I came into the office this morning planning to write a nice, little review of the current state of Windows 7, but the first thing on the web that I read was that Windows XP support runs out next week. To be honest, we all knew that this was coming. Microsoft should not be expected to support its old operating systems eternally, but I do have a problem with the timing of this. Although you might not be able to buy a new retail copy of Windows XP (except for old stock, etc), you can still buy a new system with the downgrade to XP.

How can a manufacturer stop supporting a product that is currently available? In the auto industry, manufacturers are required to stock sufficient inventory of replacement product to support their vehicles for a significant period after the last model year. If I were to buy a Ford Fusion, I could be comfortable knowing that if Ford discontinued the line, I should be able to get the product repaired in the coming years. Let’s not discuss the current state of the US auto industry!

In software, it seems, manufacturers can arbitrarily decide when they feel like abandoning a product. Microsoft does have a predefined support schedule for any product, but the date is arbitrarily set at the beginning of the product’s life. If a product continues to be available in some form after that expected life, then oh well, better “upgrade.”

Once Windows XP moves out of the mainstream support phase, customers will need an extended support contract with Microsoft or one of its channel partners to address any issues not related to security.

What about those users that have purchased a system with the XP downgrade in order to avoid the fiasco also known as Vista ME, er, uh, Windows Vista? If Microsoft had a viable alternative to XP already available, I could see them dropping mainstream support. Unfortunately, Vista is not it. And before we get into a Vista Sucks battle, I just want to say that I don’t hate Vista. I don’t like it very much, but I don’t hate it as much as I did when it first arrived. Yes, Vista has its problems, but many have been blown way out of proportion by hearsay and an unwillingness to really look into it. Heck, I used to hate peas until I tried them!

Windows 7, albeit still in a testing phase, looks to be a viable alternative to XP. It appears to be what Vista should have been. I like to think of Vista as merely market acceptance testing and not a really product. The problem is, Windows 7 is not yet available and won’t be for many months. Microsoft needs to accept the fact that Vista has not had significant market penetration and has actually hurt their market share. They need to publicly admit that they understand their customers’ concerns. They need to extend mainstream support until at least a year after XP is no longer available to be officially purchased.

My guess is that Microsoft will reluctantly acquiesce and continue mainstream support for a period.