XP is dead: No more dodging the Vista bullet?

by Stevie Smith - Jun 30 2008, 11:10

Bring out yer dead. Mark your calendars of doom in ominous blood-red scrawl, for today is the day that American software beast Microsoft Corp. chopped the retail head off its stalwart XP operating system and held aloft (the still unpopular) Windows Vista as its now unavoidable successor.

Flatly ignoring the substantial pleas of its customer base, Redmond-based Microsoft has upheld its decision to stop selling the Windows XP operating system (OS) on June 30, which now means that computer vendors will not be able to directly offer anything other than Vista on their systems when it comes to supplying a Windows OS.

However, those prospective computer buyers absolutely unwilling to embrace Vista -- and not keen on the thoroughly respectable delights of a Linux-based solution -- do still have a few ‘last gasp’ options open to them when it comes to legally taking receipt of Microsoft’s seven-year-old operating system.

One solution for business customers is to purchase either the Ultimate or Business versions of Windows Vista, both of which allow the user to perform a software downgrade that reverts back to XP Professional; while another ‘out’ is to purchase a computer from the ultra low-cost sub-notebook hardware category (think the ASUS Eee PC), to which Microsoft has granted XP an initial two-year availability reprieve.

The old operating system will also be made available through January 31 of 2009 via small custom computer system builders.

Despite insisting on its apparent willingness to always listen to the feedback of its customers, Microsoft’s unwillingness to extend the shelf life of XP through to the 2009/2010 emergence of its “Windows 7” operating system flies in the face of the “Save XP” online petition, which grew inexplicably as the software’s June 30 cut off date loomed.

Prior to today, the “Save XP” petition, which can be found through tech site InfoWorld, has amassed the support of some 210,000 signatories in its ongoing efforts to motivate Microsoft to put away its axe and spare its faithful software platform. However, Microsoft has remained unmoved by the rush of support for XP, pushing the cull as vitally important for the ongoing adoption and subsequent reliability enhancement of Vista.

Although Microsoft has not bowed to consumer calls, choosing instead to force a more defined focus on Vista, the corporation has said that it will at least provide full technical support for XP users through 2009, and then offer limited support through 2014.

While it brings a host of operational and security-related enhancements with it, Windows Vista has received continued criticism from mainstream and business customers alike due to persistent software and hardware compatibility issues and greater processing demands.

Notably, Intel Corp., the world’s leading chipmaker, last week became the latest of Microsoft’s enterprise customers to reveal that it has no firm future plans to upgrade its international network of computer systems from XP over to Vista.

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