Dead OS Walking! Microsoft Reaffirms Plans to Kill Off XP

Put your virtual pencils down, you can stop signing the Save XP petition now. In an open letter to Windows customers this week, Bill Veghte, Microsoft's senior VP, squelched any hopes the software maker would grant the soon-to-be retired OS another reprieve. But while Microsoft will officially pull the plug on XP at the end of the month, it will still provide security patches "and other critical updates" all the way up until April, 2014, nearly 13 years after XP first debuted. Veghte also reiterated that XP will continue to be sold on low-end PCs, as well as offered as a downgrade option when buying Vista Business or Ultimate. And as for Windows 7? Look for the new OS sometime around January, 2010.