GREAT NEWS: Some major online sellers have Windows XP available on new systems.  Note that you may have to buy a business class computer that is approximately the same price for similar performance consumer computers.

Dell has XP available on notebooks as a FREE "downgrade" option.  The downgrade option essentially means that you select XP as your operating system.  Originally, this was an extra charge but sales may have had some bumps that made the change happen.  Also, consider Toshiba, HP, Lenovo, and other major manufacturers.

NOTE: You probably will NOT find a Windows XP computer at a retail store.

Windows XP availability should be great news for those small businesses that do not want to start moving to a Vista operating system at their work place.

Another Option: Buy a Mac. I wish I had bought a Mac instead of the crippled extra Vista notebook I currently have.  Mac’s sales have jumped dramatically – especially in the business sector where Mac has not pursued heavily.

Give us your comments about your Vista experiences or your computer purchase with the Vista to XP downgrade option.

Microsoft will stop retail sales of the popular and stable Windows XP operating system on June 30th.  You may have already heard about Vista difficulties and the more expensive hardware requirements compared to Windows XP.  I have had several clients ask me if there is any way they can find a new computer with XP pre-installed instead of Vista.  Yes you can – if you buy your new systems online.  Dell, Toshiba, Sony, HP/Compaq, and Lenovo (was IBM) business class machine are available online with XP pre-installed.  However, traditional retailers are unlikely to have XP computers available.

Buying Vista is not horrible, it just takes more effort to get things back to normal after adding a new Vista computer.  A little preparation and a lot of patience is what you need if you decide to start moving to Vista this year.