A very interesting debate. Do not think I asked this question because I am worried about my download count, if anyone looks at my gallery you can see my download numbers are not great, I skin for myself  & try to do something a bit different, if you look at the WindowBlinds gallery, a lot of the top download skins are Vista/Windows 7 look alikes, which supports Starkers point that we are afraid of change.

The reason I asked the question was because although I am quite happy skinning XP, I see no point in doing something that will not be utilized. One interesting fact is that in the toolbar icon gallery, which is used by XP only, the last submission was on 4th March 2008, so there is obviously no demand there.

I help my daughter run a website for a regional Cattle Club, the statistics on that site supports VStyler's point that XP users out number Vista users almost 2:1 (59% - 30&).

I was always taught, by my parents, ( my Father was a very forward thinking man) not to be afraid of change & in my working life kept up with new technology as much as finances allowed. So if I was not skinning I would be using Widows 7 as soon as I could afford it & would not look back at Windows 98, XP & Vista & regret their passing.

This is the catch 22 I'm seeing all over: various people saying on the one hand: "I hope XP dies." while continuing to support it on the other. While MS, software devs and skinners continue to support XP, there is no incentive whatsoever for the stubborn users (XP fanbois) to move on.... and that is what stifles development for the future... much else beyond XP.  Devs/skinners, etc don't see a viable/worthwhile market to develop for.

I do not like XP at all... to me it looks like a Fisher Price miscarriage.  And no matter how you dress it up, with WB, IP and etc, it doesn't make XP a good OS... it's had its day.  In comparison to Win 7 and Vista SP2, XP pales into insignificance and is decidedly lacking,  Yes, Vista SP2!  I dual boot between Vista Home Premium x64 and Win 7 Ultimate x64, and during day to day operation I notice very little if any difference functionally or performance-wise... just that Win 7 is a tad faster at startup, shutdown.

Having said that, I do not propose that MS somehow disables XP to force users to upgrade.  Obviously there are people who genuinely can not afford to upgrade, and their copies of XP should continue to function fully for as long as needed, but that doesn't mean development/support for it should continue.  If they can't afford to upgrade, they're not going to be spending any money on it anyway, and it not like XP is in an under-developed/unusable state, so the developmental focus should be on Win 7, not XP. 

By all means, XP should be provided anti-viral, anti-spyware, anti-malware support to protect those users, but other than that it needs to be forgotten... otherwise, Windows 20 will be out and there will be (currently live but) cold dead hands with an icy grip on XP, still.

when it is released i feel the numbers will sway to 7 after 6/12 months great system win 7

note to self:   next name suggestion of vSkin.....'Afterlife'....

something golden...glowing and transparent.....

....with a fiery red/black glossy...alternative substyle.....    

Catch 22 indeed. So do I quit supporting it, or go for more "widespread acclaim as a skinner?" Or, in case of Masters like vStyler, well, he's got a living to make, you know.

Regardless, until the *bad taste* from Vista is gone from the mouths of die hard XP users, like it or lump it, XP will remain on the scene.

From a skinning standpoint, it would be easier for me to just ditch XP. But I would like as many people as possible to use my skins. Guess I'm guilty of supporting the XP fanboys.

Ultimately, this is all just a matter of opinion anyway.

And ultimately, all the veteran skinners will probably still be skinning XP along with Veeesta & 7.

IMO, these are people who won't let go of XP cuz they think Vista is stupid and 7 needs to prove itself.

Hehe... wouldn't be a bad idea to include a third option... an eerie grey/white sub-style... for those who are neither here or there.

It mightn't be a bad idea to include a contact no. for Jennifer Love-Hewitt in that sub-style, tho... we might need a ghost whisperer trick or two to get some of those deceased XP fanbois to move on... being their alternative could well be the fiery red/glossy black sub-style. Dunno the other place 'd take the more stubborn ones

At the end of the day, the decision to skin or not skin XP must be yours, as it is for vStyler and others.  The idea is that you skin for yourself primarily, and if you (any other skinner) happen to share accomplishments done in XP, then so be it.  My thoughts on the matter are not directed at anyone in particular, but looking at the bigger picture, a generalised move away from XP by all parties over shorter rather than a longer time.  It needs to happen or computing in many areas will stagnate, particularly in XP, so if all the key players move on, usage trends will eventually alter/follow suit.

Fanboys are not those who can not afford to upgrade, but those who shoot down other OSes/software in flames and sprout the virtues of what they're using... in this case XP, which to the dedicated fanboy is the be all and end all of stable/functional computing... and yes, there a few of them about.  I've come across a few over the years... considerably more since the release of Vista. One bloke had "XP Forever" tattooed in an intricate love heart design across his chest... which me thinks is taking it waaaay too far.

The absolute worst fanboi I ever came across, however, was my former next door neighbour, back when I lived in Tasmania... which probably accounts for it,  Yup, Wayne would go on and on and on about the virtues of Win 98, then berate and admonish me for using XP: "What d'yer wanna go use that rubbish for," was a frequent remark,,, certainly wasn't a question... and he almost got angry when I was upgrading to Vista.  At the same time he'd bought a brand spanking new PC (and not a cheap one, either) with Xp Pro preinstalled.... he reformatted and put Win 98 on it... not even SE, then he came to my place with the disc in hand: "Here, instead of putting that crap on it, try this, it's the best system Microsoft ever made"

Yeah, right... mind you, Wayne was/is peculiar in other ways as well... not gay, just peculiar.

No need for confusion... well there shouldn't be.   Just go to the mirror, take a deep breath and start chanting "I'm a VeestaXPx7 PC user, I'm a VeestaXPx7 PC user......  After about an hour you should be convinced you're a Windows user.

Oh, and don't ask me how you pronounce VeestaXPx7. 

Name one...

Nah... just the majority.  However, some of my fave peculiar people are Taswegians... including yerself.

I was gonna say Errol Flynn, but then I remembered.... he was far from being not odd... liked to dress up as a pirate and swing from the yardarm with a cutlass between his teeth.

Yup, this is exactly what I've been saying... there's too muck work and resources are spread too thin when 3 are catered for.  Hopefully those with an iron grip on XP will take note of your comments above and consider upgrading to Win 7 sooner rather than later.

well, would be nice but I very much doubt folks will consider how much extra work it is for skinners when evaluating OS upgrade.

When i used the term fanboys i was referring to those using 7 not those who havent upgraded, noty sure who else used it and in what context.

I need to apoligize to  CountryYokel and do so at this time.  I didn't realize what I had done, sorry for taking this off subject. 

So, back to the original question:  Do I keep skinning XP when Windows 7 arrives?

nope.