Microsoft to "retire" Windows XP in April 2014

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10819130
Microsoft announce retirement date for Windows XP

By Pat Pilcher

Microsoft has today unveiled a planned retirement date for one of its
most successful products, Windows XP.

The news was delivered by Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin
Turner today at the Microsoft World Partner conference in Toronto.
Amongst the many statistics he quoted around Microsoft's market share
and comparisons with competitors' products (including a hilarious
video of Apples iPhone Siri telling the audience of 16,000 attendees
when asked "what is the best smartphone" that the best choice was the
Nokia Lumina 800), Turner announced that April 8 2014 will not only be
the 15th anniversary of windows XP , but it'll also be when "it'll be
put to sleep".

With over 400 million copies in use as of January 2006, XP was
eventually succeeded by Windows Vista in 2007, making XP one of
Microsoft's most successful versions of Windows ever. Windows XP
still has a massive installed base in the notoriously conservative
corporate sector, which also means there's some seriously big money up
for grabs once Microsoft cease supplying XT security updates, and
corporates are forced to remove it from their desktops and notebook
PCs.

It is also likely that Turner's announcement could see a flurry of
competition from both the Linux camp and Apple. Both are likely to
see the retirement of XP as a possible entry opportunity for their
respective platforms into the lucrative enterprise market. Adding
further spice into an already hot equation, Google's Chrome OS could
also be sufficiently mature to enter the fray, even if at present it
is still a rank outsider. Google do have a powerful story to tell
around Google mail, Google apps and other cloud applications for
investment wary enterprises, and 2014 is still at least 18 months away
in the rapidly moving tech sector.

This hasn't exactly escaped the attention of Microsoft either, with
Turner saying that the fastest way to Windows 8 will be via Windows 7.
Turner went on to cite one last push on Windows 7 as a US$12 billion
plus opportunity for Microsoft. Either way, Windows 8 global launch
is likely to be a bigger than huge deal, and it is probable that
Microsoft will kick off a massive advertising campaign around Windows
8 October launch time to build awareness of Windows 8, which should in
theory span smartphones and tablets as well as PCs and other devices
such as Microsoft's newly minted Surface slate computer.

Turner didn't mince his words when it came to Apple either, showing a
quote that said Apple's upcoming Mountain Lion OS "...is not the
future but is a patched up genetic experiment anchored in Apple's past
and present successes". Turner also discussed the irony of Apple's
apparent fear of change and how similar Apple has become to the
Microsoft of the past. Equally biting, he said that Apple has got it
wrong talking about the post PC era. Turner instead talked up what he
called "PC plus", saying that content creation and consumption can
easily be done on the same platform, as Windows 8 will easily span
both.

Last but by no means least, Turner announced that Microsoft are
building more self branded stores in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Whilst he made no mention of any non US store locations Turner did say
that pop up stores were likely to happen around the Windows 8 launch.

Here's hoping we see some in New Zealand.

 

Did they say that they were going to stop supplying patches or is that
mere FUD from the writer of the piece?

Cheers,

Cliff

 

I asked if that really meant that security updates would stop. The
answer is here:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/900-Days-until-Windows-XP-End-of-Life-230540.shtml

The answer is yes. They stopped selling it some time ago.

Cheers,

Cliff

 

"today unveiled"? Microsoft has had a date of 8 April 2014 listed on
their Windows support lifecycle page as the end date for "extended
support" of Windows XP for some time.

I suppose they just didn't mention it anywhere public enough for the
press to get wind of it until now.

http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?c2=1173

I expect it has said that since XP ended mainstream support in April
2009, but haven't found a cache of the page to confirm.

Wikipedia has statements which imply the April 2014 date was already
known at least as far back as July 2010, and Microsoft publically
mentioned it again in April 2012.

 

Actually, MS announced the end of MAINSTREAM support in 2009. I agree
that this is hardly news and that the reporter was so lazy that I
suspect she's simply regurgitating the usual MS bullshit. For example,
she mentioned that XP was one of Windows' most successful OSs without
adding that the POS known as Vista was a one of the least.

However, I look on this as more as a reminder that MS will "retire
EXTENDED support" for XP in around 20 months.

Precise wording: Microsoft "will retire support for SP3 (released
April 2008) two years after SP4 is released, or in April 2014,
whichever comes first. ".

 

Donchano wrote:
[...]

What I find perplexing/disturbing is the phrase used by Pat Pilcher in
your OP: "...but it'll also be when "it'll be put to sleep".".

Is this hinting that XP itself will somehow cease to run on a desktop
after this so called support cut-off time?

 

It was an odd choice of phrase, but no, XP won't stop running.

Past evidence: earlier versions of Windows still work, years to decades
after Microsoft stopped updating them. Judging from web usage stats,
there are still a moderate number of people running Windows 98, ME and
2000 and using them to access the Internet, despite that being a rather
risky prospect. Windows 95 also shows up from time to time.

From April 2014, Microsoft will stop releasing new security updates for
XP. That makes it increasingly risky to have the computer connected to
the Internet in particular, but even having it networked to other
computers will be risky. It will be essential to use anti-virus software
and keep it up to date.

The other factor is ongoing support for XP in new software, both from
Microsoft and third party developers. There is already some software
which requires a Windows version later than XP, and that process will
accelerate, particularly after April 2014, but it won't be a clean
cut-off. This will make it increasingly difficult to find new software
that will run on XP, limiting you to using older versions (which also
increases security risks, as you may not be able to install a new
version of an application which fixes known security problems).

 

I said that, in my second to last paragraph.

I'm curious whether the April 2014 date for ending extended support was
documented in April 2009, or if it has changed after that point.

(Pat Pilcher is a he, not a she.)

That's probably what Microsoft intended, but it isn't clear from the
article.

I'll be interested to see if they actually go through with it this time.
XP's support lifetime has already been stetched due to the Vista fiasco.

At present, XP is still the most common version of Windows in most web
stats, though Win7 will probably overtake XP this month or next.

In figures from marketshare.hitslink.com, XP has dropped from about 74%
to 63% to 53% to 43% in Net Marketshare figures for April 2009, 2010,
2011 and 2012; if that progression is linear it would be down to about
23% by April 2014.

(The corresponding figures for XP's share of all Windows versions are
80%, 69%, 60% and 50%.)

If XP is still being used for something in the order of 20% of all web
accesses in April 2014, and probably more like 30% of all Windows
systems in use, would Microsoft relent and stretch the extended support
window further?

That appears to be a modified form of the general statement Microsoft
uses to explain how long they support a particular service pack. e.g.
from my link above, next to SP3:

"Support ends 24 months after the next service pack releases or at the
end of the product's support lifecycle, whichever comes first. For more
information, please see the service pack policy at
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#ServicePackSupport ."

The April 2014 date in your version of the statement comes from the
documented date for ending extended support of XP as a whole (with the
final service pack installed). MS's policy is to support each service
pack for two years after the next one is released, e.g. XP with SP2 got
security updates for a little over two years after the release of SP3.
Beyond that you had to install SP3 to get security updates.

MS could still change their mind and extend the end date for extended
support of XP. They could even release an SP4. If they did both, then
SP3 would still be supported for security updates until the new end date
for XP extended support, or two years after the release of SP4,
whichever came first.

 

The press got wind of it back in 2007.

From an an article in 2007

| This morning, Microsoft extended Windows XP Home and Windows XP
| Media Center Edition to match the Pro version. It's a good move.
|
| Under the revised life-cycle guidelines, Windows XP Home and Media
| Center support will end on the second Tuesday in April 2009, and
| extended support will end five years later. The latter five years
| is significant. Microsoft doesn't typically offer extended support
| for consumer products.

-- reference: http://www.microsoft-watch.com/cont...nsumer_windows_xp_gets_another_lifecycle.html


From a discussion thread in 2007

| Windows XP Home Edition
| Generally Availability Date: 12/31/2001
| Mainstream Support Retired: 4/14/2009
| Extended Support Retired: 4/8/2014
|
| Go here:
| http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy
|
| And read up on 'Extended support' --> which means you will still be getting
| security updates at no charge. Which only makes sense and was really no
| extra effort - since they will be providing the same for the business-class
| Windows XP Professional - and most patches that apply to Windows XP
| Professional apply to Windows XP Home Edition.

-- reference: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/uT7bND2WCAY/qV_XQlNZ-hEJ

 

Thanks. That shows how poorly researched the Herald article was.
"Microsoft has today unveilved...". Yeah, right.

 

... what, again ?

 

I started with Windows ME. I think XP which I have now is a great
improvement.

Will they bring something else out to change to, or will we just have to
choose from what is available now?
But what is most foolproof?

Fortunately we have over a year to decide.
I expect the computer man will know when the time gets near.

 

You are reading it all Wrong.

XP will be running Till year 200,000,000


It has not gone out at all, just make sure you get all the Updates and
SPxxx ie SP4 when it comes our..

 

You don't have to upgrade, Geo. Like "Frank Williams" says, it will
never stop working and the serious security holes will be filled by the
time the updates stop coming. If you get a new computer, it will likely
come with a later version of Windows.

Cheers,

Cliff

 

MS will tell you you need to upgrade all the time. This is because their
cookie jar gets empty every couple of years, and not because you do. Stick
with what works. There's no compelling rason to switch from XP from what
I've seen.
But what the computer guy wants to work on is a pretty good reason too.

 

Small point, once 8 is out, 7 will not be able to be purchased, so you get
8.

 

8 is 100% Rubbish go on the Internet and read the News.

Plus high system requirements, so how is it going to work on a 10 year
old PC.

Please think before you post again..

 

Roger, I remember you rubbishing XP when it came out, and Vista, and
Windows 7. Though you may be correct about Windows 8.

Cheers,

Cliff

 

They have never done that before.

Cheers,

Cliff

 

I expect Trend Micro will go on stopping the viruses etc.
(Don't everybody tell me I should have something else!)

I'd like to keep XP now I've got used to it.
They say there will be some upgrade to 8 for people with XP.

Why change something that works so well?

It's like all these fancy mobile phones. If we ever get one I probably won't
use it except when I have to leave Hubby for shopping. I certainly wouldn't
keep answering it like some people seem to do. Often we don't even bother
answering the landline phone. And I'm not going to learn text language.
Some fool always phones about 6pm and has gone whenever we pick it up, so we
don't answer around that time. If it's anyone we know they will phone again,
or email us.

And what is wrong with Yahoo? They used to send a daily digest from a pigeon
group. That hasn't been around the last few days.