Not exactly a confidence builder . . .

Either it’s a textbook case of CYA or a lack of confidence in the product, but Microsoft and its PC partners are going to allow Windows 7 users to downgrade not just to Windows Vista, but also to Windows XP, (the latter — definitely go with the latter) if they so desire.

So says Mary Jo Foley’s blog on ZD Net yesterday.

Let me see if I understand this: I want to buy a computer with the latest Windows OS on it (when, of course, it’s out) and if it doesn’t, um, “work,” I can always go back to an earlier OS? Am I supposed to be confident in Microsoft’s ability to deliver when they have these provisions?

Isn’t this like being handed a parachute as you get on an airliner, just in case the plane doesn’t, um, “work”?

Fear not, according to the blog: TechARP — the site that broke the still-unconfirmed-but-likely-true report that Microsoft is planning to offer PC buyers a free upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 if they purchase new systems starting this summer — is now reporting that users who downgrade to XP also will be eligible for free Win 7 upgrades via the Windows 7 Upgrade Option program.

Oh, rapture!

Or another solution on your new machine is to run GNU/Linux, but that’s a whole different story.

(Fedora ambassador Larry Cafiero runs HeliOS Solutions West/Redwood Digital Research in Felton, California, and is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)