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Back in 2008, “the end” was marked for XP. At that time, the OS was seven years old — well past “old” in the consumer electronics world. It was during that year that Microsoft announced the death of XP — October 22nd 2010. And so hear we are, many of us praising the death of the now ancient OS while we simultaneously celebrate the birth of another. Windows 7 is 1 year old today. But don’t count XP out just yet. For early this year, Microsoft announced that Windows 7-to-XP downgrades could be performed until 2015 (Windows Ultimate) or 2020 (Windows Professional).
That’s a long, long time for any tech to stick around. IT administrators are either all for the languishing OS sticking around another decade or completely distraught. On one hand, keeping it around will mean far less work in upgrading countless machines and getting them working 100% once again. On the flipside, upgrading to Windows 7 would bring plenty of bug fixes, new useful features, and make their jobs easier — in theory. Another knock in using a decade-plus old operating system is keeping it running in the modern age. Between system incompatibilities and hardware becoming obsolete, the odds are stacked against XP aficionados.
But let’s put all that behind us for now. Today, raise a glass for the celebration of the new and old. Windows 7 is a great modern OS. But even though XP will no longer be available on newly purchased computers, downgrades mean XP is here to stay.
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