Punters buying used PCs to avoid Vista

Punters are apparently scrambling to get their hands on used, second hand PCs, not just because they offer a cheap fix in tough economic times, but mainly because they come loaded with Windows XP rather than Vista.

Studies carried out by both Gartner and IDC have found that because older software is often incompatible with Vista, many consumers are opting for used computers with XP installed as a default, rather than buying an expensive new PC with Vista and downgrading.

Big business, which typically thinks nothing about splashing out for newer, more up-to-date PCs, is also having trouble with Vista, with even firms like Intel noting XP would remain the dominant OS within the company for the foreseeable future.

Josh Kaplan, president of computer repair outfit Rescuecom, told PC World people wanted to stick with XP to avoid standardisation problems. His company has resold XP-based PCs to companies that use software that is incompatible with Vista and which would require a substantial upgrade to become compatible. "Having five PCs that are Vista and five XP can create training and compatibility issues," he said.

Of course, buying a second-hand PC without having to shell out for a Vista license is also much cheaper and certain cheeky resellers are attempting to bump up their own profits even further by selling computers with illegitimate copies of XP bunged in, something which Gartner severly frowns upon, by the way.

Naughty, naughty, chipping away at Microsoft’s billions like that. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.