For many people, using Windows 8 is a bit of a nightmare. The new operating system is definitely set up for those used to smartphones and tablets, with an emphasis on touch screen capabilities. Those who are still using mouse and keyboards have found that Windows 8 just isn’t that great. Microsoft (News - Alert) is trying to address this, with their new Windows 8.1, meant to make the operating system more mouse and keyboard friendly. Still, many are holding out, unwilling to change over to the new operating system, and instead prefer to stick with the more familiar Windows XP.

Microsoft doesn’t want people to stick to Windows XP.  As a push in the fight against the Windows XP users who refuse to switch over, Microsoft has announced that it will be cutting support to Windows XP on April 8, 2014. Some are still claiming that they will continue to use XP, or they will just use other operating systems such as Linux.

Microsoft has tried appeasing people with Windows 8.1, but that might not be enough, and thus they have now announced that they are going to sweeten the deal. Microsoft is trying to bribe Microsoft XP users. As part of their campaign they have announced that any XP users that buy a new computer running on Windows 8 will receive a $50 gift card.

On top of the $50 gift card, Microsoft is offering a few other deals for XP users that switch over. Those who buy a new computer from the Microsoft store will also receive 90 days of free support, alongside free help in transferring all their data to the new computers. Microsoft will be working with Laplink, a data migration service, to help accommodate the new users with their data transfer needs.

Will these incentives be enough to get people to transfer over to Windows 8? Between the incentives and the new 8.1 update, it is definitely a possibility. However, a recent report shows that 18 percent of users still use Windows XP. People can be stubborn, and it is very possible that these people will still dig their feet in and refuse to change over. Also, while $50 and free data transfer may be nice, buying a new computer that costs between $700 and $1300 may be a bit of a disincentive to change over.