Windows XP life extended yet again to (possibly) 2011

Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:32PM EDT

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Like Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III, just when you think Windows XP is out... they pull it back in.

Once again -- and I've now lost count on this one -- Microsoft is officially extending the life of the venerable Windows XP operating system. Based on the company's new rules, the OS can be pre-installed on machines for up to 18 months after the general availability of Windows 7 -- or until Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is released, whichever is sooner.

Assuming Windows 7 ships in October as planned, that means XP may be alive and well until April 2011. On the other hand, Microsoft has been releasing Service Packs more quickly of late, and 18 months would be an awfully long time for Windows to go without a patch.

The move was apparently a response to Gartner's Michael Silver, who lambasted the company's previous policy, which would create only six months of overlap between XP and Windows 7, and which he saw as not enough time for large enterprises to manage the transition from one OS to the other. (And let's get real: No one is going to upgrade to Vista in the meantime.)

In response, Silver called the new policy "good" but "still not great."

His beef? Microsoft's Service Pack clause, which is as nebulous a term as one can fathom. Service Packs are really nothing more than bundled up collections of bug fixes, and there are no guidelines about how serious those fixes need to be or how many of them one needs in order to justify putting out a Service Pack of them. Microsoft could release Windows 7 Service Pack 1 a week after it was released -- citing whatever reasons it wanted -- and abruptly yank XP from the market. What's worse is that Service Packs can arrive without much warning, which would give businesses even less time to prepare for XP going off market.

As a side note, remember that XP is already technically at its end of life: It's no longer available at retail, and only extended support plans are available. Technically only businesses are supposed to be able to buy it. Microsoft will stop patching XP, as well, in April 2014 -- and that includes all security updates.

Unless it changes its mind. Again.

Comments on Windows XP life extended yet again to (possibly) 2011

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  • 6 Posted by cnull on Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:33PM EDT Report Abuse

    There will absolutely be a Windows 7 SP1, if for no other reason than many businesses won't consider an OS upgrade until SP1 has come out. Catch-22.

  • 7 Posted by metallicake on Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:09PM EDT Report Abuse

    It's mind boggling that as 'obsolete' as XP is, it's acted as a great white-out for the Vista typo. Weird to think about.

  • 8 Posted by bella77427 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    Ha...long live XP. Yet in all seriousness any OS no matter how well designed will need fixes from time to time. The frequency of the need for them as well as the severity of the issues involved is what counts the most. The fewer the better.

  • 9 Posted by gboris9999 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    XP Rocks!!!!! Its the most stable operating system out there...unless you plan to blow out $1,500 on a mac. LONG LIVE XP!!! Vista was a worse mistake than M.E. Any one who paid $150+ for vista should have returned it immediately. XP still gets updates so it is not out of date and obsolete.

  • 10 Posted by jaspersara369 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 4:26PM EDT Report Abuse

    The bottom line is; consumers (mostly business) prefer XP! Microsoft simply has no choice but to extend it's life! One post stated that XP is "obsolete beyond belief", well that's just not true. many (very) large companies STILL run Windows 2000 pro! Windows XP can still do everything the majority of the public needs!

  • 11 Posted by shadowman_26 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    companies are still using XP and 2000 due to one reason.....It will cost them millions of dollars to upgrade. That is the only reason XP is still around. 2000 and XP have ran their life cycles. Stop living in the past and embrace the future!!!

  • 12 Posted by mkeith714 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 7:52PM EDT Report Abuse

    Imagine all the people still using win XP and using their PS2... Both of these are almost ten years old, yet both are still doing great!

  • 14 Posted by natman97 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:12PM EDT Report Abuse

    There's a saying if something works there's no need to fix it. And that was the problem with Vista, they fixed semi-working ( I say semi cuz in computer talk nothing is perfect) things an added basically nothing.

  • 15 Posted by lillgad on Fri Jun 19, 2009 12:06AM EDT Report Abuse

    I have gone thru so many transitions with Microsoft OS's, I think it's time to go to MAC

  • 16 Posted by foridude on Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:59AM EDT Report Abuse

    Well, once XP dies that will be then end of my using Microsoft crap! I don't see why every time Microsoft comes out with a new OS, they expect the public to jump and buy it! Microsoft is a monopoly that thinks it owns the internet. It's days will soon be over. All software should be free!

  • 17 Posted by maninblack4r on Fri Jun 19, 2009 10:48AM EDT Report Abuse

    Leave XP alone-XP IS THE BETTER til microsoft can reduce the bugs!! Left W/98 2 Win XP got it all together. the only thing that is somewhat better is DX-10, XP would Out sale VISTA if XP had DX 10

  • 18 Posted by narutard3000 on Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:11PM EDT Report Abuse

    If they're still continuing XP even as windows 7 is coming out, Microsoft must not be as confident anymore....Vista probably taught them a lesson. Vista is OK, but I like XP better as it shuts down faster....waay faster..

  • 19 Posted by r2croy on Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    Anything I do, on a computer, can be done with XP with a lot less powerful hardware... Vista or 7 would just be a waste of money for me..

  • 20 Posted by adbrey2626 on Sat Jun 20, 2009 8:00AM EDT Report Abuse

    I have windows vista home premiun, will I'll be able to buy windows 7 professional upgrade for my desktop, from Dell?

  • 21 Posted by twohlrab3 on Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:27AM EDT Report Abuse

    Anyone who says XP sucks is showing their pure ignorance. XP still goes way beyond what the average consumer wants from an operating system, and it is the most stable one out there. For those who like a flashy operating system with a fashion overtone, go sheck out to Steve Jobs. He would love to get your money so you can make a fashion example out of computing with your iPod and Mac.

  • 22 Posted by jimmysim60 on Sat Jun 20, 2009 1:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    All of us, average folks, will HAVE TO buy Win7 once WinXP becomes unusable due no support,no updates and no backward-compatibility. Only the rich can afford Apple. Only techno-geeks can figure out Linux, though it's the cheapest............Imagine buying a new GM car and after 5 years, GM tells you, you will have to buy a new car soon coz no more spares being produced for your still roadworthy 5-year-old GM car. ........Apple should licence out it's OS to cptr makers and compete with MS for the mass consumer market.

  • 23 Posted by jimmysim60 on Sat Jun 20, 2009 2:17PM EDT Report Abuse

    In the 1980s,Apple invented GUI. Apple made and sold her cptrs for 5k = a luxury item = small market. Then MS "duplicated" Apple's invention , called it Windows and claimed it as his own. Apple sued MS but lost. Then MS licenced out his Win3.0 to low-cost makers who sold their Windows-compatible cptrs for 2k. Soon Windows dominated and cptrs became mass-market. Later, Win95, Win97, Win2000, WinME and WinXP. In the cyber-world, Windows don't let in fresh air .

  • 24 Posted by thisjukeboxplays33rpm on Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:13PM EDT Report Abuse

    Again Jummysim60, Apple did not INVENT the GUI, they devised the GUI that made the Apple mouse device intregral with their computers and OS. The GUI was first exhibited in over 40 years ago with the concepts and devices called the MOUSE, TABLET, TRACKBALL...vrtually anything we call a HUMAN INTERFACE DEVICE (HID) uses a GUI.

  • 25 Posted by jimmysim60 on Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:14AM EDT Report Abuse

    My mistake . Pardon my old age = memory not very good . Was it WiGSYWiG that Apple invented in the 80s.? Anyway, Apple's OS pre-dates MS's OS . Also, Apple invented Ipod and Iphone . Hollywood and publishers use Apple's CGI and CAD specialized software . Macs are superior to WinXp/Win7 but expensive . MS also "duplicated" Sony's PS2 and called it X-Box. Hope, my memory didn't fail me this time , hehe.

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