[RTC List] The remaining life of Windows XP

[William Van Hefner]

I think that this "phaseout" isn't quite what it seems. Microsoft is still
licensing XP in plenty of other countries outside the U.S., many of which
are to be embedded in the new class of mini-notebooks that are being
produced. Since Vista quite simply will NOT scale down to meet the
hardware requirements of these machines, MS will have to continue selling
XP in some form for some time to come if they want to compete against
Linux as the standard operating systems on these computers. I believe that
they are simply stripping down and renaming XP in these situations. I have
no idea what name they will be using for it though. I don't think that you
will be able to run into Wal-Mart and buy boxed editions of XP any more
though.

FYI, I just bought a new laptop with XP Home on it a couple of months ago.
I am running Linux on it and would have preferred no Microsoft OS at all
to be installed. It's rather hard to find a new laptop with no Microsoft
OS on it these days though.


-- 
William Van Hefner
President

Vantek Communications, Inc.
e-mail: editor at humboldtonline.com

On Wed, June 25, 2008 10:27 am, Sherman Schapiro wrote:
> The use of Windows XP and Vista came up at last week's boot camp as well.
>  The information here came from Radio Computer Guru Kim Komando.
> Sherman Schapiro
> Making sense of the XP phaseout
>
>
> [image: Q]I bought a computer in March. I opted for Windows XP, at the
> salesman's suggestion. He said it was cheaper, which was important to me.
> Now I hear that Microsoft is phasing out XP on June 30. Did I make a
> mistake? What does this mean for people like me?
>
> [image: A]You didn't make a mistake. Microsoft is pulling the plug on
> most XP sales. But it has promised to continue security updates and
> technical support. That support will expire in April 2014.
>
> In some cases, Microsoft will continue selling XP. There are some ins and
>  outs to this. So, here's a brief rundown, from the company's site:
>
> --On June 30, Microsoft will stop distributing XP. There probably will be
>  packages in stores for awhile. But stores will no longer be able to
> order XP. Anyone who wants a copy should act soon.
>
>
> --System builders (your neighborhood computer store) can use XP through
> January. Presumably, customers can choose XP or Vista on these new
> machines..
>
>
> --Large computer manufacturers—for instance, Dell, Hewlett-Packard,
> Lenovo—will no longer be getting XP.
>
>
> --Netbooks, which are very low cost laptops, can offer XP until June,
> 2010.
>
>
> There have been many tears shed over XP. For instance, more than 200,000
> people signed an InfoWorld.com petition. That apparently did them no good.
>
>
> This reminds me of the passing of MS-DOS. MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk
> Operating
> System) was the dominant operating system until Windows 3.0 came along.
> That
> was in 1990. Even then, MS-DOS was still the operating system. Windows 3.0
>  ran on top of it.
>
> In 1995, Windows 95 came out. The base was still MS-DOS, but it all came
> in one package. MS-DOS veterans harrumphed loudly and often. But the
> handwriting was on the wall. Microsoft eventually quit developing MS-DOS.
>
>
> A lot of people felt the loss of MS-DOS keenly. But the sun continued to
> rise in the East. And operating systems continued to improve. MS-DOS just
> faded away. _______________________________________________
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