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Catching up with Vista in China

No surprise that Dell is now offering XP as well as Vista. Some of us have trouble with the new version, especially on mobile.

And it turns out, I wasn't the only one who thought that  it would have hard to pirate Windows now it's Vista: apparently, we were innocent and naive. I also thought it would work easily with Windows Mobile phones. Equally naive...

In China, reports NewLaunches, Microsoft "spent millions of dollars advertising its next generation OS 'Windows Vista'  ... however after two weeks from the Jan 19 launch Microsoft managed to sell a mere 244 copies," they report.

Software piracy, adds the report, "is rampant in the middle kingdom and a pirated version of Vista sells for a mere $1 on the streets."

The demand won't be improved by the number of problems people have had trying to get data off their mobile phones, onto their new Vista PCs. I've had people assure me they'd needed two phones to achieve it. First ActiveSync to connect to the old phone; then the new phone on a different PC with XP on it...

For those who have found this more trouble than it is worth, a tip from Windows Mobile guru Simon Bisson, who tells me: "Windows Mobile users should download the Mobile Device Centre from Microsoft. It works a treat with all the Windows Mobile devices here... and is miles better than Active Stink."

Microsoft says:

The Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center enables you to set up new partnerships, synchronize content and manage music, pictures and video with Windows Mobile powered devices (Windows Mobile 2003 or later). The Windows Mobile Device Center is only supported on Windows Vista.

I should warn you that it doesn't automatically follow that if Bisson can use a piece of software, anybody can. He's a very competent technical fettler; I've hard reports from other users suggesting that you should make sure you synchronise ALL your phone data first with a reliable spare XP machine, or risk losing it, especially if using Outlook 2007.

Dell's decision to stop its "Vista Only" policy for new laptops may be connected. Ruben Francia reports: "Dell dumped its Windows Vista-only policy by adding Windows XP again as an option for four models of its Inspiron notebooks and two models of its Dimension desktop PCs despite Microsoft is sabotaging XP to make roads for Vista."

More from Dell on its Ideas In Action pages.