Windows XP Extinction Starts June 30 2008

[COMCAM]

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June 24th, 2008

No reprieve: XP phase-out begins June 30

XP petitioners: It’s time to raise the white flag.
After months of rumors that Microsoft might rethink its decision to pull the plug on Windows XP, the official word is out: XP is on its way out.
Microsoft is sticking to its plan to cease providing PC makers with XP to preload on new PCs after June 30, as Microsoft is now letting customers know via a letter it has posted to its Windows XP and Windows Vista Web sites.
The June 23 letter, entitled “An Update on the Windows Roadmap,” from Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President, Online Services & Windows Business Group, reiterated that PC makers won’t be getting more copies of Windows XP to load on new machines after June 30, 2008. (There are two exceptions to this rule: “white box” system builders and makers of ultra-low-cost PCs are allowed to continue to preload XP through 2009 and 2010, repectively.)
Microsoft support for XP doesn’t end on June 30; free Microsoft-provided support for XP continues through April 2009. Microsoft “Extended” support — for which users must pay (other than for security-specific hot fixes and various self-help tools, which are free) — lasts through 2014.
There is no new information about the Windows roadmap in Veghte’s letter. Veghte acknowledged that Vista — especially in its initial release — was not an easy Windows release for many customers to swallow. From his letter:

“The architectural changes that improved security and resilience in Windows Vista led to compatibility issues with existing hardware and applications. Many hardware drivers and applications needed to be updated, and while the majority worked well when we launched Windows Vista, some key applications and drivers were not yet available. Since then, Microsoft and its industry partners have been hard at work to address compatibility issues and now the situation is fundamentally different.”

Windows 7 is coming three years after Windows XP’s Vista’s release, Veghte reminded users. (Microsoft officials have been saying lately on the record that the company is shooting for a late 2009 release for Windows 7.)
What’s your take? Should Microsoft have extended XP’s end-of-life date one more time? Or is the company right in not wanting to send mixed messages to the public about whether Vista is really (finally) ready for prime time?

[kent666]

Well, for me personally I don't think Vista is still ready yet. IMHO better yet wait for the Windows 7 release or if there's a nice improvement on Vista. I haven't tried Vista that much though. Only a little time to test it (Ultimate Vista SP1)... I dunno, it seems a little uncooked for me or something. I'm just not feeling that OS. Anyways, just my 2 cents.

[c_cebrecus]

they are phasing-out XP so that when people starts using Vista, software developers would focus compatibility with Vista thus no more compatibility issues with Vista..

[poldopunk]

support will continue until 2014. (i read somewhere, forgot where that was...digg probably.)

[Xenoxorph]

Windows Vista is far Better than Windows XP.. Its really to troubleshoot your problems using Windows Vista.... Make Sure its Genuine coz the Updates are really useful

[modelator]

im still using win 2000.
wapa gani ko ka gamit ug xp nya ma phase out na??

[o0ace0o]

good thing im using vista

[waterboy0911]

mas mo agree pa ko na ipa stable sa nila ang vista.. but i think mas stable na ang windows 7 kay ila man g upgrade ang vista to windows 7.. mao mao lang sa windows xp na naa nay sp2.. or if maayo kung naay windows vista sp2 aw.. ehem adto nalang ko sa vista sp2.. but saon ta man dili pa man ingon ana ka stable.. so stick to xp sp2 sa ko..

[MartinShortz]

does that mean XP will be downloadable for FREE? maayo unta noh.

[vern]

All this means is XP Retail will no longer be sold. Everything else about XP is alive and kicking. You can still get XP from OEMs for example. You can still activate existing copies of XP at least until 2014 I believe.

EDIT:

*2014 ... see here ... http://bfwgaming.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=36535