Windows XP, edging perilously close to its June 30 end-of-support date, is looking to get a reprieve when Intel rolls out low-cost subnotebooks and MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices).
Intel has been touting its low-cost Atom processor, a small yet powerful chip created with Intel’s 45-nanometer process that can be crammed together 2,500 CPUs to a wafer. Atom will be powering both MIDs and what Intel is calling “netbooks” or “nettops”-rudimentary subnotebooks good for e-mail, Internet browsing, basic document creation and not much beyond that, to be priced between $250 and $350.
Microsoft isn’t responding to queries from news outlets, including eWEEK, but multiple publications have cited sources as saying Microsoft will soon announce that it will extend the kill date for Windows XP, specifically as it relates to subnotebooks and Internet devices such as Intel’s MIDs. The sources expect the announcement to coincide with IDF (the Intel Developer Forum), being held in Shanghai, China, April 2-3.
Intel spokesperson Bill Calder told eWEEK that Windows Vista just doesn’t make sense for the Atom-run “netbooks.”