Shepherding towards Windows 7
Less than six months after the apparently successful launch of Windows 7, Microsoft has decided to cut the umbilicus to the operating system many end-users - especially businesses - clung to during the Vista era.
Windows XP SP2 is the OS many people used for many years, but on 13 July Microsoft will support it no more. It is still supporting XP SP3 however, so Microsoft is not yet forcing XP users to upgrade, but this is a strong signal to XP users nonetheless.
A version of Windows that is having the umbilicus completely severed on 13 July is Windows 2000 and anyone still using Vista RTM (SP0) will be compelled to at least get the latest service pack on 13 April. Of course Microsoft would rather they moved up to Windows 7.
In case you're wondering why running an OS that Microsoft no longer offers support for, the announcement offered the following warning:
Keeping your PC up to date and as safe as possible is something that people need to think about beyond just being on the latest service pack. I want to remind everyone of the benefits of keeping Windows Update turned on. Through Windows Update, not only are you provided with the latest security updates and service packs for Windows at no cost, but also the latest updates to products such as Internet Explorer 8 and Microsoft Security Essentials.
