Dell has announced that its customers will have the possibility to ask for a downgrade to Windows XP for the operating system they are buying together with their PC. This will cost them at least $50 dollars more.

As we well know, Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue Windows XP starting June 30. However, there are a lot of PC users out there who don’t like Vista’s greed for resources and still want their PC to come with an XP operating system installed. Naturally, Dell has come up with an idea to help them get what they want, but for a few extra dollars.

The plan is as follows: Dell has announced that people who have purchased Windows Vista Business or Ultimate edition can ask for a downgrade to Windows XP.

They can latter on move back to Vista when they see fit, without having to pay anything more. Dell takes benefit of this Microsoft strategy and offers its customers the possibility of getting their laptops with Windows XP installed as the default operating system if they agree to pay an additional $50.

The customers will also get the Vista toolkit so they will be able to install it when and if they want. But clients interested in applying for the option should know that they will also have to spend a few bucks more on getting a Business or Ultimate Vista edition as well.

The strange thing is that the service is not available for Dell’s most popular series of laptops, Inspiron. Customers who opt for laptops from this series will have to make the downgrade themselves.