Very interesting!
http://www.winplanet.com/article/4056-.htm
>
>
> Software Reviews
>
> Microsoft Just Can't Kill XP
> Windows XP: Refusing to Go Gently into That Good Night
> Stuart J. Johnston
>
> If you can't kill it, at least try to figure out how to make money off it.
>
> That appears to be the lesson Microsoft has learned from Windows XP 
> recently.
>
> The company announced Tuesday that, given the demand for XP on so-called 
> "ultra low-cost PCs," or ULCPC, it is extending availability of XP to a 
> new category of ULCPC that it refers to as "nettops" (pronounced "net 
> tops").
>
> These are bare bones, extremely low-priced desktop PCs — and not only for 
> students and emerging markets any more, but also for developed markets, 
> such as low-cost nodes on home networks in the U.S. The edition of XP on 
> offer is XP Home, however, not XP Professional.
>
> What it means, essentially, is that XP is far from a goner.
>
> Microsoft's announcement came at the giant Computex computer show in 
> Taipei, Taiwan.
>
> Of course, it's no secret that the software giant would like the whole 
> world to switch over to Windows Vista, and it would like to stop selling 
> XP because it competes with Vista, particularly at the low end of the 
> market.
>
> In fact, Microsoft originally planned to shut down sales of XP on January 
> 30, 2008, a year after Vista shipped to consumers. However, demand for XP 
> remained so strong that the company in September was forced to reset the 
> expiration date to June 30 for most PC manufacturers and retailers.
>
> Then, in April, the company switched tracks altogether when it announced 
> it would make XP available for mobile ULCPCs, also called "netbooks." That 
> reset the cutoff date yet again.
>
> "Windows XP Home for netbooks, also commonly referred to as ULCPCs, will 
> be available through our OEM channel until June 30, 2010, or one year 
> after general availability of the next version of Windows [Windows 7]," a 
> company spokesperson told InternetNews.com in an e-mail.
>
> "Windows 7" is the codename for the next major release of Windows, which 
> is currently scheduled to arrive by early 2010.
>
> In the meantime, apparently customers in both emerging and developed 
> markets are demanding both types of ULCPCs.
>
> "Customers and partners have made it clear to us that they want Windows on 
> their netbooks and nettops," Steven Guggenheimer, corporate vice president 
> of Microsoft's Original Equipment Manufacturer division, said in a 
> statement.
>
> Microsoft said that it is working on the new initiative with 20 hardware 
> partners, including Acer, ASUSTek, Dell, HP, Inventec, Lenovo, Quanta 
> Computer, and Wistron.
>
> In early May, the company shipped Service Pack 3 for XP, also helping to 
> extend the seven-year-old system's lifespan.
>
> Additionally, in mid-May, Microsoft announced it would supply XP to the 
> One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, a move that drew outrage from the 
> open source community which had supported OLPC since the beginning.
>
> News courtesy of internetnews.com
>
> June 3, 2008
> -----------------------------------
> kch