Microsoft has taken down the Support Lifecycle reference that incorrectly announced the General Availability Date of Windows XP Service Pack 3 for March 31, 2008. In this context, the third and final service pack for XP is still not available for the general public, with Microsoft continuing to play the refrain of an unspecified delivery deadline ahead of mid-2008 down to perfection. Still, with the service pack’s imminent arrival, Microsoft is looking at three of its Windows operating systems crowding the market over the next four years - XP SP3, Windows Vista and Windows 7. As long as it’s all Windows in the end, it’s also a win-win situation for the Redmond company, actually a Win-Win-Win, with the install base continually expanding. But at the same time, Microsoft has been gearing up for the end of availability of XP through the retail and OEM channels. Initially scheduled for the end of January 2008, the XP cut-off date was pushed back until June 30, and the Redmond company is giving out string signals that this is it for XP. Consumers will no longer be able to buy boxed copies of the operating system after June 30, or purchase computers with the platform pre-installed. The small exception designed to confirm the rule is Windows XP Home Edition which will be available for ultra-low-cost PCs until June 30, 2010, or at a maximum of one year after the availability of Windows 7. ULCPCs are a new breed of devices exploding in popularity in both emerging and developed markets, playing different roles from a primary machine for first-time PC customers to a secondary computer. The key to ULCPCs is affordability. In the ULCPCs recipe of computer plus operating system nothing was spared in order to reduce costs, low-powered processors, smaller hard drives and free, open source Linux, the key word being of course free. With the ultra-mobile PCs and ultra-low-cost PCs increasing in audience and popularity, Microsoft cannot afford to miss out, and just give up the new territory to Linux. Microsoft Says It’s All Windows, All the TimeBut not Windows Vista. Not for ULCPCs, first because of the price tag, and secondly because of the system requirements. Even Windows Vista Starter Edition, the SKU of the operating system aimed specifically at emerging markets requires at least a 800 megahertz (MHz) processor and 384 MB RAM and at least 15 GB of free space on the hard disk. With some ULCPCs coming with just 256 MB RAM and a hard disk that is 4 GB or smaller, Vista, even with its most basic edition, is not a choice by any standards. Even XP has problems integrating with such hardware infrastructures. “One thing we’ve heard loud and clear, from both our customers and our partners, is the desire for Windows on this new class of devices. We are enthusiastic about this category because it enables us to bring the benefits of Windows to more customers,” revealed Michael Dix, General Manager of Windows Client Product Management. “Three benefits are driving this interest in Windows. First, the Windows experience makes it easy for existing PC customers to use these new devices, and it makes these devices easy to learn for customers new to computing. Second, only Windows provides customers access to the widest range of applications, devices and online experiences. Finally, our partners already know how to build and support great systems powered by the Windows platform.”Vista is incapable of ending off Linux on ULCPCs, so the task will fall onto Windows XP SP3. Microsoft is of course steering clear of admitting that the move of extending the availability of XP SP3 Home for ULCPCs is a step against Linux. But the fact of the matter is that XP SP3 is the only Windows operating system capable of surviving in the environment of ultra-low-cost PCs which seems perfectly tailored for Linux. And even XP has to be tweaked and adapted to the new devices.
