XP Support for 6 more years

It looks like companies that are planning to continue using Windows XP beyond the June 30th deadline may be onto something. InformationWeek posted details of the ongoing support and availability of Windows XP in their article: Microsoft Pledges Windows XP Support Through 2014.

Having another 6 years of support for this product is nothing to sneeze at. It now makes the strategy of entirely skipping Vista a viable option. It is already clear that Microsoft is racing to develop Windows 7 as quickly as possible (likely hoping to sell something ASAP to those who want to skip Vista). So there will be plenty of time for Windows 7 to get released January 2010 and a Service Pack or two to follow before an organization is forced to step off its stable XP platform.

I've read plenty of articles talking about how software companies are still developing for XP (some not developing for Vista at all). Large computer manufacturers like Dell have announced that they will continue to make XP available - this of course means that drivers will also continue to be developed for the various PC components from companies like ATI, etc.

So it looks like all the pieces are in place to allow the whole world to tick along and happily pretend that Vista never existed. Frankly, after working with Vista for the past 1.5 years, I think it is a prudent strategy. But don't worry - I've already boarded the Vista boat - I'm still bailing and will continue to post when I find something of value to talk about.