Windows 7 is not available to purchase at retail, officially, but system builders are still allowed to integrate it into their PCs until at least October. At the same time, Windows XP is nearing its end of life of April 8th (the day of its last security update). A third coincidence, modern Windows could easily be compared to modern art because it is made by someone who tells you what is legitimate and, when you actually attempt to admire it, makes no sense unless the designer explains everything.
HP took these three points as an opportunity.
If you purchase from a set of select new desktop or laptops, HP will ship it with Windows 7 installed by default. On top of needing to physically choose Windows 8.1, the default Windows 7 install also comes with a $150 USD discount. The models are spread between Pavilion and Envy desktops and laptops.
I believe this is a very smart move for HP. You may soon have a mass of customers looking to replace expired devices and they may want the closest analogy to what they are used to. They will still have Windows 8-based options but they want to capitalize on anyone looking for something else.
Personally, trolling aside, I actually do not mind the interface of Windows 8.1. My only complaint is the reliance upon Windows Store and its potential future problems especially if it becomes the only way to install software. Could you imagine if someone like the NSA forced Microsoft to not certify encryption apps (or worse, tamper with them)? One of a million problems that mandatory certification, and the interest groups who abuse it, brings.
Can you not let Lenovo, Dell,
Can you not let Lenovo, Dell, and HP go with IBM to do Data Center.
Areas like San Francisco, Hong Kong, India should not be able to do. Probably placed all IBM to Vancouver or Seattle is better.not in California.
I just bought a gaming laptop
I just bought a gaming laptop from Cyberpower for exactly that reason: I DID NOT want Windows 8 and opted for Win 7. A big hat tip to HP for this offer.
Good for HP, next step is for
Good for HP, next step is for them (and all other computer manufactures) to get rid of keyboards with the idiotic half sized up and down arrow keys and make them the same size as all other keys.
it looks like windows 9 may
it looks like windows 9 may be a fall release http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-9-to-Reach-RTM-in-October-2014-Report-417903.shtml hmm this would explain why hp is doing this
I guess this is a good thing
I guess this is a good thing for those who really want it. However, I’d like to see such systems ship with a free Windows 8.1 install disc or something if I were buying one.
I personally don’t have a problem with using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 natively (without crutch-ware). I use a number of different OSes and switch between them seamlessly. I get that people don’t like Windows 8 / 8.1 but from my perspective its largely seems due to it being different.
I got a windows based HP
I got a windows based HP laptop (Probook 4540s) with a downUgrade to windows 7 pro pre-installed, it came with a set of windows 7 recovery disks, and a set of windows 8 recovery disks(Makes good beer coasters with some cork and glue)! Both the windows 7, and 8(I will never use) versions are licensed to the laptop, and I noticed that the windows 8 sticker is on the bottom of the laptop, and not the top. The laptop was bought summer 2013, and I found in my research on the ProBook 4540s laptop, that it also ships with the SUSE operating system, which resulted in my choosing to purchase this HP laptop, as I will be ordering the SUSE distro, and dual booting it with windows 7. Once my Suse linux distro is installed, I will begin the process of migrating to Linux, and I know that the Linux drivers will work with the ProBook! Come 2020 it should be just a matter of my erasing the windows 7 partition, should M$ actually stop providing security updates in 2020, I see M$ being forced to extend 7, like XP was extended, and I do not trust M$ to ever fix the TIFKAM infection, with windows 9!
I now see the Windows 8 sticker on the bottom as a little hint that HP was NOT too pleased with 8, along with many enterprise customers, as well as home productivity based consumers, Grandma, the grandkids, and the family dog(Although the Family Dog may have been tempted to roll around in 8’s odoriferous musk, as dogs do like to roll in those things)
Next time M$, Think twice about forcing a Phone/Tablet UI crApp store interface onto your desktop OS users, just because you were late to the party, with any Phone/tablet ecosystem of your own, and did not have the market share with which to amortize the costs of getting into the tablet/phone market, in which you still have no significant market presence! Better Fix 9 for the desktop only, but never expect enterprises to very quickly adopt 9, when these enterprise customers have not fully depreciated their conversion from XP to 7 expenses! OS Haste makes OS waste! Did you ever really learn from ME/Vista/BOB!
That is unfortunate. They
That is unfortunate. They could have went the better route and worked with Stardock again with Start8 like they did with Fences, or even worked with StartIsBack. Windows 7 is inferior.
That does not address the
That does not address the non-interface issues.
“Windows 7 is inferior”
“Windows 7 is inferior” repeating the tired Start8 and StartisBack, WhateverMenuFixer, argument is just a specious Attempt at drawing attention away form M$, and its attempt to force a crApp Store UI interface onto the front end of their OS, and a feeble attempt at that, at the expence of so much of the users productivity! A lot of functionality was striped out of windows 7(system image backups,etc) in order that M$ could save money, by not having to development for the desktop, which M$ wished to abandon, and still does, now that the FAT profits have moved to mobile! M$ had better take the windows 7 UI(UNMODIFIED) and add JUST the under the hood improvments for windows 8(the few that actually exist), when it makes windows 9. Any attempt at returning the TIFKAM UI and APP store ecosystem will result in Windows 9 suffering the same fate as 8! M$ had better make the Appstore and its stripped down runtime (for running Tablet/phone apps) a totally separate download and install at the users discretion OPTION! M$ had better realise that the only reason Its OS became so used, is that most people did not want or need a closed app/application ecosystem (Apple Style), and if they ever needed that, they would have bought Apple. The customer has spoken, the wallet will be closed, and the No Sale will continue to happen, if M$ does not bow down, and mend its ways!