ZDNet reports that there will be an exception to the XP cut-off rule for Ultra Low Cost PCs. Many UMPCs use a similar low-cost platform to the one that Microsoft is describing and considering that the reason you might use XP is because you have a low spec PC and not a low cost one, why should this mean that low cost UMPCs aren’t included? The price of the Everun and the Wibrain are as low as some of these ULCPCs. If you sold the Samsung Q1 Ultra at $499, would it be a ULCPC?
I suspect that MS will decide, whatever they say in a press release, case-by-case on projected sales volume rather than any fixed set of rules. Using the the Eee PC excuse is an easy way out. On the face of it, it says something about how they perceive the consumer mobile pc and MID market but I would take this announcement as simply an indicator that the low-cost and mobile PC market is a moving, evolving entity.
