Tick, Tock...Getting Close to the End of the XP Clock | Canada's Association of Information Technology Professionals

It’s the end of support for Windows XP SP3???

Yes, in less than 2 years, on 04/08/2014, XP will be biting the dust. Taken off Life Support.

Had it not been for the failed Vista experiment, this would have already happened. XP came out in 2001, one year after Windows 2000, it's support ended mid-summer 2010. So many users downgraded to XP, MS had no choice but to extend it's life, as it was XP (along with Office 2007) that kept MS afloat during these years. In fact, XP hit it's peak after Vista was released, unusual for a Windows OS.

But one thing that I can say, XP enriched the lives of many for a long time. That cannot be disputed. And it's highly likely that no other OS on planet Earth will be supported for 13 straight years. In fact, due to XP Mode being a feature of Windows 7 Pro & above, it's actually going to be here until 2020. MS actually extended XP's life another 6 years (a total of 19 years) by tying it to these Windows 7 versions.

There is also a dispute in actual XP usage. According to who's doing the counting, XP usage may not be as low as some thinks. Check this article out.

Windows 7: The New XP? | PCWorld

And it would be my guess that there will be many XP users left after it's end of support. It's been nearly 2 years since Win 2000 was end of support, yet some major AV/IS companies still supports the OS. It would be my guess that many AV/IS suites will support XP for years after end of support, as well as browsers/other software.

But all this doesn't change the fact that the clock is indeed ticking. It's going to be the aftermath that will be interesting to see.

Cat

Many Windows XP lovers would not like to see this happen, and one of my laptops is running with XP.

So is one of mine, a ThinkPad T42 that runs almost flawlessly. I made a makeshift desktop for my wife with it. Performance is very good, considering it's age.

And I have 2 installs of XP left on my desktop, the same one that Win 8 RP is on, just on different HDD's. XP Pro SP3 & XP Pro x64 SP2 (there was no SP3 for 64 bit XP). Both OS's runs well on the desktop. So I have a total of 3 XP installs, not counting XP Mode, or any virtual XP installs, of which I have several.

I don't want to see it happen either. As long as one can keep XP secure, which the main thing, I don't see why anyone can't use it. Security providers will probably support the OS for 3 to 5 years after end of support.

Cat

I will continue to keep an XP vm for client support.

And it took til late last yr for Win7 to pass XP.

someone asked me the other day, if, there had been much publicity for Windows8... It's amazing (to me) how many people don't know anything of it , @ ALL, as in never heard of or about it, don't know it's coming, @ all.

I've had many people, when I've mentioned it say, "Oh there's a new one??"

This when we are only left w/ about 1 week to go 'til release... seems strange so many are, actually, unaware.

Cheers,
Drew

Oh damn, I hope nothing bad happens, as in fully stopping the windows XP updates from Microsoft, that won't be good.

Also, PHP5's new release will probably take down support of Windows XP as well, which is kind of sad.

XP will continue to receive updates until it's end-of-life support date on 04/08/14, as will Office 2003.

This doesn't imply that it'll be unusable, only that MS won't support it any longer, free or paid.

However, this does put MS in sort of a bind. XP Mode is an optional app for Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate/Enterprise, & has been continued to be promoted as such. So in a way, XP will live almost a 20 year lifespan. However, the same rule applies, there will be no new updates for XP Mode either.

More than likely, the security industry will continue to support XP for at least 5 years after end of support. Many are just now dumping support for Windows 2000, it's been unsupported since the summer of 2010. XP, a far more popular OS, will be supported much longer.

Cat

I know people who speak of their "old" P4 2.8 GHz as obsolete and want to throw them off. Yes, Win 7-8, Aero, Stalker and Crysis lags on such stations.. but with XP and Office 2003 onboard they are still capable of doing almost everything that is neede for non-geek person. Such PCs are great for learning, writing, playing 2d games, programming.. And now when XP would be "not supported" lot of developers would remove compatibility code from their apps and games. I.e. Firefox already dropped XP SP2 support. Where are we going, people? Why should we ever move to new OSes and upgrade computers every year?

It's not every year, it's every 3. And there is no obligation to move to a new OS just cus it has been released. There may be several reasons to move to a new OS... a coincidental need for a new machine, a 'want' for a new machine, progressing to new, improved, better technology & functionality.

VMs will allow running of legacy software.

Cheers,
Drew