September 09, 2009, 12:44 PM — Microsoft has said Windows XP will no longer be available a year after Windows 7 ships “We mean it this time, and no XP reprieves anymore. Unless they're really, really necessary,” allegedly said a Microsoft spokesperson. Will XP die a year or so from now, or will Microsoft allow the Zombie, or maybe Xombie, OS to keep roaming free?
As so many other things at Microsoft, this depends entirely on whether Windows 7 shoots the Xombie OS in the head, or just wings it, letting it keep staggering forward, ever forward. If Windows 7 does the job that Vista couldn't, meaning get good reviews and support from customers, then I predict Xombie XP will keep staggering as long as netbooks are a factor in the market.
Yes, netbooks are the key here. Vista ran acceptably well on newer computers, especially if you turned off the eye candy called the Aero Interface. Netbooks, however, with their underpowered Intel Atom processor, weren't designed to run a bloated operating system (Does that sound like Vista to anyone else?).
As netbooks surged in the market, many running Open Source Software (meaning free or darn near it), Microsoft turned Xombie XP loose. If Windows 7 receives the same groaning and grudging reception as Vista, look for Xombie XP to stagger on. Since early reports vary on how well Windows 7 does on netbooks, we'll have to wait and see.
Where's George Romero when we need him to make a new Zombie movie. How about “OS of the Dead” starring Windows XP?
