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Windows XP to be discontinued in early 2008!
Microsoft says the Vista-related move is in line with previous OS upgrades, but some users aren’t happy
By Paul Krill US | Monday, 23 April, 2007
Microsoft’s plan to cease OEM shipments of Windows XP is not sitting well with some observers, based on internet-driven feedback.
According to a Microsoft Life-Cycle Policy web page, Microsoft plans to discontinue shipments of Windows XP to OEMs on January 31, 2008. The page also says retail licences will be discontinued at that time. Editions affected include the Professional, Tablet PC, Professional x64, Home and Media Centre editions of XP.
Chatters on Silicon Valley.com cite issues with the suitability of Vista on existing machines and say they might just go to Linux instead.
“If Microsoft forces us to make a choice of Vista or Linux, they might just be unpleasantly surprised as to the choice many of us will make,” one chatter wrote.
“I am telling anyone who has not yet upgraded from Win 9x to XP that they had better do it right away because Vista will never run on their Win 98-era machine. If they don’t upgrade to XP right away, they will have to switch to Linux. The only alternative to that is to throw away their computer and buy a brand new one!”
Another chatter said it was “time for enterprises to stock up on shrink-wrapped copies of XP Pro.”
A chatter on Dell’s Direct2Dell site expressed similar reservations.
“I don’t care how much you’ve tested your systems with Vista, it simply will not be enough,” the chatter says.
“In the corporate world, there are countless applications that are going to fail miserably with Vista in offices that are standardised on XP Pro.”
Dell says it plans to continue offering XP for now. “Dell recognises the needs of small business customers and understands that more time is needed to transition to a new operating system. The plan is to continue offering Windows XP on select Dimension and Inspiron systems until later this [northern] summer,” the company says on Direct2Dell.
In a statement, Microsoft acknowledges its Vista emphasis.
“Windows Vista is safer, easier to use, better connected and more entertaining than any operating system we’ve ever released, and we’re encouraged by the positive customer response we’ve seen to date,” the company says in a statement.
“It’s standard practice to allow OEMs, retailers and system builders to continue offering the previous version of Windows for a certain period of time after a new version is released, and this information as it applies to Windows XP has been available to our partners and to the public,” since last year, Microsoft says.
Microsoft has reported that more than 20 million copies of Vista shipped from January 30 to February 28, the first month of general availability.
A Harris survey of home-based users in March, however, found that only 12% of the 2,223 respondents plan to upgrade.
There are pluses and minuses to upgrading, according to analyst Michael Cherry, of Directions on Microsoft. Security features, such as BitLocker Drive Encryption, are driving upgrades, he says. However, hardware issues have been a problem, he says,“The major factor I think that’s putting a damper on it is people being uncomfortable with what the hardware requirements are,” he says.
Questions have arisen about configuration matters such as the circuitry of graphics cards, he adds. Lawsuits have even arisen about what it means to be Vista-capable.
Cherry says Vista appears not to have affected PC sales rates, either upwards or downwards. Vista shipments have been about as expected, according to analyst Brett Waldman of IDC, who also acknowledges there are equipment issues with the new platform. Shipment levels so far are similar to what XP presented, he says.
To run Vista’s Aero interfaces requires an advanced graphics card, Waldman says. A lot of low-end PCs do not have that, he says. Otherwise, upgrading a PC to 1GB of memory should make it Vista-capable, he says.
i have upgraded more than a few computers from vista to xp..
i don't know anyone that likes it.. if it was the only o/s then i know more then a few people that wouldn't have or use a computer, including myself..
As far as I know, MSWinXPSP3 is, from Microsoft Official stands in last one year time period and still present time, really totally last SP for this OS, ever...
Although, till some 2006, Microsoft have some plans to develop even a MSWinXPSP4, but this will never happen, and from my own IT Security perspective as IT Security field specialist is very bad news :-(
Discontinued does not mean that we can use it any more, it is just mean that you cannot buy it any more, and that Microsoft is not obligate any more to develop Updates, Service Packs and similar... In fact, the MSWinXP will not be death for few years in the future (officially till 08 April 2014)... The same thing happed with Win98 and similar... Yet, Microsoft is officially obligate, and by the law, to support some of their software product for 7 years after official launching date for that product is overdraw or pass... The truth is also that they have some revised Extended policy (this is not a Roadmap here any more), for support even after that 7 years passes by (in the MSWinXP OS issue that is the 08 April 2014), yet, you can read all about that in:
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And finally, what users all wait in first quarter of this 2008 year is 4 things from Vista and XP:
a) MSWinXPSP3 (yeah, finally.......!!!!)
b) MSWinVistaSP1 + Many errors and bug repaired + UAC disconnection option but that this disconnection, after you shut down warnings from the Tray / System Notification Area will NOT also disconnect every single protection in whole Vista OS concerning the Security Center, because, if you will do that, you will even not have IE7 protection any more (Phishing Filter, Pop-up blocker...)
Unfortunately in whole this, UAC will be still the No1 hate-problem in MSWinVistaSP1, and you cannot simply turn him off, and if you want also turn off the warnings in the Tray / System Notification Area, that will still as today, unfortunately in MSWinVistaSP1, also shut down any protection in Security Center, and that also and further means disconnection of and protection in IE7 or future version of the same :-(
In addition here, Microsoft do that all deliberately, because UAC will never ever will be out of the game in all the future Microsoft OSs, or just in the any future Service Pack for Vista after this now MSWinVistaSP1 (still now in some end-Beta or Release Candidate; RC).
UAC is designed from similar software (a part of the OS), like in Mac OS, and even the future of the Linux is not safe here, because there are greatly possibility that some form of UAC will be soon also developed for Linux OSs also, just because so-called IT Security!!!
Why Linux form of UAC? - Its simply because it exist in Microsoft OS, it exist in Apple OS, it will go under even more in Linux OSs also... I smell that bad development here, and UAC is not solution for IT Security issue here at all, and it will never be, because every single thing is comes from here: Ask the user whether he will allow something or not. Instead of that cheep asking, Microsoft will secure Windows even more, if they offer just simply free IT Security short education for all their users... IT Security is not something that you can direct as left or right, it is not that simple, it is complex even for 3-dimensional way describeings..., and yet, every OS Software Corporation make this same mistake, and Microsoft do just the same, so UAC is not a solution for IT Security, it is just a pretty cheap street signal that will ask you every single time, whether to go left or right...
All our task here will be, just let you're self in - "WHEN IN ROME, DO AS THE ROMANS DO";
Means, make a peace with UAC and live with him from now one...
If not, you can just turn off completely the Security Center in Vista and pray and hope, that your IT Security Software Suite (Kaspersky, Eset ESS...), will be just good enough to safe your but :-) ... In addition, use Firefox rather than IE7 (or future versions of the same), because turning off the Vista Security Center will also turn off any IE7 protections (IE7 Phishing Filter, PopUp Blocker...)
Computing is not about computers any more. It is about living. Nicholas Negroponte, author
Well Vista SP1 will get to us very, very few new things and improvements, but stability, and be faster, thats for sure... They are really optimizing the code well now :-)
Perhaps, maybe many of us here will be satisfied with Vista when it will have a SP2 :-)
Never the less, Vista is something that we will all need to watch till the end of this decade...
What I hate the most in Vista is UAC, and I did not yet make a time to quite figured how to reengage the Admin Account on Vista (like in XP), with the normal User Account (Both with Admins privileges), but that you will see the Admin Account in Vista, just only in Safe Mode (F8) and not in the classic, normal login Vista window, because when you go to engage your PC now with activated Admin Account on Vista, as soon you login into Vista, it will be showed as 2 options for login and input password: 1. Regullar User 2. Admin like the Admin in WinXP....
Well, I do not like that, and I want that Admin Account with all that comes in Win XP now in Vista will be only shown on login window, but only in Safe Mode (F8)...
That was the great option in Win XP, and I did not quite make a time to investigate how to get this in Vista, because Vista on my PCs is only available for testing purposes only till Vista SP1 comes up officially...
On second, Vista UAC - If you shut down UAC, you will also need to shut down the warning messages in the Tray / System Notification Area, because Vista Security Center will drive you crazy, every single time when you back engage your Computer. But, if you disengage this warning messages and red coat in Tray / System Notification Area, than you will shut down completely Vista Security Center, and that means that any protection now will be down completely (that also include IE7 protections - Phishing Filter, Pop-up blocker...), and, from now own, your Computer is only protected by some of yours 3rd party IT Security Software Suites installed on the same...
i have upgraded more than a few computers from vista to xp..
i don't know anyone that likes it.. if it was the only o/s then i know more then a few people that wouldn't have or use a computer, including myself..
I couldn't agree more!
If A Link Doesn't Work, Let Me Know And I Will Re-Upload It!
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Button..
.....Hope it dosent happen! .gif)
MSWinXPSP3 + totally discontinued in early 2008 
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