News Bits: Vista Downgrade Option, OLPC Give 1 Get 1, Dell Offers no Bloatware

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Microsoft offers XP 'downgrade' for Vista users

Despite Microsoft's hype over the Vista operating system which was supposed to transform the way we all compute, it simply is not happening for many consumers. The operating system has been dismissed as bloated, unstable, and slow compared to Windows XP. The User Access Control (UAC) has also been found to be annoying by many consumers.

Due to the compalints, Microsoft has given the option to OEMs of offering a 'downgrade' to Windows XP for Vista Business and Ultimate customers. Vista Home Basic and Premium users are not eligible for the 'downgrade'. It is up to the OEM to offer the downgrade.

The time for getting Windows XP is running short - direct OEM and retail licensing of XP will stop on January 31, 2008.

Read More (DailyTech.com)


OLPC announces buy a laptop for yourself, one for a child program

The One Laptop Per Child non-profit foundation has recently announced a &quot;Give 1, Get 1&quot; marketing program that allows Americans and Canadians to buy two laptops for $399. One of the laptops goes to the purchaser and one goes to a child in a developing nation. The program will last for two weeks between the dates of November 12 and November 26. The donated laptop is considered a tax-deductible charitable donation.

Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the OLPC foundation, said that if there were $40M in donations that 100,000 laptops could be distributed around the world. The purpose of the program is to kick-start slow orders.

Read More (NYTimes.com)


Sony announces VAIO AR600 series 17-inch notebook

Sony has recently upgraded their AR-series 17-inch entertainment notebooks. There are three new models: the AR630E, the AR660U, and the AR690U. The AR630E is the most inexpensive of the bunch at $1,700. It features a Blu-ray drive, an Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 processor, and Vista Home Premium. The AR660U takes things up a notch with a T7500 and Vista Ultimate and trades the Blu-ray drive for an OCUR receiver, a digital cable receiver, and an interface that accepts a TV CableCARD which allow for DVR functionality. Basically it means users can watch and record high definition TV content. And finally, the AR690U goes for $3,300 and features both Blu-ray and the CableCARD device.

Product Link (SonyStyle.com)
Read More (Engadget.com)


Dell allows Inspiron and Dimension customers to pay for no bloatware

Don't want your Dell PC to arrive full of pre-installed junk software? Dell is now providing Inspiron and Dimension customers with the option to get a bloatware-free PC like it does with its XPS systems. The machines will not be entirely bloatware-free if your purchase out though - they will still come pre-installed with Adobe Acrobat, anti-virus, and Google Tools. The anti-virus can be uninstalled by declining the licensing agreement at start-up, and the other two can be easily uninstalled using Dell's new software uninstall utility.

Read More (Gizmodo.com)
Dell Release (Direct2Dell.com)


Acer announces Ferrari 1100 ultraportable

Acer has announced the Ferrari 1100 ultraportable notebook, an update to the Ferrari 1000. It features AMD Turion 64 X2 processors and ATI Radeon X1250 graphics along with a 12.1-inch widescreen display, Dolby certified surround sound system, N wireless, and a slot-loading DVD burner. It is available with Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate. There is no word on pricing or availability.

Read More (Laptoping.com)

Press Release (Acer.de)

 

Nice. Vista-downgrades.

I like the OLPC offer going public too.

 

Where did you get that Dell is making people pay to get no bloatware? I looked at both of the linked articles, and I didn't see anything about Dell charging money for this.

The minimal-bloatware option (just Google toolbar, antivirus trial, and Acrobat Reader, has been available on the Inspirons for months, it's old news (even if Gizmodo just got around to covering it), and I still don't see anything about Dell making anyone pay for that.

 

That was the impression I got from the article and if it is incorrect I apologize. I go by the assumption that nothing is for free these days, which is true in most cases. Perhaps not in Dell's case though.

 

nice... MS... lol, there is nothing wrong with Vista, and it runs faster than my XP install...

I CAN'T wait until they stop selling XP... just image the complaints??? lol

 

Yes, the "no bloatware" option was available when I ordered my 1520 in June, and there was no extra charge.

 

The Acer 1100 also has LED backlighting and I've seen a picture of it without the color on. I hope the one I posted is the real deal, but either way at 4.4 lbs it's too heavy.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/news/2007/09/21/Acer-Announces-Two-New-Portable-Notebooks/p1

 

and we pay for the "free" stuff as well one way or the other .

Actually it has logic as the big companies love to sell us stuff we don't need and solutions to problems that shouldn't have been in the first place .

Take the Vista story for example , most of us don't need nor want it . Want XP ? buy Vista and pay for a downgrade to XP .

 

ive seen Acer ultra portable 1 year ago in SYRIA !!!

-Jabriiiz

 

The new Sony AR seriously has to allow customers to upgrade the graphics. Only the $3k+ model has the 8600M GT while the rest have 8400M (not upgradeable). Sucks in my opinion. I don't even know how well an 8400M can power full HD video.

 

As far as I'm aware, the XP downgrade option has been around ever since Vista was released. If you read the Vista license, you'll see that Business and Ultimate users can downgrade to XP Pro if they wish. Unless something's changed in how this is implemented, or it used to apply only to retail copies, this isn't a new development.

Ah, there it is in the article,

IMHO, that probably should have been mentioned in the article...the way it reads now, it sounds like there never was a downgrade option, and there only is now due to complaints about Vista. Which isn't the case, and IMO gives the article an anti-Microsoft slant.

Not that I'm a huge fan of Mircosoft, that's just how it reads to me.