Such is life, here today gone tomorrow. Ah, what's for dinner?   

It's time for XP to go bye-bye.

Too many current XP users\customizers for it to go bye bye in my book. I'll keep my disc and dual boot for quite a while.   

luckily i still have my windows XP pro with SP2

actually i've never had any problems with vista even before the SP1 was released..then again i run ultimate x64 and i think 90% of the problems with vista were more and likely were in x86 versions

According to an aside by Steve Ballmer, mainstream XP support will end June 30 09, by which time, Vista SP2 will have been out for a while, and Windows 7 will be in public beta stage.



Kona... Wallmart might want them, but MS has decided there will be NO more XP OEM's after June 08. The ONLY rigs that'll get XP installed will be very low end laptops, most likely intended for developing countries, etc.



As do I... and I'll continue dual booting Vista Ultimate and XP Pro 'til the XP disc and its backup disintegrates.



Leo, Leo, Leo...why oh why didn't you let me know????? I'd have happily swapped you half a dozen ME frisbies for your two Vista ones.

Well after Walmart tells Dell, Toshiba, Compaq, HP, eMachines and Gateway that their computers can not be sold at Walmart because They refuse to sell XP versions things will change. For example Dell has demanded MS still let them sell XP before.

to be honest i would rather have microsoft take thier time with the new OS and make sure when it's set for public release it doesn't have a zillion and one bugs even if it takes like (it may sound stupid) 4 or 5 years...plus i wonder what it will look like...hopefully it will have vista ultimate's task bar,start globe and start menu...or atleast the task bar and start globe...

No, I didn't miss it...I was referring to the multitudes who will only give up XP when it is prised from their fingertips by the corporate powers that be... those corporate powers who generally agree that computing has to progress and not remain in the dark ages.



Whatwhere... you might be surprised to see just how far MS has come with its new generation OS... according to insiders/media coverage, it is possible/likely that Windows Seven will be in the public beta stage by mid to late 09 (to test in the wider community) and possibly ready for general release by late 2010 - early 2011.

Just what I've heard.

Of course there will be those who will want to hang onto old OSes for grim death, but just as 95 and 98 passed their use by dates, so will W2K and XP. In fact, W2K's coffin is already prepared... it's just a matter of hammering down the final nails.

As for people using XP for years to come, I have no doubt there will be millions who will want to keep using it indefinitely, but its obsolescence has been heralded/guaranteed by MS, and many of those millions will have to move on as their old propriety/OEM hardware dies and XP no longer exists in PC stores.

I suppose another way to put it is that XP is high maintenance too resource intensive, what with all the monthly patches and fixes, and MS is looking to offload all that to focus on Vista and future OSes that are/will become more stable and secure...less resource intensive.

OK, so there will be many who won't like it, but it makes perfect business sense for MS, who really won't be losing customers/clients because... well if they want/need to use a computer, Windows is the standard and has greater hardware/software support than other OSes.

Oh come on, that's an outright lie. No one is or was happy with Windows 98. And if you are (or where) then you have.... issues....  

Also for people wondering why Windows 7 is so close to the beta stage; Think of it as a Windows 2000 to Windows XP phase. Windows 7 is basically focusing on new features and additions to Vista. It will not be as big of a change as XP to Vista, but more like the transition from 2k to XP.

These are NOT my predictions! Sure there are people holding on to old OSes and saying that MS will have to prise them from their dead fingers, but the wheels have already been set in motion to discontinue XP manufacture/sales... and tell me where you can still purchase a PC loaded with 95, 98 or W2K!

I had a neighbour who loved 95/98... silly old bugger bought a 2nd PC that came loaded with XP, and within 10 mins of getting it in the door the silly old fossil was replacing XP with another fossil...98 (not even SE).

Thing is, in computer/OS terms, he and others like him will go the way of the dinosaur...


... and several centuries later, one archaeologist says to another: "Oi, come look at this! You're never gonna believe it, but there's a mummified guy here still clutching a Windows 95 disc... and according to carbon dating, Windows 15 would have been around at least 20 years."

Looks like I'm not allowed to edit...

Sorry about the spelling.