Microsoft
will give users of Windows XP Home and Media Center editions an
additional five years of support.
The two consumer versions of Windows will be included in the
extended support programme previously only available for
Microsoft's enterprise-level products, such as XP
Professional.
Under the new system, Windows XP Home, Pro and Media Center will
receive " mainstream support" until April 2009, including feature
requests, security updates, hot-fixes and support.
When the mainstream support period expires, all three products will
enter the five-year 'extended support' period.
Security updates and paid support will be offered during the
extended support period, along with a hot-fix support agreement
that users can purchase.
Official support for all three versions of Windows XP will end in
2014, 13 years after the first versions of the operating system
were shipped.
The five-year support clock started ticking at the time of
Microsoft's Service Pack 2 for XP Home and Pro in August 2004. The
current version of Media Center edition was unveiled in October
that year.
Although this is the first time that Microsoft has offered extended
support for consumer versions of Windows, previous versions of the
operating system have had their support deadlines pushed
back.
Windows 98 was originally scheduled for end of life in January
2004, but the product's popularity prompted Microsoft to extend
support for another two and a half years.
Windows Vista, the
latest version of Microsoft's operating system, is scheduled for
release to the general public on 30 January.
Windows XP Home, Pro and Media Center will receive
'mainstream support' until April 2009
