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Microsoft to retire XP in 2008

16/04/07 – Microsoft have announced plans to 'retire' Windows XP from the end of January 2008. The software giant will stop making the operating system available despite customer research showing a slow uptake of Windows Vista among consumers.
The decision affects all forms of the operating system and Microsoft will also prevent PC producers from buying the licenses for the operating system.

PC producers will still be able to buy the software licenses from 3rd party suppliers rather than Microsoft until 2009.

In a statement Microsoft's European spokesman on Windows licensing, Robert Epstein, said that the decision only affected licensing and not the technical support offered for XP users.

Mr Epstein said: "This is purely about availability of brand new licences for brand new machines. We'll continue to support XP for some considerable time."

The move is believed to be intended to encourage more Windows users to upgrade to the newest version of Window's, Vista, released in January 2007.

However research released in April has shown that Vista is not experiencing a huge rate of sales or upgrades.

The study was the result of questioning 2,223 web-using Americans and it discovered that 12% of those who knew about Vista were intending on installing it.

The research also revealed that the launch of Vista has not influenced when or if people purchase a new computer.

60% of those questioned advised that the new version of Windows did not effect their spending plans.

Microsoft insists that the steps being taken with XP were not different to how the company had previously organised changes from one version of Windows to another.

Epstein continued: "There's no significant change with XP compared with how we have done it with other operating systems."

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<a href="http://www.pulsewebhosting.com/news/microsoft-to-retire-xp-in-2008/75/" title="Microsoft to retire XP in 2008">Microsoft to retire XP in 2008</a> Published Date: 2007-04-16 15:54:05

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