Almost everyone’s familiar with Windows Update, but what about Windows downgrade? Nope, it’s not the latest tool within Windows itself, but it is a catching trend with Vista users, opting to downgrade their Vista to XP Pro. We’ve experienced the same frustration when reviewing notebooks bundled with Microsoft’s latest OS wishing that it had been installed with XP Pro instead.

So, for those looking to downgrade their OS, simply contact your local customer contact center and hand them your< strong>Vista serial number to get an XP Pro activation code. So you don’t actually need to buy a new installer. You can use an older installer disc and just activate it using the newly acquired code. A little note before I forget, this offer is limited to Vista Business and Ultimate Editions only. So if you’re using Basic or Premium, you’re in a bit of a jam.

Some laptop manufacturers such as Dell have already bundled their products with recovery discs for both Vista and XP. Asus and Toshiba are set to follow suit at a later date.