Windows XP Officially Retired By Microsoft

[scottwww]

Windows XP Officially Retired By Microsoft

Microsoft will no longer make Windows XP available to large computer makers, such as Dell, Lenovo, or Hewlett-Packard, or to software retailers.
By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek

June 30, 2008 02:28 PM

With a few exceptions, Windows XP will be unavailable to computer makers and retail shoppers after Monday -- a fact that will force many Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) PC users to migrate to the widely maligned Vista operating system or wait until the arrival of Windows 7 in 2010 to upgrade their systems.

Implementing a move that's been planned for months, Microsoft will no longer make Windows XP available to large computer makers, such as Dell, Lenovo, or Hewlett-Packard, or to software retailers, after June 30. It will continue to offer the OS to "system builders," that is, small, independent PC makers, through July of next year.

• Windows Vista: Meeting Expectations or Falling Short?
• Vista in the Enterprise Tech Report

Microsoft also said it would make Windows XP available to builders of ultra-low-cost PCs and laptops, such as Asus, until 2010. It's widely seen as an attempt to prevent Linux from establishing a beachhead in emerging markets.

Also, some PC makers, including Dell (Dell), are giving customers continued access to XP for an indefinite period if they buy certain models of Vista-based computers. A loophole in Microsoft's licensing terms lets users of its most current operating system "downgrade" to a previous version at no additional cost.


For the most part, however, Monday marks XP's last official day on the market after a seven-year run, as Microsoft ceases bulk shipments and retail sales of Windows XP Professional, Home, Media Center, and Tablet PC edition.


Some XP diehards aren't giving up their OS without a fight. A petition to save XP launched by a computer industry publication has so far drawn more than 210,000 online signatures.


Fueling the fight is the fact that many computer users have given XP's successor, Windows Vista, the thumbs down. Many have balked at Vista's cost, resource requirements, and lack of compatibility with older software.


Acknowledging that many customers won't be moving off XP anytime soon, Microsoft recently said it would extend support for the OS until 2014.

[scottwww]

It's a good time to move on to Linux.

For the enterprise:
http://www.novell.com/linux/

For free:
http://en.opensuse.org/Welcome_to_openSUSE.org

[Hawkeye]

www.apple.com

I have XP CDs and codes and I plan not to "upgrade" to Vista as it is a crock. I know a lot of people going the way of the Apple because of Vista alone.

[UncleWede]

I just bought two of those "XP Vista Business downgrade" Dells this afternoon. My salewoman knows how many business customers will be lost on Vista only systems. Most of my colleagues who have the OS maint are still going to use their XP base, and consider the Vista/2007 options later.

[uabimmer]

VIsta Sucks YO!

but i have to deal with what i have...
Apple doenst sound so bad after all

[UncleWede]

IF I could have gotten Linux to run on my home system that I specifically built to run Linux, I'd be trying it at work. *I* failed so miserably, even right after taking a class, that I couldn't risk it.

[b335i]

If you buy Vista Business or Ultimate, you have xp Professional Downgrade rights, look it up!

[jeveryday]

Aww man that sux. XP is sooo much better

[scottwww]

The Eleven Rules of Life

By Bill Gates

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice. Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents were not as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.