With all the lawsuits, bad press and negative feelings towards Vista, Ballmer had said that Microsoft would change its mind about discontinuing  XP if consumers (aka Businesses) asked (demanded) the continuation of XP.  Well, they have shown no signs of accepting Vista and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hinted that XP will not end come June 30.

Now, this is by no means an admission of Vista’s failure or that this is indeed the case because Ballmer can sometimes just say what he wants at the time and go back on it but given the circumstance surrounding Vista, it does make sense.

According to Computer World, Ballmer said at a press conference in Belgium that XP does have an end of life but "Microsoft would extend XP’s life if enough customers demanded it."  Well, it’s being demanded alright; loud and clear, or do you old folk need hearing aids up there in the Redmond compound?

So, XP could be extended indefinitely or at least until Windows 7 is released which could be as early as the end of 2009 but no one knows for sure; it will be some time between 2009 and 2011.  Whether Enterprises keep XP now; skip Vista and wait for Windows 7, Windows 7 will still require new hardware so I hope they start saving up for it.

Related:

Vista “put down” and XP possibly extended on same day as Ubuntu 8.04 release

Windows Vista plays to a captive audience

Vista shows strong growth, sells 140 million licenses

SideSlide freeware desktop extension for XP, Vista

Windows 7 fails to close longstanding loophole

Entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 11:58 am under Uncategorized.  Print This Post

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