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Windows XP is dead! Long live Windows XP!

That traditional cheer for beloved kings may well be on the lips of most Windows users as Microsoft goes through with its deadline for Windows XP.  Today marks the first day that PC makers are no longer allowed to sell XP-based PC’s. 

Despite widespread criticism of Windows Vista, and the “Save Windows XP” movement, Microsoft did not change its deadline for the seven-year old operating system.  Microsoft reports that it has already sold 140 million copies of Vista, which is a bit surprising since most consumers actually prefer the older OS, resulting in a ‘downgrade’ option which can be obtained with some new PC’s, and even big companies have decided not to have a Vista deployment at all.  Intel’s IT department even said that it “found no compelling case” to switch to Vista.

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While Windows XP will be leaving the store shelves pretty quickly, Microsoft has announced that they will continue to offer support through April of 2014. That means they will, by the end have offered a full 13 years of support, instead of the more typical 10 year time frame.

This support will, according to Microsoft senior VP Bill Veghte come in the form of “security patches and other critical updates.” He also mentioned, and this does add a little confusion to the whole XP going away, that;

“It’s true that we will stop selling Windows XP as a retail packaged product and stop licensing it directly to major PC manufacturers [after June 30],” wrote Veghte. “But customers who still need Windows XP will be able to get it,”

We can only assume that the customers who still need it will be those “low-cost PC” manufacturers, which from last word will be available until June 2010. It sounds like its time to finally say goodbye to XP.

Via [Information Week]

A couple of days ago we reported that Dell will stop selling computers with pre-installed Windows XP to get ahead of Microsoft’s June 30 deadline for the life-cycle of the said ten year old OS. As an option to its customers, Dell will be offering downgrade option from Vista to Windows XP provided that customers’ pay a $50 fee. However, Dell has since issued a announcement informing its customers that they are extending the sale of Dell computers with Windows XP until June 26 due to “popular demand.”

The option will be available with some of Dell’s models including the XPS 630, 720, H2C and M1730. So if you’re planning to get one of these systems, you have a couple of days more to do so. After June 26, Dell will push through with its original plan of selling its computers with Vista as the pre-loaded OS. Unless of course it’s alright for you to pay extra $50 dollars to have the downgrade to Windows XP option.

It looks like Dell is having a bit of a dilemma here and might be afraid that its sales might get affected by the termination of Windows XP support and user’s apprehension over the use of Microsoft Vista. The few days extension won’t have significant effect though, unless Dell goes against the tide and continues offering Windows XP in their machines or just promote the use of Vista instead.

Read [Dell] Via [Electronista]

Microsoft and OLPC have issued the official word that the XO laptop will begin to become available with Windows XP, while we have heard the rumors, its now official. Currently the XO laptops running Windows XP are scheduled to begin their trial stage in June, however they are anticipated to be released as early as September.

Windows XP will not be replacing the original Sugar Linux, they will both be available, and there is even some talk of a model that is dual booting with both Sugar Linux and Windows XP.

Similar to the original release of the XO, these new XP-based models will be headed to developing nations and not the retail market. Keep reading to check out a nice vide demonstration…

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Following up on the earlier rumors, HP has begun to officially offer the Mini-Note 2133 with Windows XP. Although HP has commented that Windows XP will be pre-installed they are doing it by way of the free Vista downgrade option, so when the notebook arrives it should include an install disk for both XP and Vista Business.

In addition to the Windows XP offering, HP has also added a few new configurations to the Mini-Note line-up. Instead of the original four configurations to choose from there are now eight. This should sound like welcome news with more to choose from, however it makes the XP downgrade offering seem just a little on the shady side. 

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Microsoft has released Windows XP SP3 to the masses and also re-added Vista SP1 as an automatic update. After having some recent compatibility issues, Microsoft had delayed SP3 for XP and although SP1 for Vista remained available, it had to be manually downloaded.

It seems everything has been fixed and both updates are now available and waiting to be installed. Simply wait for Windows Update to kick in, or if you feel like you cannot wait any longer lunch the Update get the satisfaction on having an up to date system, at least for a little while.

Via [Engadget]

It turns out that April 29 was not the day for Windows XP SP3 to be officially released. However it was not just SP3 that was delayed, all of the updates for both Windows XP and also Vista have been stopped temporarily. The issue is due to another product called Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, which was causing some incompatibility issues. In addition to XP’s SP3, the SP1 for Vista is also being affected. The update for XP was put on hold, while the update for Vista is still available, its just not available as an automatic item. Microsoft is encouraging anyone who is running Microsoft Dynamics RMS to not install Vista SP1.

Via [CrunchGear]

Despite the several deadlines Microsoft has set for Windows XP, Dell will continue to support and ship computers loaded with XP until 2010 (when Windows 7 is expected to make its debut). Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it was extending the life of Windows XP on ultra-low-cost computers, like the Eee PC. However, Microsoft has issued June 30th as the date for PC manufacturers to discontinue shipping machines with Windows XP.

So the question is, how is Dell able to continue supporting the aging, yet still popular operating system? Simple...by taking advantage of a “loop hole” in Microsoft’s system builder license. The “Windows Vista Downgrade” clause essentially states that PC manufacturers are able to ship and preinstall PCs with XP Professional to consumers who select Vista Ultimate or Vista Business as their operating system of choice. The fine print grants PC manufacturers the freedom to determine how to implement the “downgrade.” In Dell’s case, after June 18, the company will factory-install XP Professional for customers who choose “Vista Ultimate Bonus” or “Vista Business Bonus” as their OS configuration option. Those that choose the latest Windows operating system will be given installation DVDs of both Windows XP and Vista; thus, allowing users to “upgrade” whenever they are ready. Technical support for both operating systems will continue to be offered by Dell.

In fact, Dell’s website states:

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HP has recently released their highly anticipated Mini-Note 2133, and in some good news, reports are now trickling in that they have begun to ship. When originally announced, HP offered potential customers a choice of either Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Home Basic or SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10. Even with a decent amount of choice available, a good amount of users would have liked to have seen and been able to choose Windows XP, simply because, as proven by other low-cost ultra-portable laptops it will run much better than Vista.

Sadly it seems that those who ordered early and would have preferred XP are about to become a little upset. HP has confirmed that it will begin to offer Windows XP as an installation option when ordering. As of now they have confirmed that XP will become available in May, but have not announced any specific date or just what the pricing will be or what models it will be available with.

Hopefully HP will offer XP drivers on their website for those who ordered the Mini-Note with another operating system and plan on installing their own copy of XP once the ultra-portable arrives.

Via [Laptop]

While we have already seen confirmation from Microsoft that Windows 7 was set for a 2010-2011 launch, it seems that they may be running a little ahead of schedule. According to Bill Gates, they are ahead of schedule and the OS could come “within the next year.” Of course he was not specific enough and he could have been referring to an early testing version as opposed to the regular retail version.

After the launch of Vista and all the bad press that followed I would imagine that most people would rather have them take their time and make sure its truly ready for a public release. Of course with the recent end-of-life extension that was given to Windows XP, this could be a good way to get rid of XP once and for all. If you remember the extension gave Windows XP until at least June 2010 or for one year after Windows 7 was released, which means that XP could officially die in June 2010, assuming Windows 7 was released on or before June 2009.

Read [CNET]