Microsoft Corp. has relaxed its "downgrade" rules and will let computer makers continue to sell PCs preinstalled with the aged Windows XP for as long as six months after it launches Windows 7, according to a report published Wednesday.
The information obtained by TechARP.com, a Malaysian Web site that last weekend leaked Microsoft's plans to offer free or discounted upgrades to Windows 7, seems to confirm other reports that Hewlett-Packard Co. had been given the green light to sell new PCs with XP Professional through April 2010.
Yesterday, TechARP spelled out the new optionsMicrosoft will offer computer makers such as HP and Dell Inc.
For six months after Windows 7's official launch, a date Microsoft calls "general availability," Microsoft will let OEMs sell new PCs equipped with Windows XP Professional and market them as such directly to customers or through their channel partners. Those machines must include physical media for Vista Business or Vista Ultimate, the two editions that provide downgrade rights.
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