Windows XP Downgrade Rights Extended

Since Oct. 2009, Windows 7 Ultimate and Professional shipped with new PCs have included the right to downgrade to both Vista and Windows XP Professional. Microsoft had planned to eliminate the XP downgrade right for PCs sold after a cut-off date of Apr. 22, 2011, or the ship date of Windows 7 SP1, whichever came first. A new policy announced with the release of the Windows 7 SP1 beta in July 2010 eliminates the cut-off date, meaning organizations can deploy Windows XP on Windows 7 PCs regardless of when the PC is purchased.

The original plan discouraged customers from deploying Windows XP on PCs purchased after the cut-off date, creating an incentive for those still using XP to deploy and standardize on Windows 7. Under the original plan, customers wanting to stay put on Windows XP beyond the cut-off date could have suspended the purchase of new PCs after the cut-off date, pending a later Windows 7 companywide upgrade (once compatibility problems with existing applications had been resolved, for example). Or, such customers could have added Software Assurance (SA) to OEM Windows 7 licenses included with new PCs purchased after the cut-off date and used the more liberal downgrade rights gained with SA to downgrade to Windows XP.