Last Chance

Today is the last day Microsoft is selling its Windows XP operating system. Even though they have announced that they will provide at least limited support for XP until 2014, they are stopping the sale of new copies of XP to vendors. There will be a way for people to get XP after today, although it will surely be expensive:

Microsoft Corp. is scheduled to stop selling its Windows XP operating system to retailers and major computer makers Monday, despite protests from a slice of PC users who don't want to be forced into using XP's successor, Vista.

Once computers loaded with XP have been cleared from the inventory of PC makers such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., consumers who can't live without the old operating system on their new machine will have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then legally "downgrade" to XP.

The new Windows operating system that will succeed Vista will be out in 2009. That will be when Microsoft ends full support for XP.