Public outcry over the loss of Windows XP has arrived to Microsoft, who has relented on their decision to pull it from retail this year. Now, XP or at least XP Home, will continue to be available for a further two years or possibly longer, letting people and retailers continue to get licenses. The reason? Microsoft cites strong future demand for XP Home on less powerful machines such as the Asus Eee PC.
Low-power, low-cost devices have become popular, finding a niche among extremely powerful multi-core machines. The lack of RAM, GPU, and CPU power limit how well Vista functions on these machines to the point where forcing users to upgrade just isn't an option.
But will they do this for XP Pro? While it seemed unlikely in months prior, it seems like a possibility now. Let's also remember than XP SP3 is slated for release in the next few months. Microsoft's original plans were for so-called mainstream PCs to all carry Vista starting this June.