Microsoft have, yet again, given XP a stay of execution. System builders will now be able to purchase copies of XP up until 30/06/09.
Mary Jo Foley over at ZDnet has some interesting points to make on this though:
This definition of “System Builder” doesn’t include the likes of HP, Dell, Lenovo etc but rather the small “White Box” vendors, the kind who have a shop in town…
Also, this is separate to the deadline for Netbooks-which is 30/06/10 or one year after Windows 7, whichever comes last.
So all in all not a massive announcement in my opinion, but it does seem to show that the demand for XP is still there. I have been a fan of Vista pretty much since it was released and I can’t wait for Windows 7, so I think people really should move off XP where they can. I can see the attraction now that Netbooks are gaining popularity but it seems that people have got Windows 7 working on them without too much of a problem…
Cloudy with a chance of Licensing 