In the memo, Microsoft says it will continue support for Windows XP beyond its latest retirement date of May 30, 2009. Unconfirmed rumors are also circulating that Microsoft will allow Hewlett-Packard to continue shipping computers with Windows XP until April 30, 2010. If that’s true, it’s likely that Microsoft will let other PC vendors do the same.
Perhaps one reason for the extension has to do with the popularity of netbooks, primarily designed for wireless communication and Internet access to Web-based applications. Netbooks typically run some version of the Linux operating system or Windows XP. Microsoft’s Vista is too resource-intensive for the small, low-powered machines.