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p2pnet news | Products:- Bill and the Boyz are telling customers the date for the demise of Windows XP is unchanged and they’ll stop selling it to shops and original equipment manufacturers on June 30.But they’ve also committed to providing support services until 2014, says Information Week.And, “balanced against this supposed ‘deadline’, XP will still be available to low-cost laptop and desktop makers such as Asus, non-major whitebox system builders and major PC makers offering it through ‘downgrade rights’, the system whereby the customer pays extra for a copy of XP on their major as opposed to Vista, which is thrown in the box for installation at a later date,” notes IT Pro, going on:In a letter to customers, Microsoft’s Bill Veghte said the company will provide security patches “and other critical updates” for Windows XP until April, 2014, according to Information Week.But the gesture wasn’t one of acknowledgement of the continuing popularity of XP matched against Vista, which significant numbers of potential consumers are still leery of.“Microsoft may have little choice but to support Windows XP for an extended period, given that the majority of its large business customers have not upgraded their personal computers and laptops to the newer, Windows Vista operating system,” it says.“Many companies have balked at Vista’s cost, resource requirements, and lack of compatibility with older applications.”On top of that, “Microsoft is now actively promoting a program that allows customers to downgrade Vista systems to XP through a loophole in the company’s licensing terms,” says the story.“Microsoft’s software license allows customers who purchase a copy of Windows to install and run a previous version of the OS at no additional cost.”Meanwhile, mainstream support is slated to cut off in April, 2009, says IT Pro.
