XP Gets Five Month Life Extension

By Greg McNevin

October 2, 2007: Windows Vista has been left out in the cold for another five months, with Microsoft granting original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) five more months of XP sales due to strong customer demand for the aging operating system.

Originally Microsoft had planned to phase out XP sales from January 31, 2008 for OEMs and retailers, and Januray 31 2009 for system builders pre-installing the operating system of PCs. However, due to lacklustre sales of Vista-equipped computers, OEMs can now continue to sell XP until the end of June, 2008.

"While we've been pleased with the positive response we've seen and heard from customers using Windows Vista, there are some customers who need a little more time to make the switch to Windows Vista," said Microsoft’s Mike Nash, corporate vice president for Windows Product Management.

Dell was the first major manufacturer to make the switch back to XP due to customer pressure, HP and Lenovo quickly followed. Customer pressure has also seen several major vendors turn to offer Linux alternatives this year, leading some commentators to claim that Vista could be doing a better job steering users towards Linux than away from it.

According to Nash, Vista sold more than 60 million units during the US summer, putting it “on track to be the fastest-selling operating system in Microsoft’s history.”

One has to wonder though, how many of those licenses were forcibly bundled with new PCs, and how many were abandoned soon after purchase in favour of XP or Linux. With the first Vista service pack on the horizon Microsoft’s new baby could be in for a surge of popularity though, with many users no doubt waiting for the first major tune-up before diving in.

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