I can't wait for this to be release. I hope this launch goes much smoother than vista's.

don't you mean ship?

[TheSuburbanWhiteBoy @ May 1st 2009 12:40AM]

Their world will come crumbling down if Apple ever releases a netbook. M$ is garbage.

[yes @ May 1st 2009 12:41AM]

...while typing from his Acer.

[Shadoblak @ May 1st 2009 12:43AM]

[Similarly inflammatory comment regarding Apple computers and systems]

[Epsilon-Not @ May 1st 2009 12:50AM]

Quite true- It's very clear that in all markets where Apple DOES compete in computers, they have total market share, and only netbooks are saving Microsoft from the brink of destruction.

Er, wait, no...

[Bobsley @ May 1st 2009 12:58AM]

I dont think so... At least Netbooks offer a full system experience. Apple plan to put the Iphone OS on their new device. On a pc netbook, you can install any of your desktop apps, make music with Reason, Cubase and cie, edit your photos with photoshop lite, download torrents, watch them, play some good old warcraft 3 and other games (morrowind is a must!! - Oblivion ancestor), Do some 3D at the café with lighwave, modo or C4D...

[loci @ May 1st 2009 1:09AM]

ya daft apple slave :)

[TheSuburbanWhiteBoy @ May 1st 2009 1:23AM]

I have an Asus, but I like Apple stuff. It's more polished and typically doesn't phuck up on me like my M$ junk does.

[Mark @ May 1st 2009 1:29AM]

Great idea! How about on top of a netbook, Apple releases a full line of laptops and PCs and then they can totally wipe out the Windows user-base. Oh wait.

[Brady @ May 1st 2009 12:41AM]

This is awesome, I actually just barely downloaded it and now I plan on installing it soon to see how it is, hopefully it treats me well and treats my wind well.

[porath @ May 1st 2009 12:47AM]

do you guys think they'll allow people to get security updates in RC1? if not, that's going to be a huge security risk.

[moe @ May 1st 2009 12:55AM]

beta had security updates. so will rc

[CJ @ May 1st 2009 12:52AM]

It's good to see that Microsoft are still supporting legacy OSs (yes, as soon as the official release of windows 7 become - well - official, I'm going to start considering XP a Legacy OS.)

[Zane @ May 1st 2009 7:15AM]

Well, XP has a lot of MS-DOS bits in it, so it's kinda semi-legacy already.

[cmsb55 @ May 1st 2009 12:54AM]

Does this still mean that the Beta builds are still going to expire August 1st or do they get an extension too?

[moe @ May 1st 2009 12:57AM]

the beta key works for rc so download that and reuse your key.

[Trent @ May 1st 2009 12:56AM]

well for arguments sake, aside from not wanting to go through with a reformat, why wouldn't you just get the RC?

[maveric101 @ May 1st 2009 1:24AM]

so if i'm reading this right the RC will be upgradeable to the retail version? (unlike the beta, which has to be removed and installed over)

[Trent @ May 1st 2009 12:58AM]

Boy, do you have an ego problem.

[crazacool @ May 1st 2009 1:00AM]

Oh, wow! A MacBook PRO, you say? Crap, I had no idea those things existed. I thought they were the stuff of the future! Kind of makes this Dell M1530 look like a stone tablet in comparison. I wish I had a MacBook Pro.

Dang... Pro...

[dhruv bhutani @ May 1st 2009 1:01AM]

whatever !~~~~ Stupid fanboy ........

[)ROFL( @ May 1st 2009 1:01AM]

Oh the irony, it's quite the opposite! Oh, did I mention I'm running Vista Home Premium? Yea, you read it right: PREMIUM!

[Patrick @ May 1st 2009 1:02AM]

Troll

[Brook @ May 1st 2009 1:41AM]

my computer cost probably twice what your macbook pro did, and its way sexier. but then again, im not quite sure what your argument is supposed to be on this one. what to boast that you paid o idk double for a laptop than you would with a pc for the same performance?

[DWells55 @ May 1st 2009 1:03AM]

Successful troll is successful.

[porath @ May 1st 2009 1:04AM]

i can't believe how many people fell for that :p

[thisisit @ May 1st 2009 1:04AM]

@jonny,
*yawn*

[Adam @ May 1st 2009 1:13AM]

If I had bought an Apple I would install Windows 7 and leave it at that.

but then again I would never buy a Mac lol. OSX while it is a nice OS is just not for me.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ May 1st 2009 1:15AM]

I'm on a boat!

[Shyam D @ May 1st 2009 1:17AM]

You do realize the real big boys who use the real computing power aka SUPER Computers run linux? Linux on Macs just plain sucks. So you Mac users are just not Super.

[Mr. Picklesworth @ May 1st 2009 1:45AM]

So, uh, what does that mean they've extended support for the RC past when the final release should exist? Does that mean, for example, I could actually download Win 7 RC and expect to use it legitimately into 2010?!

[digitallysick @ May 1st 2009 1:45AM]

Kick ass, best news all day

[fffunfarm06 @ May 1st 2009 1:48AM]

look how many comments you got jonny! i want to feed a troll!

[darkmax @ May 1st 2009 1:50AM]

I think this is a great move by Microsoft to get people be used to Windows 7. Such that these consumers will eventually get their copy of the genuine OS.

[somewonone @ May 1st 2009 1:52AM]

You just gotta love Microsoft!

Can't wait for May 5th, have a new 1TB hard drive eagerly awaiting to have the RC installed onto it.

[Mr. Picklesworth @ May 1st 2009 2:00AM]

So, uh, what does that mean they've extended support for the RC past when the final release should exist? Does that mean, for example, I could actually download Win 7 RC and expect to use it legitimately into 2010?!

[SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ May 1st 2009 2:22AM]

that's what i'm taking from the article too. sealed the deal for me, i'm about to download it now to test it out for the first time.

[SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ May 1st 2009 2:21AM]

cool. i think that settles it then. i've been having some problems with my laptop lately and was gonna reinstall Windows. i think i'll just add 7 instead after i do a little research to make sure i can run Zune on it and a couple other key programs.

[Fish @ May 1st 2009 2:29AM]

yes of course you can run zune on it.
definitely download it. you'll love it and really enjoy it.

[Jon @ May 1st 2009 6:59AM]

something totally random, but your cat is so cute! (if that cat is yours, of course).

[iKurt4 @ May 1st 2009 3:04AM]

XP's lifesan extended? Talk about confidence with Windows 7!

Whew! I almost had a heart attack. Oh wait, I don't care. I use OSX, the best operating system on the planet.

[Backlin @ May 1st 2009 12:48PM]

Why don't you trolls reduce your birthrates?

[taling hallenthur @ May 1st 2009 5:02AM]

96%?? I have no idea why people believe this is true when those statistics are biased because they're given to us by Microsoft.

[Decoy @ May 2nd 2009 10:31PM]

Can you give us some unbiased information (from say Apple or a troll or a fanboy?)

[Jon @ May 1st 2009 6:57AM]

If you're trying out windows 7 and you like it very much, then you'll spend that few hundred bucks for a copy. So obviously if you plan on getting it, get it when it comes out, instead of sticking with a RC until 2010... (well well, if you're only going to buy a copy when SP1 is out)...

[fikhl @ May 1st 2009 7:01AM]

A question:

Will Windows 7 work on my 5 year old Pentium 4 1.6Ghz computer? with 768MB of RAM?