Local PC makers appear to be ill-equipped to deal with an influx of XP orders in the lead up to the operating system's launch, with most showing ambiguity towards sales expectations.
Hewlett Packard told ZDNet Australia it is not taking pre-orders for Windows XP as it is concentrating on selling its current product line. IBM said that like most vendors, it is offering vouchers for customers wishing to upgrade when the OS becomes available, however, until it starts getting calls from customers it is difficult to predict what the demand for XP will be.
Dell, on the other hand, appears to be gearing up for the event of the year, saying it is pre-installing machines with XP one week before the launch date.
-No one will be able to get it earlier than launch date, but we'll be turning it on so people will have it on the day," a Dell spokesperson told ZDNet Australia.
Dell is expecting to launch the product on October 25.
Compaq said that it will not be pre-ordering any machines with XP operating system, however, -they will be XP ready".
-At this stage there is no date for when we will be loading XP," a spokesperson from Compaq said.
IBM told ZDNet it would start shipping machines with XP installed on them in the first week of November.
Nearly all of the local PC makers are offering redeemable coupons for customers who purchased a PC before the launch of XP, which will enable them to upgrade to XP when it becomes available.
Gateway, which recently announced the closure of its local operations, started taking pre-orders for XP-installed PCs from its US customers earlier this month.
Who would want it?
Considering the new licensing and the open windows security.