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Microsoft Vista News:

Vista Presales, Downloads, And Windows XP Support

By Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

Some recent Microsoft Vista tidbits you may have missed:

On January 25, The Wall Street Journal announced that Microsoft's net income fell 28% as revenue edged up to $12.54 billion. That doesn't include (cue Dr. Evil voice) one billion dollars in deferred sales of Vista and the new MS Office.

Microsoft will also be making Vista available via download as well as the traditional methods of delivery. MS also says it'll be easy for home users to upgrade from one version of Vista to another. We'll see!

Finally, XP users can look forward to extended support from MS after the release of Vista - if they're willing to pay for it. CNN's website reports that MS has supported previous OS versions for two years after a new OS comes out, but MS will offer what they're calling "extended support" for five years after that.

Help will not be free during that five-year period, and MS expects to charge for most XP support after the two-year free support period ends in 2009.