...not for fear of "losing" XP, but for realizing that everything is fine with XP and that you don't have to spend $$ for new OS and even more $$ for new PCs. You are suggesting a solution to a problem that does not exist (although you are pushing hard to convince us!) One of my favorite comments to salesmanship like this is "if this is the answer, then what was the question?"
NO upgrade path from XP to W7???...and this is supposed to encourage XP users to upgrade to W7? It really gives those organizations looking at other OSes the time and motivation to switch to LINUX.
XP may be an old OS but it's widely used. Consumers, in particular, will be squeamish about installing a completely new OS. I think the word of mouth about Win 7 is so good—and rightly so—that users will finally want to upgrade. However, when they hear that they have to replace their operating system and, ostensibly, rebuild their relatively new PCs, they could balk.
My IT department, like so many others, wanted nothing to do with Vista, or the headaches they assumed they'd encounter. Microsoft needs companies to feel comfortable about switching to Win 7. If they can't upgrade from the OS most are using, they'll wait, too.
this Microsoft strategy will certainly scare off many XP users who were considering an upgrade
wondering why they'd do anything to harm its chances in the marketplace