Driving > Disco

May 30, 2009. That is how long you now have to get your hands on a legit copy of Windows XP. Microsoft officially announced that they are once again delaying the deadline to order Windows XP. Not to make it too confusing, but this will allow hardware vendors and OEM's to complete your order for new equipment with Windows XP preinstalled, that is ordered prior to January 31, 2009.

Considering that the original kill date for XP was January 31, 2008, I'd say this is a good sign for XP, a pretty bad sign for Vista and promising for Windows 7. XP was "radically different" in the eyes of consumers when it was released, but once driver issues got ironed out and users started to pick it up, it was widely accepted. It went on sale in 2001 and just got extended into its 8th year of support. Not bad for a commercial OS. This also speaks to the public's reception of Vista: form cannot be substituted for function. I think this means that MS knows what the public wants out of Windows 7 and even if we have to wait a little bit longer to get it, we'll get something good.

Of course, if you already have a copy of XP laying around, and buy a new computer, you should be able to install XP onto it, with varying amounts of grief from Microsoft, the computer manufacturer and the OS you are replacing (Vista?).

Click on this link to get the whole story in all its confusing glory.