and the manufacturer says "not our problem--it's old!" Then people might realize what a Pandora's Box this is...

This is exactly what Microsoft is saying about Windows XP. For IOT devices lasting dozens of years, it is better to stay as far away from Microsoft as possible.

My first and subsequent posts, and the article - are all about Microsoft's attempts to earn trust. Many millions of customers have already reposed trust and money with Microsoft for their software. Migrating to open source is not an easy option for most of them; and indeed that is not the point under debate.

If Microsoft wants their loyal trustworthy userbase to continue to trust them, they should adopt different measures than being pseudo-transparent with biggest customers such as the government. I have not written, nor intend to debate upon Microsoft's customers migrating to open source.

If you want to buy 20 machines today with a Windows OS, the only choice is Windows 8. Even though almost a billion PCs run XP, it is not possible to get a new machine with a legal licensed copy of XP without jumping through numerous hoops and shelling out loads of cash.

Microsoft wants us to trust their word that it is not feasible to offer or support XP on new machines. This is not believable. Opening up the source code is the only way to prove or disprove Microsoft's version of the facts.

Whether you agree or not is not important. Hundreds of legacy code developed for Windows platform using Windows development tools run only on XP and are not supported by 7 or 8. Customers are left with no choice but to rewrite code at great expense, often impossible since the vendors are no longer in business. In my view this represents a lock-in, whereby customers are forced to shell out large sums of money to obtain support for XP legally on new systems by investing in Enterprise Volume License Agreements and associated costs.

A pseudonym enables other posters to look at your posting history and judge for themselves based on what they see.

Be brave enough to post after logging in, or you will be thought of as a shill.

My post wasn't about the options for Microsoft's customers. It was about Microsoft's attempts at transparency to earn trust.

Don't force bloatware on hapless customers. XP was 1.2GB. XP with SP2 was about 2GB. XP with SP3 is about 7GB. And now Microsoft claims XP is so insecure it cannot be patched anymore, so customers have to buy a new OS which weighs in at 20GB.

Cut all the crap and come clean. Release the entire source code for XP if you are not going to patch it. Or keep quiet and prepare to be unbelieved even if you speak the truth.

They should fire all their marketing executives and build a simple website, and try online marketing instead. They can employ tools like, you knoe, Search Engine Optimisation, Website building tools etc. etc.

Whenever I look at the ugly girls dancing in the GoDaddy ads I can see where they keep losing more and more millions.

If the Americans had any intelligence and sincerity, Snowden would not have had any reason to flee in the first place.

The headline indicates a necessity to trust anybody or any entity. There is no necessity to trust anyone. Least of all myself, because time plays tricks with me and I keep changing all the while.

Business people that are travelling need access to email, MS Office, and the internet, and they need a real keyboard.

What good is a keyboard, if the Windows 8 OS ignores it and decides that you should use touch instead? The Windows8 interface puts off all users, unlike on a desktop, the interface cannot be replaced on a tablet, by installing 3rd party tools.

Corporation already use Microsoft, and MS has some good support for them.

You haven't lied, yet stayed away from telling the truth as well. Corporations use Microsoft software, but very very very few of them have gone with Microsoft Windows 8. The reason is that Windows 8 sucks big time in the corporate environment, it irritates the hell out of everybody. MS has stopped supporting XP, and tablets run only 8, so it's useless for them.

I gather that you disagree, but I'd like to know: have you actually tried using one?

I tried a Surface RT when it came out, could not join it to the Active Directory.
The Surface Pro2 was too pricey but the boss got one. Running regular MS applications on Windows 8 gave me a dirty guilty feeling, I didn't feel comfortable at all.
Atleast on a desktop with Windows 8, you can escape to the classic interface with some effort, on a tablet it is futile.

a medium-quality laptop and medium-quality Android tablet, both of which will be able to run Microsoft Office.

Some mfrs still offer tablets with Windows 7, so you can run a proper version of Microsoft Office on it. But the Surface Pro comes welded with Windows 8+, and that is useless for business users and business applications.

My uses, as an IT manager:
                      note taking in meetings with OneNote
IT Manager that takes notes? Interesting.

                      reviewing documents (Word/Excel/PDF)
For every Manager that reviews documents, there are a 100+ business users that create and edit them. Very painful on a tablet, even a Surface Pro.

presenting (PowerPoint)
Again, a small fraction of business users.

email (Outlook or Mail)
Very painful without a real mouse and keyboard, you can attach them to a tablet, but that's make it more expensive and more cumbersome than a desktop at a third of the price.

web browsing
Again, painful on Windows*+ versions of the OS.

cloud storage (OneDrive)
again, this is far better on laptops and desktops with proper network cards.

                      Remote Desktop (Citrix Reciever)
                      entertainment on airplanes: video, ebooks
A 12" device is more of a hindrance for these use cases. On a tablet 10" form factor like the iPad would've been ideal.

I do need to be able to run MS-Office compatible software on whatever platform I use. Microsoft's pitch -- "runs all your favorite MS software on your device of choice"

Ever tried running MS Office apps without a mouse?

Ever tried running your favourite MS software (I mean software developed using older versions of Visual Studio) on Windows 8+ versions?

Ever tried connecting a Surface Pro to your company's Active Directory and implementing GPO?

A $300 desktop does it very well, and a $500 laptop does it better, and is portable besides.

A tablet that doesn't win Windows 7 or XP is useless for business users.