People, what is it going to take for you to finally ditch Windows XP? Microsoft has already sent out plenty of warnings to XP users letting them know support for the platform will end on April 8th. However, if the threat of getting nailed by countless new strains of malware isn’t enough to get you to upgrade from XP, Microsoft is now sweetening the offer with $50 worth of free stuff… but the catch is you’ll have to buy a new computer with Windows 8.1.
Microsoft has announced that any XP users who buy one of 16 different Windows 8.1 machines will get a $50 gift certificate to the Microsoft Store. The good news is that some of the machines that are part of the deal are relatively inexpensive: The ASUS VivoBook X200CA-9BCT Touchscreen Laptop, for instance, sells for just $279 while the 32GB Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablet sells for only $229.
The deal will last between now and April 30th or “until supplies last.” Microsoft says that taking advantage of the deal will also get you “free premium phone, chat, and sales support for virtually anything you need” on your new Windows 8.1 machine for the first 90 days you own it. So if you’re scrambling to upgrade from Windows XP and you’re comfortable switching to Windows 8.1 and not Windows 7, this sounds like a pretty great deal.
