"we" need drivers for fz series asap

[costastg]

I read different topics at the forum and i must say that almost everyone is disappointed about the decision of sony to preinstall windows vista in vaio notebooks. This action decreased the power of vaio and lately a vaio notebook is considered to be a notebook for the "newbies". I am an owner of FZ11M and i am very disappointed about the operating system (Vista). But i am more disappointed because i do not have the opportunity to change it. When someone buys a notebook, he expects to be able to use for his own needs. As a result of this i find unprofessional the fact that there were not published any drivers for XP. XP are more stable and widespread.

I know that this "lack" of drivers is of course an agreement between sony and microsoft (who is trying to promote a bad product) but i would like to have the freedom of choice. At this case i cannot use my laptop as i would like because i do not have the drivers for the operating system that me and millions of people are using.

SO I WOULD LIKE TO ASK FROM THE ADMINISTRATORS TO PASS THIS MESSAGE (WHICH IS NOT ONLY MINE AS YOU CAN READ)TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WE NEED DRIVERS FOR XP FOR FZ SERIES.

PS: i am sure that nothing will happen but please change your politics before it is too late. Do not destroy your sales because of a bad product of another company.

[Blencogo]

I can't see it happening.

Problem is that EVERY new PC will have to have Vista installed after 31 Jan 2008 as Microsoft will not be issuing any more OEM or retail licenses for XP after that date.

OK Microsoft will support XP until 2014 on existing licenses but we are going to have to accept Vista sooner rather than later. All software manufacturers will have to develop their Vista versions and XP will get dumped. Similarly new hardware will not be XP compatible.

I would think that all the drivers for an XP install on the FZ-Series are available if you want them badly enough and are willing to search.

Unfortunately the Utilities remain a difficulty as Sony have not produced a set for XP but these are fairly generic to all Vaios and someone with patience should be able to manufacture their own set that will run on XP.

[costastg]

I am not saying about the preinstalled vista. I understand the policy and i am OK with it. I do not agree with the fact that someone cannot change vista. About the drivers where could i find them fully working under XP? I am not saying about the utilities.

[Blencogo]

Yes, I understand what you are saying and agree with you. I also agree that I don't think we will see any change because of the January 2008 deadline.

However, Sony will be like all other manufacturers and are only going to support one Operating System. If you want to install another you are going to be on your own! After all, no-one expected Sony to produce divers and utilities for Windows '95 for all models released with XP.

You would need to identify each piece of hardware installed in your Vaio and then search for XP drivers. Most drivers should be available either from other Sony Vaios or from the manufacturer's website. The tricky ones will be those that use Vista Generic Drivers and may not have an XP equivalent.

[Blencogo]

Have you tried this link?

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/os/xp/downgrade/index.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons

I'd be interested to see if the FZ models are supported.

[THINK2k]

no they aren´t at this time i tryed it with my product code 😞