Microsoft has written to its partners to remind them about Windows XP reaching its "end of life" stage. It says:
* Windows XP will no longer be available for purchase from Microsoft for general retail and OEM partners as of June 30, 2008
* For system builders that date is January 31, 2009
* For Windows XP Starter (in emerging markets) and Windows XP Home for NetBooks and NetTops (formerly known as ULCPCs), the date is June 30, 2010
* Per our longstanding practice allowing 'downgrade' rights, enterprise customers and purchasers of Windows Vista Ultimate or Windows Vista Business editions can choose to downgrade to Windows XP Professional if they feel the need to get ready for Windows Vista.
In other words, if you were going to buy Windows Vista Home, for example, you have to upgrade to a more expensive copy of Vista to get the right to downgrade to an inferior operating system.
Microsoft also says:
Customers will receive mainstream support for Windows XP until April 2009, and will be able to receive extended support from Microsoft under our extended support policy until April 2014. For more information about Microsoft's Support Lifecycle Policy please visit this Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy
Microsoft offers "a minimum of 10 years of support for Business and Developer products," which is roughly three hardware cycles. In the case of XP Pro, support will have run from 2001 to 2014.
