Yes, they have extended the support on XP. This is good news for those of us who don’t want to make the jump to Vista. There may be other reason for Microsoft doing this…
As well all know, Vista wasn’t exactly Microsoft’s best release of their Windows product line.
This was mainly because it was to bulky and need a fairly high end PC to run it to its full potential. Now this is fine for those of us who have high end PCs and have the time and money to upgrade. For those who’s PCs are more than ~3 years old, Vista isn’t and option.
Because of this, people may be looking to Linux as support was going to end in 2010. Microsoft realised that this could decrease their share in the Home OS market. So, until they can get Windows 7 out of the door, they want to encourage people keep using XP and not to switch to Linux or another OS.
This means that security fixes and SP3 will be coming out. Also, PC manufacturers will also continue to install XP on their machines.
Once Windows 7 is out of the door, then the pressure will be on for people to make the switch. This will be more feasible as Microsoft is rebuild Windows 7 for scratch, so there isn’t as much clutter as there was with Vista.
Harry.
