Monday was theoretically the day that, over protests and
despite its popularity, Windows XP was retired as a way of pushing people to
adopt the widely reviled Vista operating system before the very Vista-like
“next-generation” Windows 7 arrives, supposedly at the end of next year or at
least by January of 2010.
It’s an odd kind of retirement. It technically means you
won’t be able to get XP from major OEMs like HP and Dell after they run out of
XP inventory or from Microsoft under its Volume Licensing program unless you
downgrade from Vista Business or Vista Ultimate to XP Professional.
Boxed copies in retail stores will become increasingly rare
finds but your friendly neighborhood systems integrator can legally sell XP until
January 31, 2009.
And XP Home and XP Starter will be available on the really
cheap PCs, the so-called nettops and netbooks that simply everyone will be
doing, until June 30, 2010.
Microsoft, which recently released XP Service Pack 3, says
that it will continue to provide “security updates and other critical updates”
until April of 2014 at which point XP will be a hoary 14-years-old.
About Maureen O'Gara Maureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025.
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