SoHo Trends

If you believe in the mantra “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, you’re probably still running Windows XP on one (or more) of your home and office computers.  Some of you might be running Windows 98 or even Windows 95 (gasp!).  So far, I’ve managed to resist Microsoft’s siren song insisting that consumers upgrade to Windows Vista and (most recently) Windows 7.  There are a lot of reasons to continue (or start) using Windows XP, including:

• You have older hardware that doesn’t meet the specifications to run Windows Vista or Windows 7
• You have software that was developed to run under Windows XP
• You don’t like changing for the sake of changing.

While Mainstream Support for all flavors of Windows XP — including Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition — ended earlier this year (April 2009), Microsoft has pledged to continue Extended Support for until April 2014.  Under Extended Support, Microsoft will only provide paid support — on a per-incident basis, or through its various prepaid support programs — and will only offer non-security hot fixes for a fee, and then only to customers who have purchased the Extended Hotfix Support plan.   If you’re concerned about Windows XP security updates, Microsoft will continue to provide free security updates for Windows XP and release them via Windows Update until Extended Support ends in April 2014.

So, if you need to upgrade to Windows XP or purchase the full edition, where do you get it?  Amazon.com is one of the few reputable online vendors that still sells Windows XP Professional.