No Vista for 2008 Beijing Olympics

The IT systems supporting the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, will not be using Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest operating system.

Instead, the computing hardware will run on Windows XP, according to Xie Long, director of Olympic sponsorship for Lenovo's Olympic Business Department. Lenovo will sponsor computer equipment including desktops, notebooks and servers for the mega sporting event, which will be held in August next year.

Speaking to reporters at a briefing held here Tuesday, Xie explained that the list of computing equipment for the Beijing Olympics was finalized almost three years ago, when "Vista was not even born".

Xie added that Lenovo began providing the hardware to the BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad) two and a half years ago--"even before the Turino Games". Lenovo was the computer hardware sponsor for the 2006 Winter Olympics held in the Italian city of Turin.

View: ZD Net