Dell Brings XP Back for Consumer PCs

Last month, I spent an hour at J & R in lower Manhattan watching dozens of people bringing back Vista OS software. Several of them then went directly to the store's Apple department and bought their first Macs. In some ways, (unless you're Microsoft, I guess) it was comical. I was there with a friend who bought a PC, tried Vista, and ran back to J & R to exchange it for a Mac, which he loves as much as I love mine.

Now, because of the hue and cry from individuals and small business owners who'd been forced to use Vista because it was shipped on all new Dells, will have a choice.

When Dell refunded my money for my lemon Dell desktop, Jeff Knox, my Dell blogger relations person, told me that big companies never upgrade to a new OS until a year or two after it comes out. In the interim, companies like Dell and Gateway, etc. use individuals and small businesses as forced testers of the new system.

In the retail market, he said, "less than 2 percent of consumer machines being sold have XP as an option. On Dell's Idea Storm, more than 11,000 votes not to eliminate XP made sentiments clear.

Props to Dell for asking, and listening. Are you listening Microsoft? It doesn't matter what you say if people think your products suck.