Microsoft blinks, a little, about retaining Windows XP

Microsoft has long insisted that it would stop selling new retail and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) licenses of Windows XP after June 30, 2008. Sure, some consumers and business customers said that they’d like to be able to keep buying new PCs running Windows XP. Yes, Galen Gruman and the folks at InfoWorld began a write-in campaign to delay the shut-off.

Despite this, you can’t blame Microsoft for insisting that the old software had to come off the store shelves at some point. When a new model comes out, most companies stop selling the old one. Sometimes that’s a big mistake, as Ford learned when it overhauled the Taurus in 1996. But you’ve gotta keep moving forward.

So, I was surprised when the company unexpected blinked a little, as you can see by viewing their License Availability Roadmap for Windows. Previously, the company asserted that retail and OEM licenses for Windows XP – including Home Edition, Professional Edition, Tablet PC Edition and Media Center Edition — would be available though June 30, 2008. (System builders can issue licenses through January 31, 2009, but those specialized uses don’t apply to the general PC market.)

But there’s a new footnote:

As of April 2008, Microsoft is extending availability of Windows XP Home Edition for OEMs to install on Ultra Low-Cost PCs. The new OEM end date will be the later of either June 30, 2010, or one year after the general availability of the next version of Windows.

Fascinating, eh?

I wonder if we’ll see more backpeddling before the clock runs out for Windows XP Professional.