The end result is that Windows XP Home will leave Mainstream Support and enter online support on January 1, 2007—in less than a year.

When that day comes, XP Home users may feel left out in the cold, because they will no longer qualify for security updates, and will not be able to purchase support from Microsoft. Finding this situation somewhat alarming, I contacted Microsoft's representation to clarify the matter. A Microsoft spokesman relayed the following to me:

"For consumer products, security updates will be available through the end of the mainstream phase. For Windows XP Home Edition, there will be no security updates after 12/31/06." Regarding paid support for problems unrelated to security patches, I was told that "Users who want to continue to receive support after the Microsoft assisted and paid support offerings have ended may visit the Retired Product Support Options Web site."

I suspect that Microsoft will grant a stay of execution for Windows XP Home, because the alternative is to create a PR nightmare that would also leave customers fuming. Citing emerging markets in the past, Microsoft extended support for Windows 98 and ME by more than two years, and this decision was made long after Windows XP was released. Microsoft should extend support for Windows XP Home well into 2008. Otherwise users will have to hope that updates to XP Professional meet their needs, but it remains unclear if Windows Update will point XP Home users to updates to XP Professional.

Is this a journalist just trying to write a story about nothing or is MS going to ditch XP Home ensuring home consumers have to buy Vista and get the cash tills ringing at Redmond.....

as it is so much better

I think this reporter or whatever he calls himself is full of crap and just trying to "create" his own news.

Mainstream Support Retired: 12/31/2006
Extended Support Retired: N/A

Mainstream Support Retired: 12/31/2006
Extended Support Retired: 12/31/2011

MS is certainly the best company in the world at annoying it's user base.

if MS releases a SP3 ( or 4 etc ) that would extend the timeline by at the least one year if not more.

Microsoft is making changes to its support Web site in an attempt to clear up confusion over its plans for the consumer editions of Windows XP.

Until Tuesday night, a posting on Microsoft's Web site stated that support for Windows XP Home and Windows XP Media Center Edition would end on Dec. 31, 2006. That would mean no more security fixes or any other support items, such as warranty claims, for users of those operating system products.

But the posting was incorrect, Ines Vargas, a program manager at Microsoft, told CNET News.com. The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker has now updated the online information to reflect that the the consumer Windows XP editions, along with XP Professional, will be supported until two years after Vista ships, she said. Vista, the long-delayed next update of Windows, is expected to arrive by the end of the year.

A Microsoft spokesman relayed the following to me:

But the posting was incorrect

This brings me to a confusing aspect of this story. News.com today is running with this story as a "False alarm over Windows support deadline," and Ines Vargas, a program manager at Microsoft, is claiming that this was all a misunderstanding stemming from the company's website. The News.com story doesn't mention my report, which was the only report to investigate the issue, but goes on to explain that in Microsoft's eyes, they're just now bringing the website inline with their own internal thinking on support.



I find this strange, because I contacted Microsoft's representatives not once but twice on this issue, and they confirmed the support cutoff date that I originally reported (12/31/2006).