Microsoft Extends Windows XP Availability/Support, Again [MS Bows To OEM Pressure, XP Gets 6 Months Further Stay of Execution]

One could be forgiven for coming to the understandable conclusion that Microsoft is positively sanctioning PC users skipping their much maligned Vista operating system altogether – thus potentially moving directly from XP to Microsoft’s seventh incarnation of the Windows OS whilst missing out Vista completely – if a leaked email from an un-named PC OEM is to be believed which purportedly advises that Microsoft has officially extended the operating (and supported) lifetime of its XP OS up until the end of July 2009 (thus adding a further six months to the previously touted XP obsolescence date of the end of January 09).

The result, further 6 months whereby OEMs can supply end users with Vista powered computers with accompanying recovery disks allowing end users to downgrade to XP, is sure to be welcomed not least by OEMs who are conscious that prospective customers have been particularly slow on the uptake as far as Vista is concerned. However, even with the extended stay of execution, its reported that certainly one OEM is pushing still further to have the new July deadline pushed even further back to ensure that end users can be certain of by-passing Vista with view to jumping straight to Windows 7 from XP - though Microsoft remain wholly tight-lipped concerning not only this new extension but any possible further increases in XP’s continued availability.

[via]