Microsoft Support extensions for XP
Good news for Windows XP users (especially XP Home). Microsoft has extended the support period for XP Home and Pro. Originally, security patch related support was expected to end December 31st of this year. According to the article for XP Home…
So for the consumer versions of Windows XP, mainstream support was going to end on December 31, 2006 and there was no guarantee of any security hot-fixes beyond that time. Microsoft has now extended the mainstream support deadline for the consumer versions to an undefined date that is two years after the release of the follow-on operating system.
So, XP Home will like still be patched for around 2 1/2 years or so depending on the release of Vista.
XP Pro, is still the place to be for a longer support period though….
The old plan….
For the business grade Windows XP Pro, mainstream support was also going to end on December 31, 2006. Extended support would have kicked in at that time and been provided until December 31, 2011.
Security updates were expected until December 31, 2011. The new plan….
Microsoft has now extended the mainstream support deadline for the business version to an undefined date that is two years after the release of the follow-on operating system and they have extended the extended support deadline to an undefined date that is seven years after the release of the follow-on operating system (thus five years beyond the end of mainstream support)
So, if we assume that Vista comes out the middle of this year, then extended support for XP Pro will last to the middle of 2013. So, if you’ve still not upgraded to an XP, and are thinking about one or the other, I’d choose XP Pro.