Microsoft Extends XP Home Support To '08

Microsoft has quietly extended the support lifespan of Windows XP Home, which as recently as last week was scheduled to be put out to pasture at the end of this year.

Analysts had pointed out that XP Home, and most other XP operating systems, would be cut off from technical support on Dec. 31, 2006, a potential problem since XP's successor, Windows Vista, isn't to release until shortly before that date

In a blog written last Wednesday, JupiterResearch analyst Joe Wilcox put the blame at Windows Vista's door. "It's more a problem of product delays, that Microsoft repeatedly delayed release of Windows Vista," he wrote.

In an updated support lifecycle listing, Microsoft said that all Windows XP products--which include Home, Pro, Embedded, Media Center, and Tablet PC--will enjoy mainstream support for "two years after the next version of this product is released."

Assuming Vista releases in November of this year, XP's mainstream support will end November, 2008.