Staff Techdrunk 
Despite protests from PC users who are unwilling to use the Windows XP’s successor, Vista, Microsoft Corp. is scheduled to stop selling its Windows XP operating system from the 30th of June 2008. A group of vocal computer users who rallied around a “Save XP” campaign posted a petition on the industry news site, InfoWorld for Microsoft to keep selling XP until its next operating system, Windows 7, is available. The software maker has announced that it expects to release Window 7 sometime in 2009.
Retailers and major computer makers will now be unable to sell the Windows XP. Once computers loaded with XP have been cleared from the inventory of PC makers, such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., users who cannot operate without Windows XP will have no choice but to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then legally “downgrade” to XP.
However, Microsoft will still allow smaller mom-and-pop PC builder shops to buy XP for resale through the end of January, 2009. A version of XP will still remain available for ultra-low-cost PCs such as the Asus Eee PC. The company also assures that it would provide full technical support for six-year-old Windows XP through 2009, and limited support through 2014.
Current release from the Companys’ site states “Each product we offer has a carefully mapped lifespan and becomes unavailable at a predetermined time after the release of a new version. We do this to help ensure you have a good computing experience, and to support continuing innovation. That’s why we no longer sell Windows 95 or Windows 98, for example. Strong customer support for Windows XP has made the decision to stop selling it difficult. But after more than a year of consulting with industry partners and customers, we’ve decided to continue with our plan to stop selling Windows XP on June 30, 2008. Please note: We will continue to support Windows XP until 2014.”
