Download Squad

Like any company in the software business, Microsoft relies on planned obsolescence. In other words, a few years after Microsoft sells you an operating system, office suite, or accounting application, the company has to convince you that you need a newer version of that software. The alternative would be to charge a few thousand dollars up front for every piece of software which would be more of a boon for the free software movement than it would be for Microsoft.

Historically, Microsoft has done a pretty good job of releasing new versions of its software every few years with enough bug fixes or new features to convince people to upgrade. But a funny thing happened when Microsoft released Windows XP. People were generally happy with it. And five years later when Microsoft released Windows Vista, people weren't particularly happy. Not only were they finding bugs in Vista, but many computer users just don't feel that Vista can do much that XP can't.

So Microsoft, which had planned to stop selling Windows XP to users and computer manufacturers late last year extended that date until June 30th of this year. But something tells us that if Microsoft follows through on this promise, there's going to be a huge market for used copies of Windows XP.

That's why we're happy to see that InfoWorld has launched a "Save XP" campaign. The goal is to get as many people as possible to sign an online petition. Your names, but not your email addresses will be sent to Microsoft in an attempt to change the company's mind.

Look, we're not saying that Windows Vista isn't a capable operating system that works perfectly well for some users under the right circumstances. But as long as there are people out there who are willing to pay for Windows XP because the prefer a stable, well-tested operating system, it doesn't make much sense for Microsoft to turn them away.