Window XP Reprieved until 2010

Microsoft has announced that Windows XP, which was expected to reach the end of its life later this month, has been given a reprieve and will continue until 2010. However, before XP fans start celebrating it’s worth reading the small print. It turns out that MS is basically extending the deadline for manufacturer’s to sell licences for XP, mainly for use on low cost and ultra-compact laptops like the eee PC and OLPC (one laptop per child project). There’s also provision for XP to continue on low-cost desktops or ‘nettops’, which are essentially simple web-surfing machines. On the plus side this means XP will be supported for a while longer, probably well beyond 2010, but the chances are the next over the counter or mail order PC you buy will have Vista pre-installed, but there’s nothing to stop you wiping the disc and installing XP, if that’s what you really want.