<reads survey... Thinks it's dumb and not representative of reality... Notes that people still use Win 2K and older OSs... Then votes 'XP is Dead, Long Live XP' because that's the choice that's most reflective of how the world actually works>
XP will die of attrition. And over the next 5~10 years it'll fade. This is the same "Death" suffered by every OS ever relased, by anyone, anywhere. And I sincerely don't mean to troll. That's simply what happens. Corporations will take 5+ years to make the switch, becuase they always have.
The problem here is in 2 parts, really: Compared to the past, the tools generally avaliable to people have greatly increased in power in the sense that 1 individual can reach out faster and more effectively to more individuals than ever before. After all, what are Blogs except one person who decides to write whatever they feel and post it to the web for others to read.
The second part is equally simple: People continue to spread lies and FUD, even after being corrected. i.e. Correct someone that
"Yes, you *can* upgrade your Motherboard", and they'll shut up for a little bit. Then come back in another thread with the exact same false claim. Or perhaps someone corrects him that early performance differences were due to poorly optimized drivers - He'll be quiet for a little bit. Then in another thread start the same argument again.
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2302495,00.asp
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/amd_nvidia_windows_vista_driver_performance_update/default.asp
Or maybe the topic of the day is acceptance. The numerical fact is that Vista's acceptance rates actually *exceed* what XP achieved... Yet people absolutely refuse to accept that. They'll come back, screaming that the world has rejected it.
PC World -
"...even Gartner, that prophet of Windows' doom, forecasts that Vista will be more popular at the end of this year than XP was at a similar juncture -- with 28% of the PC operating system installed base worldwide, vs. 22% for XP at the end of 2003"
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/150263-1/vista_may_still_have_its_day.html
At the end of the day, it is, and always has been, the exact same hysteria, lies, and asinine predictions as occurred when XP was released. Let's head back a generation, shall we?
Intel upgrades to Windows 2000 six months after Windows XP was released:
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2002/01/10/intel-chooses-w2k-over-winxp
Sluggish corporate adoption of Windows XP:
http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2002/0,4814,74276,00.html
Windows XP Slow To Take Hold
"...Less than 10 percent of Microsoft's installed base has upgraded to Windows XP since its release last October. That matches a 2001 Gartner prediction that nearly 75 percent of all corporate PCs would still be running Windows 95, 98 or NT Workstation by the end of 2002...
http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18829228
Microsoft offers new licensing terms and other incentives to jump-start stalled corporate XP adoption:
http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18821819
Three years after release, XP uptake still too slow:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39151481,00.htm?r=8
Four long years after XP release, more corporate desktops still using Windows 2000:
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/XP-May-Catch-Up-to-Win-2000-by-Years-End
Blah blah blah blah - If you want to go back far enough, I'm sure Lucius argued day and night with Dukmerjian about why he'll never use one of those evil horses to pull his chariot when he had perfectly good slaves... Well guess what? Stuff changes.
All products, especially software, have life cycles which are determined by their makers and by the market. In this particular case, one maker has decided to finish one product off. That doesn't mean anyone has to stop using it - You just can't buy a new one any more. If you're that attached, save your stuff.