Dump Vista...sooner rather than later....it is totally redundant now there is a Win 7.

As for XP....you can expect that to be abandoned quite quickly as the general public gets to realise just how much better Win 7 really is.

XP is a curiosity that you can always just plonk on a Virtual machine somewhere....

Vista was a total failure so its uptake was almost zero effectively, giving a false impression of XP's longevity.

XP will be correctly seen as a dinosaur now there is a proper alternative....just as Win98 was/is.

If you are not using Windows 7 currently as a primary/mission-critical OS then you cannot appreciate there is actually nothing to "ignore the real numbers out of convenience or whatever the reason.".

I'll agree with that.  Kept myself from throwing away a couple hundred dollars there I suppose.

I'd be one of those, including the "etc".  Maybe I'll get lucky and keep myself from throwing away a couple hundred dollars this time too?

Doesn't really matter what the reasons are does it?

People may not upgrade because the "English are coming"... who cares.. bottom line.. still not on 7.

So.. going back to the OP's question... regardless of reason.. yes, if u care about download counts, popularity, number of people using your themes, pleasing as many people as possible, the widest spread acclaim as a skinner, possibilty of advancement for any of the preceding reasons, doing the right thing by fellow members, ( i really could go on for a while ) ... then YES.. keep skinning XP mate.

I hope.. I pray.. XP is dead in 6 months.. MUCh MUCH less work for me...

..but i know... it won't be.. and no amount of 7 fanboyism or excusing away XP and the reasons people haven't upgraded is going to make the slightest bit of difference.

In fact.. I'll take the bet right now... XP will still be over 50% 6 full months after 7's final release date. (residential)

I'll quote Jafo in finishing....  

Ya I wasn't kidding when I said I'd appreciate whomever decides to keep making XP skins.  I'd imagine it is a fair amount of trouble.  I'm still surprised and happy about how many blinds come across as both XP and Vista.  Someday that'll stop and that's ok, life in the slow lane.

If I blow less on o/s's, I feel better about popping for the occasional master skin and such.  Which reminds me there's a cool little WinStep theme I still need to pull the trigger on....

yep, i know its not personal. i dont take much personal thesedays.

 one of the main reasons i ditched xp is because it made my system unstable and was making it act weird and kept making me reformat my system, alot of wasted hours and work.  but at the same time, i still believe xp is way too old now, we have vista and now 7, im truly happy to move on and not look backwards.

if i lose downloads over it, so be it. I also have to think of myself and how my own pc runs, as my pc is my tool for skinning, if i have an unstable system, im not going to skin very much or very well. so hence my thrust for the future.

I don't rely on them either , I do however take them into account when making an educated decision.

The world runs on numbers.

In fact... if reincarnation is real... I pretty much already know I'll come back as a Pie Chart

Btw.. XP, correctly installed and used shouldn't be unstable at all, you may want to look for other reasons. It's more likely 7 will make an older PC unstable than an OS that was designed for it.

That's why I say: "Kill the effer NOW!"  Not only does XP support create more (unnecessary) work, it costs more... and it's the consumer who ultimately pays.

Supporting 'dead' platforms is not cost effective and ultimately is unproductive, and given XP can not utilise/take advantage of so many new PC/software innovations, it is a fossil (in computing terms) and needs to be retired ASAP.

It's a bit like Frogboy's "tough love" approach with ObjectDesktop, etc.  You gotta cut the deadwood adrift to stay afloat/move forward.  OK, some aren't going to like it, but it's a bit like way back when, if they'd listened to all the automobile nay-sayers who stubbornly refused to accept change, we'd still be riding a horse and cart.... and you'd still be in the UK, cos the World would still be flat and nobody'd be game to venture too far past the beach.

don't think it's about stubbornly refusing to accept change....people just want to do it within their own timeframes....everyone has different priorities.....

I'm happy to buy a new 'puter ...with Win 7....when the need arises....if that means I miss out on some things in the meantime...so be it...I agree with the focus being put on the new technology...we'll all catch up eventually....until then...I'll continue to enjoy making XP bootskins....and XP logons....'cause the Vista ones....are just sterile....no joy there...

to answer the OP's question....the general skinning motto...is...skin for yourself....decide what you want out of it....to skin just the OS you use....to skin for a broader audience for awhile longer....entirely up to you....

That means exactly zilch since Windows 7 has not been formally released yet....and considering the hanging-on-of-people-to-XP because Vista was/is a dog.

Keep an eye on those numbers....give it 6 months and see where the trends take you.

No matter how many people are still using XP NOW...it is still DEAD.

It just doesn't know it yet.

Not of Oct 10 2009.... 71% Marketshare 

I think perhaps folks don't realize I'm all for progress. Not against progress AT ALL. I was amongst the very first to fully skin Vista

Just stating current numbers \ facts

There are some genuine cases where people simply can not upgrade... costs/hardware restrictions, etc.  However, those with other priorities are not the people I criticise.... but rather those who can, have no legitimate reason not to but stubbornly won't.

Ah, but that's where you differ from the "prise XP from my cold dead hands" types.  Your priorities are different right now, but you haven't completely dismissed the idea, like I've heard many others do... and believe me, I've heard some piss weak reasons as to why not, and it ain't cos they can't afford it.  Like the bloke who thinks nothing of it to drop 3 - 4 grand on a night out... his excuse was that he didn't want to have to drive (5 lousy minutes) to the PC store and have to pay somebody $90 an hour to set it up... 90 bucks an hour being his primary stumbling block, and the bastard earns more an hour than I see in a month,