Microsoft should support XP until Windows 7 arrives
Windows Vista has been an unmitigated disaster for Microsoft. Sure, it has made the company oodles of money, as every operating system does, but in terms of public relations, Vista will take some getting over.
As everyone surely knows by now, Microsoft is close to releasing Windows 7, its new OS which is set to replace Vista and rescue Microsoft’s tarnished image into the bargain. When Seven is going to arrive is still unsure, with late 2009, early 2010 seeming to be most likely.
Due to Vista being so publicly disliked, many, both individuals and businesses, decided to stick it out with Windows XP, and they are still using the aging OS to this day despite repeated incentives from Microsoft for them to upgrade to Vista.
Official ‘mainstream support’ for XP is set to end on April 14, 2009, with only important security updates carrying on for free past then. Any other bugs or issues will only be fixed for a fee and on a per-incident basis. Which is going to leave millions of XP users stuck without support from here on in.
Microsoft is obviously hoping this situation will tempt XP users to finally make the switch to Vista, but that’s very unlikely given that Vista’s successor is due in a matter of months. Why bother upgrading to an operating system which is set to become defunct probably by the end of the year?
Businesses in particular would be stupid to bother with the rigmarole and cost involved in updating its whole network. With Windows 7 getting rave reviews at this beta stage, it would surely make more sense to wait until Seven is released and then upgrade the whole company in one fell swoop and be ensured of support for years to come.
Which leads me to suggest that Microsoft should extend ‘mainstream support’ of XP at least until Seven arrives. It won’t happen, because the April 14 date is set in stone at this point, but it would, in my mind, be what a responsible company which cares about its customers would do.
Related Posts:
March 15th, 2009
Yes, MS created this situation and has a responsibility to continue to support XP. It also has a responsibility to bring-out the specials and extras that it promised for Vista Ultimate. But on both of these issues, I am not going to hold me breath!
March 15th, 2009
Microsoft is pushing Vista as the Next big OS
The Future is VISTA : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-xp/future.aspx
March 16th, 2009
Definetly profressional wrote this article as the XP was relased in 2001 and it will get updates to 2012. Still this article is asking support? Ummm yes?
Without support? In what way? Mine win2000 still gets security updates.
March 16th, 2009
MS, please proceed with end of mainstream support as planned. Too many companies have banked on that date.
Dave, no better way to assess how hardware will support 7 than run Vista on them NOW. If they can’t run Vista they for sure aren’t going to run 7.
March 25th, 2009
I like xp pro it is a good windows and i hope it stays in servive for a long time.Why can,t they make a windows just like xp pro.
And call it windows pro lol.