14 DAY TRIAL // While it is cooking Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows 7, Microsoft has also managed to further extend the availability of Windows XP. With the 32-bit version of Vista's precursor at Service Pack 3, and at SP2 for the 64-bit flavor, Windows XP will now live until June 2009. The latest XP reprieve means that the operating system released initially at the end of 2001 will survive past the launch of Vista SP2 and up until Windows 7 will be in its final stages of development.
Microsoft has decided to prolong XP's availability until the end of May 2009, according to CRN, in a move designed to support system builders. At this point in time, system builders can still get Windows XP licenses for new machines, and will continue to be able to do so until January 31, 2009. However, the software giant has relaxed the System Builder License availability end date for Windows XP. In fact, system builders will be able to obtain licenses of Windows XP even after the January 31, 2009 official cut-off date.
In this regard, Microsoft informed that, while January 31, 2009 remains the deadline for placing order for new XP OEM licenses, deliveries will be spread out until the end of May. Microsoft's tactic means that system builders get some elbow room with their financial resources, no longer having to acquire as many XP licenses as they can afford by January 31, 2009 and hopping that supplies will last in accordance to demand.
Windows XP is already no longer available via OEM and retail channels since June 30, 2008, although the initial date was January 31, 2008. But even with Vista SP1 available, and Vista SP2 on the immediate horizon, Microsoft's latest reprieve for Windows XP is a clear indication of the Windows client still favored by consumers. This is of course yet another extension of XP's availability still in effect, and which will last even after Windows 7 hits the shelves. “As of April 2008, Microsoft is extending the availability of Windows XP Home Edition for OEMs to install on Ultra Low-Cost PCs. The new OEM end date will be the later of either June 30, 2010, or one year after the general availability of the next version of Windows,” reads a fragment from Microsoft's Windows Life-Cycle Policy.