When news hit of Windows Vista"s final major delay, OEMs were depressed. Several contacts in the industry told me that not having Vista on PCs in time for Christmas was a major disappointment. Big surprise. For all of the negative press Vista was sure to garner, it still would drive PC sales. Many OEMs adopted Microsoft"s "Express Upgrade" plan, offering holiday shoppers the option of getting an upgrade to Vista for little or no additional cost. If you purchased a new PC with Windows XP after October 26, chances are you"re entitled to a free or discounted upgrade, depending on the deal the OEM offered.
But as the January 30 launch date came and went, customers waiting for their Express Upgrade have found that there"s nothing "express" about it. Some two weeks after launch, few—if any—customers have received their upgrades from major OEMs, despite the fact that you can walk into any retail computer store and pick one up right off the shelves. What gives? Dell cited initial customer demand and server problems for part of their own delays, but now that everything is working, the company is still saying that Express Upgrades will not ship before the end of the month. Furthermore, the company states that orders are filled on a first-come/first-served basis, so some users have longer waits in store. Indeed, the company is warning users that shipping itself may take 6-8 weeks.