Microsoft Continues to Support Windows XP until 2014

[malware]

Microsoft on Monday announced that it will continue to support its Windows XP operating system not until 2011 as it was said before, but all the way up to 2014. The new 13 year lifecycle was formally announced by MS senior VP Bill Veghte. He has sent a letter to major customers in the US, promising that the company will continue to release security patches "and other critical updates" for Windows XP until April, 2014. "Our ongoing support for Windows XP is the result of our recognition that people keep their Windows-based PCs for many years," Veghte wrote. In addition Microsoft will continue to make Windows XP available to manufacturers of low-cost PCs until June 2010, although the official sales cut-off date for the "eXPerience" OS comes after less then a week (June 30, 2008).

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

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So I can keep using my laptop until 2014 and it will still be updated? Awesome.
I guess this is a good move for when people in 3rd world countries start getting crummy old PCs and wanting to put an OS on them: XP will fit the bill.

 

[tkpenalty]

W00tatoes! This is good... -Tkpenalty buys all the remaining XP copies-

 

[Nitro-Max]

Excellent news although vista is getting better it still has its annoyances.

 

[AsRock]

Cool, I bet this has made hell loads of people happy..

 

[panchoman]

finnally microsoft realizes that vista is a POS os and that people would rather stay on xp instead of being forced to upgrade to vista

 

[WarEagleAU]

This is just so gravy. although, I think here the next month or so, Im gonna move to Vista 64 BIT! I just hope they have a premium version of it, or ultimate.

 

[ShadowFold]

Meh, I got a good deal on Vista so im just gonna get it. At least I dont have to scour the webs for a DX10 hack for games now.

 

[lemonadesoda]

I guess, in other news, MS announces delays to its MinWin project. (And therefore will not have it ready to replace XP for "simpler" machines). It also appears that Windows 7 kernel is an evolution of Vista Kernel, and NOT based on MinWin as originally hoped. So Windows 7 will be longhorn after all? An no revolution. Perhaps this is due to Atom being x86 based (and therefore x86 becoming yet more pervasive), that MS can get away with recycling legacy code.

 

[imperialreign]

I had submitted this a while back, and posted it in GN;


MS had even set up a page explaining what all they will be doing: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsxp/future.mspx

now, if only they would offer DX10 support for XP . . . not likely to happen, though

 

[lemonadesoda]

If this table is correct, then sales stop this June, and regular support stops 14/04/2009. "Extended Support", as I underdstand it, is available only under subscription to large multi-nationals. It's not for you or me, Joe Consumer.

 

[candle_86]

I had submitted this a while back, and posted it in GN;


MS had even set up a page explaining what all they will be doing: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsxp/future.mspx

now, if only they would offer DX10 support for XP . . . not likely to happen, though

not possible to do that would require planting the NT6 Kernal into XP because of the way DX10 access the Kernal compared to DX9. To stick the NT6 Kernal in XP gives you guess what, Vista

 

[lemonadesoda]

^^ not exactly true.

"kernel mode" and kernel mean different things. Speak to Mark Russovich about this one. DirectX or WDDM is not actually part of the kernel, but part of the system called "kernel mode".

There is a new driver model that has been implemented in Windows 6. See chart above (not very good, but you get the idea).

In theory, one could create an API to allow this under Windows 5. The Alky project was independent and was reasonable successful in doing this. There is no reason MS could not have done this. It was a political and economic decision not to create NEW code to XP. It's not a patch to existing code, but a whole new API.

However, which driver would you then use for the GPU? New Vista drivers or XP drivers? Can't use both. So somehow you would also have to disable the OLD GDI model. What a mess.

Here's a talk-through http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/11/30/directx10_future_of_pc_gaming/1