Subscribe to the Free Print Edition!
Celebrating 25 Years

GCN Home > 10/08/08 web stories

A reprieve for Windows XP

Windows Vista's unpopularity in the business world may have forced Microsoft to extend XP's shelf life

By GCN staff

Microsoft has decided to extend the period in which it will make copies of its older Windows XP operating system available to PC makers, after business users all but turn their backs on the new Windows Vista OS, according an InformationWeek report.

Microsoft planned to stop distributing Windows XP media to large original equipment manufacturers on Jan. 31, 2009, but decided to move the deadline back to July 31 of next year.

According to InformationWeek, a Microsoft spokesman claimed in an e-mail that the move is designed to help businesses upgrade to Vista painlessly. But the fact remains that very few large companies are eyeing Vista, and instead are holding out for the release of Windows 7.

To read the entire InformationWeek report, click here.

More news on related topics: Software Applications, New Products / Technology