Dell announces end of the road for Windows XP

September 9, 2010 By Fahmida Y. Rashid

Dell is slowly, but finally, putting Windows XP to rest. We will miss ya, old fellow.

With Windows 7 doing so well, it was only a matter of time before major OEMs stopped selling XP machines. Dell has officially announced its end-of-life plans on its Direct2Dell blog .

Per Microsoft rules, OEMs can’t ship computers with XP Pro or Home after Oct. 22, only a few short six weeks away. In preparation of that deadline, Dell will stop offering XP as an option on its computers at the end of this month. Its Microsoft Windows 7 page claims the last day to place an order is Oct. 1, but the date is subject to change. Regardless, if you are thinking of staying off the Windows 7 train and sticking with XP for a little longer, you don’t have a lot of time left to place that order. So, get cracking!

For existing XP users, there’s no rush to upgrade to Windows 7 if you are happy where you are. Dell will continue to offer Windows XP driver support until December 2012. As we reported earlier, Microsoft has decided to extend XP downgrade rights to 2020. This means you can still hand-install Windows XP after buying a brand-new computer. Dell will supply a copy of the media upon request.

There are some exceptions to the rule to make things a little confusing. Qualified customers who order computers using the Dell Custom Factory integration service will still have the option to get PCs with XP installed after the mid-October deadline. The Custom Image requirements apply only to new Windows XP Professional, XP Home, and XP Tablet products.

If you have XP programs you just can’t bare to give up, and you can’t get to Dell in time to get a new computer, Direct2Dell blog helpfully suggests trying Windows XP Mode to keep those applications chugging along. XP Mode is available on Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate.

Showing 3 comments

Alex at 6:18am 15th September 2010 I thought this was a article about ending XP not finding kids with chips.
investigator at 8:08pm 14th September 2010 RE: The article from the Electronic Frontier Foundation about RFID chips in schoolchildren's effects - the author apparently is blissfully unaware that there is major case here in the Portland Oregon area where a child went missing during the school day and his stepmother is under scrutiny about that. The Search and Rescue people expended lot of time and money trying to find him, but he still remains unaccounted for after several months. If little Kyron had an RFID chip in his effects that could be tracked, we'd know exactly where to look. As far as "personal privacy" goes, it's what is done with the info, not the method of gathering the info that should be of concern.
1. Amy at 8:20pm 14th September 2010 So we need to start tagging our children now? Maybe inject it under the skin? The truth is that most parents do not even know you can do this for their pets, let alone their children. Yes, it would be easy to tag a shoe that a child might wear, but where are parents supposed to find these products? There needs to be better awareness.