Windows XP is eXPired. I'm sure you can appreciate this pun. Back in November, to celebrate the end of Vista's development process, Microsoft security guru Michael Howard had posted an eXPired poster on the door of his office. The poster, as you can see from the adjacent image, courtesy of Michael, reads: "eXPired - This office is certified XP-Free."

"I'm so glad to have been involved in the development of Windows Vista, it's a wonderful OS. For the longest time I hung on to Windows XP SP2, thinking it's "good enough" but after using Vista for over a year now on my daily laptop, I simply can't go back," were Michael's thoughts on the celebration of Vista's completion. Michael Howard's official Microsoft title is Security Product Manager.

Now, almost two months later, Michael Howard has made the poster available for download via this link. You'll be able to download the poster featured in the image included herein, as a .zip file that contains the 3,200/4,000 eXPired.jpg.

"First, a very Happy New Year to you all...! Second, due to incredibly popular demand, I managed to find the eXPired poster. I have added it as an attachment at the end of this blog post. Enjoy," reads Michael's message posted on his Web Log.

The poster made available by Michael Howard mirrors Microsoft's position in relation to Windows Vista and Windows XP. I have said this in the past, and my opinion has not shifted. Vista's main rival product is XP. Microsoft will have to convince the consumer to choose Vista. Labeling Windows XP as eXPired is yet another step in Microsoft's marketing strategy toward that goal.