Inconceivable! Microsoft extends XP sales through April 2010

It is truly the OS that will not die: No matter what you think about Windows XP's successors, the Little OS That Could has reportedly been given yet another reprieve from the high-tech dustbin. AppleInsider claims that Microsoft has agreed to another extension on sales of Windows XP, at least for Hewlett-Packard, the largest manufacturer of Windows-based PCs in the country.

The new extension -- assuming the report is accurate -- allows sales of XP bundled with new PCs through April 30, 2010, allowing HP an extra nine months of sales.

The news puts all parties -- HP, Microsoft, and consumers -- in a strange situation, as Microsoft formally retired XP from shrinkwrapped sales long ago (in June 2008). More importantly, on April 14 of this year, Microsoft will end standard technical support for XP, too.

So-called extended support will be offered for XP for five more years (through April 8, 2014), which means the OS will still receive security patches and critical fixes, but the software will no longer receive feature upgrades after April 14, barely a week from now. More critically, customers will not receive any free tech support from Microsoft (though paid plans will still be available) and the company will not honor any warranty claims for XP, either.

As for other PC companies, unless they also reach a deal with Microsoft, they won't be able to offer Windows XP downgrades from Vista after July 31, 2009. Stay tuned.