With XP set to be discontinued in two short weeks, you'd think developers would be rushing to get their wares ready for Vista. And you'd be wrong. According to an eye-popping report from market analysis firm Evans Data, only eight percent of North American software developers are writing for Vista, while a full half are still writing for XP. Read the full press release on the report here (registration required).

That's even lower than the overall market share of Vista, which is currently about 15 percent of all computers connected to the web.

There are no real surprises behind Vista's lack of enthusiasm among developers. The poor showing likely stems from its litany of problems, poor support for older computers and peripherals, and healthy demand for Windows XP, which still owns a 72 percent market share. (Overall Windows development, including server versions, is underway by about 2/3 of all developers, reflecting significant strength in the Mac and Linux markets.)

Cnet's Matt Asay notes that Microsoft may also be at blame for making Vista development too difficult. Quoting an article by ITJungle, he reminds us that Vista's security efforts come at the expense of making software easier to use and to write. Without access to the lowest levels of the operating system plus that UAC "are you sure!?" popup nonsense, developing for Vista represents possibly the largest change to the programming environment since Windows 95.

If I were (still) a programmer I'd probably feel the same way.