Vista Disqualified for 2008 Olympics

Microsoft Windows XP will be used to handle vital functions of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and has already been installed on most of the PCs delivered by Lenovo for the event. Microsoft's poster boy Windows Vista will only be used on PCs set up in Internet lounges for athletes to use, contrary to a Microsoft sponsored report earlier this year. (Source: InfoWorld.com)

Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo, said the Olympic games require mature, stable technologies during a briefing in Beijing. Due to the size and importance of the Olympics, it's not the place to try new technologies, especially when everything has to work smoothly. "If it's not stable, it could have some problems" he said.

Henceforth, vital PC-related tasks such as games management, event result, commentator information, and staff scheduling systems are running Windows XP.

No wireless networking will be used at the Olympics, since it was deemed too risky. All networking, including the backup system, will use wires.

The 2008 Olympic games officially open August 8. 12,000 desktops, 2,000 printers, 800 laptops and 700 servers have already been sent to Olympic organizers by Lenovo for official Olympic use. Another 5,000 PCs were sent for use in the athlete's lounges and for other hospitality and marketing purposes.

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