Windows 7 and even Windows Vista, I can see, because they're still supported but anything older and unsupported isn't just unwise, it's downright silly.įor example, I could purchase 100 brand new HP laptops, fresh from the factory with pre-installed Windows 8.1 on them, and because I'm a Volume License customer, I could instruct my IT department to reimage those 100 systems with Windows 95. If you decide to not support an operating system, as Microsoft has, why would you allow customers, especially Volume License customers, to downgrade to non-supported operating systems? Customers had other ideas.Īnd how long has Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51 been out of production support? That means that Microsoft's much loved Windows XP was one month away from being mothballed - at least in theory it was one month away from being mothballed. The document's latest update was March 2014. Sorry, I digressed from my already-in-progress tangent. Seriously Microsoft, trading one Corvette for another is one thing but trading a Corvette for a Chevette is quite another. I love my Canon AE-1 that I bought in 1983 but, let's be realistic, that's not a good trade.Ī funny side note is that Windows Vista is a downgrade option.
In the case of purchasing a new Canon T5i digital camera, I wouldn't want to downgrade to a Canon AE-1. OK, so there aren't that many examples where the downgraded version is that much cooler than the new purchase. Figure 1: Downgrade matrix for Windows 8.1 I could buy a new Corvette and immediately downgrade it to a 1965 427ci, 4-speed, convertible, real metal awesome ride. What if other products had this same downgrade capability? The most obvious one that comes to mind is automobiles. Microsoft has set the bar pretty low on this one.īut before I analyze the fascinating possibilities of this self-created loophole, allow me a momentary tangential pursuit. The big question is, "Why would you want to"? The answers to that simple question are far more interesting than the question itself. While researching information for another article, I ran across a real gem on Microsoft's web site: a document titled, " Downgrade rights for Microsoft Volume Licensing, OEM, and full-package product licenses." As you can see in Figure 1 below, you may downgrade your desktop operating system to Windows NT 3.51 or to Windows 95 and every operating system since, from Microsoft's latest Windows 8.1 flagship.
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