"Microsoft's marketing has now made it impossible to buy a
computer..."
Not at all since Windows XP computers are still widely available.
"our students have little choice but to buy Vista systems"
Why?
Is Dell not an option?
How about the local shops?
Most near me have options available including Windows XP.
"the only OS option which they were offered by the computer vendor"
If that is all the vender offers and it does not suit the needs of the
student, the student should purchase elsewhere where the needs are
met.
--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar http://www.dts-l.org
"Vista vs XP" <VistavsXP@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:59BE275F-6198-4ADD-AF83-73B70A6920BC@xxxxxx
Quote:
> Our university does not support (nor recommend) Vista. However,
> Microsoft's
> marketing has now made it impossible to buy a computer at commercial
> outlets
> which has any OS except Vista. Hence, unless they shop at the
> unviersity
> computer store, our students have little choice but to buy Vista
> systems,
> even though the software is not available.
>
> Could the university have done more? Probably, yes.
>
> Should Microsoft provide people with more options? Definitely yes.
> Including the option to convert any Vista computer to XP without
> having to
> buy a separate XP license. This is the issue raised by the first
> poster - do
> they have any recourse when the only operating system on the
> computer they
> bought (the only OS option which they were offered by the computer
> vendor) is
> inappropriate for the task?