Windows XP and End of Life

Microsoft Just a reminder, Windows XP is reaching End-Of-Life (EOL) status for many laptops (and desktops) in the next week or so (June 30, 2008 to be precise).

This affects both OEM and Retail License sales. While some companies such as Dell are extending their sales of Windows XP almost all the way up to that point, most have already dropped it (but Dell will not be offering it after June 26, 2008).

This doesn’t affect Windows XP on netbooks / sub-notebooks – for the time being, Microsoft will continue to offer Windows XP on this class of devices (provided they meet certain criteria Microsoft has laid out, such as no touchscreens although that seems to be up in the air, etc.).

It’s possible that Windows XP will be available for netbooks up until the release of Windows 7 – Windows 7 looks like it can scale down to low-power devices a lot better than Vista, so it makes sense to drop XP then.

Read:
Microsoft – Life Cycle Policy
Dell.com