Windows XP Life Extended To 2010 April 4, 2008

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Whether it’s just good business or Microsoft bowing to customer pressure, the software giant has just announced that it is extending the life of Windows XP Home on what it calls ‘the new class of mobile personal computers called ultra-low-cost PCs, or ULCPCs’

The company confirmed that the current deadline of June 30, 2008 will no longer apply and that OEMs will be able to buy the OS until June 30, 2010, ‘or one year after general availability of the next version of Windows’, codenamed Windows 7.

ULCPCs – I know, another dumb acronym - are essentially cheap mobile devices that, faced with running Microsoft’s resource-hog Windows Vista, would fall over and die.

Michael Dix, General Manager of Windows Client Product Management, said:

“ULCPCs are a new and growing class of mobile computers designed for first-time PC buyers and customers interested in complementing their primary Windows-based PCs with companion devices with limited hardware capabilities. These machines vary, but they typically have smaller screen sizes and lower-powered processors than more expensive mobile PCs.”

One thing we’ve heard loud and clear, from both our customers and our partners, is the desire for Windows on this new class of devices.”

Good news for all those XP fans out there – me included – that are yet to be convinced by Vista.-Martin Lynch

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