Microsoft has confirmed that Windows XP's shelf-life has been extended, and the operating system will be available for sale another six months past the operating system's original expiration date. Now, you'll be able to get a system with XP on it until the end of June 2008. This isn't a major surprise. The channel and enterprise markets are still holding pat on Vista, for the most part, until SP 1 ships. And eve Microsoft has confirmed that Windows XP’s shelf-life has been extended, and the operating system will be available for sale another six months past the operating system’s original expiration date. Now, you’ll be able to get a system with XP on it until the end of June 2008.This isn’t a major surprise. The channel and enterprise markets are still holding pat on Vista, for the most part, until SP 1 ships. And even when that ships, there will be months of testing by most major customers before they start migrating, slowly, to the new operating system–unless they decide to wait until after they migrate to Longhorn on servers, or not migrate at all. So, it’ll be late in 2007 before many customers even consider a move–just on the cusp of when Microsoft was going to pull the plug on XP. Microsoft also has extended the life of its low-cost edition of XP for the emerging market out into 2010, conceding the hardware in some countries isn’t quite ready for Vista Basic. Of course, there are vast swaths of the American corporate landscape that would fit that description as well. What’s certain is that, while June 2008 may hold up as XP’s curtain call, there will be plenty of demand for continued support beyond that. Considering there are still companies using Windows 2000 for some applications, XP’s exit will be a long and drawn-out affair. Software DevelopmentSmall and Medium Business