It's IT Blogwatch: in which XP is dead, nearly, real soon now, in a while, well 2010, no 2012, whenever. Not to mention bears and dogs in snowy harmony...
Eric Lai reports:
Microsoft Corp. today confirmed swirling rumors by announcing that it is extending the availability of Windows XP Home Edition until mid-2010 for a fast-emerging class of tiny, cheap laptops led by the Asus Eee. But despite calls for Microsoft to offer a general reprieve for XP users, the company reiterated that June 30 remains the cutoff date for hardware makers and retailers to install XP on new computers other than the low-cost laptops ... Microsoft will discontinue free live and warranty-based technical support next April. Security fixes will continue to be free after that date ... XP Home will continue to be made available to PC makers until June 30, 2010, or one year after the release of the follow-up to Windows Vista, which is currently being referred to as Windows 7. more
Austin Modine adds:
Microsoft was first wary of allowing anything less than Vista pre-installed on these tiny laptop computers. But when initial units started shipping with Linux, there was a rapid change of heart ... Microsoft has extended the Windows XP sales deadline once before. By its original intentions, XP would have been dead three months ago. Microsoft also announced today it will continue to offer Windows XP Starter Edition in emerging markets until June 30, 2010. Oh, XP, I wish I knew how to quit you. more
Nilay Patel has stopped scratching his head:
We puzzled over Microsoft's cryptic statements at CeBIT that the Eee's "other requirements" would lead to an adjustment of the Windows 7 timeline, and it looks like our first guess was spot-on: Microsoft will be making Windows XP available for Eee-class ultraportables until 2010, and possibly later. Demand for XP on devices like the Eee and Intel's Classmate machines has prompted MS to reconsider ... Sales of XP could stretch into 2012 ... it'll be awfully sad if people are still clamoring for XP more than a decade after its initial release, though. more
Todd Bishop:
Is that a sign that Windows 7, the code name for Windows Vista's successor, might launch sometime in 2009, rather than the 2010 time frame the company previously gave? If it is, the company isn't admitting it ... The upcoming June 30 date isn't as hard-and-fast as it might seem. That's when Microsoft will stop selling Windows XP Home and Professional to PC makers and retailers for mainstream machines, but those companies may continue to distribute and resell copies that they've purchased from Microsoft before that point ... Windows XP's end-of-mainstream-sales date doesn't apply to system builders, people and companies that create individual PCs from scratch. That cutoff is Jan. 31, 2009. Would it really kill Microsoft to just keep selling Windows XP as an option? more
Harry McCracken knows where he stands:
Microsoft has a lot of customers who have no desire to move to Vista any time soon, and rather than deny them the option of buying a new Windows XP computer, it ought to sell them the Microsoft product they want. They'd be happy; Microsoft would still make money. And nobody could accuse it of shoving Vista down anyone's throat. Assuming that only really cheap, basic laptops will have XP starting on July 1st, there will be a strange scenario for XP holdouts: They'll only be able to get what they see as a superior version of Windows by paying less for a new computer. I wonder if people will opt for an ULPC not because of tight budgets but simply to get the edition of Windows they want? And another question: Did Microsoft ever envision a scenario in which its current version of Windows simply wouldn't run satisfactorily on a popular PC platform a year and a half after that version of Windows shipped? more
Preston Gralla is true to form:
Microsoft is doing its best to kill Windows XP, but that's not going to happen. No matter what the company does, the operating system will live on ... There's no escaping the simple fact that enterprises have snubbed Vista, and show no signs of abandoning XP ... if someone hasn't switched to Vista by now, there's a good chance they'll be patient enough to wait until Windows 7 ships ... It used to be that if you wanted to run the latest and greatest software, you had to have the newest operating system to run it. That's no longer the case ... There are plenty of loopholes in XP's death sentence ... Microsoft can try to kill it, but it won't stay dead. more
And finally...
Buffer overflow:
- Freedom to Tinker: Bad Phorm on Privacy
- Bojan Zdrnja: VB detection: is it so difficult?
- Vasanth Sridharan: Dell Says Laying Off 10% Of Workers Not Enough
- Layer 8: Fingerprint biometrics go wireless, get faster and offer more security
- Tony Pearson: The Abuse of Backup Copies as Archives
- OuterVillage: Brain Drain at Google The Utopia is Over
- 9 to 5 Mac: AT&T chief confirms 3G iPhone
Other Computerworld bloggers:
- David DeJean: Microsoft wins this OOXML battle, but loses the war
- Robert L. Mitchell: Does Kodak cut it? Low cost ink strategy one year later
- Scott McPherson: Another large government IT project goes down in flames
- Angela Gunn: Trademark Travail: Apple vs bigger, snarkier Apple
- Lucas Mearian: The world's quietest microchip fan
- Mark Hall: A cure for boring IT apps
- Douglas Schweitzer: Do-it-yourself PC IT?
- Seth Weintraub: iPhone browser to be updated soon, adding CSS Transforms and Animations
- Shark Tank: Maybe it's time to rewrite that documentation
- Shark Bait: But everything is plugged in!
Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.
Previously in IT Blogwatch:
- New Intel silicon breaks cover (and lirix)
- Microsoft still wants Yahoo, still for $31/share (and Error'd)
- WTF FTW LOL@ITBW!!1! (and Flash Portal)