With a Year To Go, a New Incentive To Leave Windows XP Behind
With Windows XP exactly one year out from its support retirement date today, Microsoft marked the milestone with a new deal that involves partners.
As Microsoft has repeatedly reminded partners for the last several years, Windows XP support completely ends on April 8, 2014. The same date portends the end of support for Office 2003.
In a blog post today, Microsoft announced a Get2Modern offer. Under the deal, small and medium businesses that buy Windows 8 Pro and Office Standard 2013 together get up to 15 percent off the upgrade. To qualify for the deal, customers need to buy through the Open License program by June 30, 2013, and they need to contact a partner for pricing.
The page links to the Pinpoint directory, but there doesn't appear to be much guidance built into the search. Partners would do well, as always, to reach out to customers on their own to let them know about this opportunity.
The SMB-focused deal is in effect for up to 249 seats each of Windows 8 Pro and Office 2013 Standard editions.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of the story noted that Microsoft originally posted conflicting figures for the maximum number of seats for the offer. The correct number is 249 and both Microsoft pages now reflect that number of seats.
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Posted by Scott Bekker on April 08, 2013