Windows XP becomes zombie tween

By Richi Jennings (@richi ) - October 26, 2011.
 
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is this week celebrating the 10th birthday of Windows XP, the preadolescent operating system that will not die. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers eXPerience XP's twilight years.
 
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: When you see it, you will...
 
 
Andy Patrizio reports:

With Windows XP, Microsoft hoped to have one codebase that would span everything from consumers to corporate desktops. ... It satisfied all classes of users, from home users who wanted the stability of Windows 2000 with a better interface to the business user who wanted more control over their desktop.
...
Microsoft got great mileage out of Windows XP, mostly out of necessity. Its normal three-year cadence for releases ended up being cast aside as Windows Vista fell further and further behind. ... That longevity has allowed XP to take root and outlast its welcome.   

   
Paul Thurrott adds:

Of course, 2001 was also the year of 9/11, as noted above. Microsoft decided to hold the XP launch in New York City after much debate, and barely a month and a half after those events. ... The launch was at the Marquis Theater in Broadway, but there was also an event at NASDAQ, a Sting concert in Bryant Park, and various events at retailers.
...
I sort of cringe every time I see someone using Windows XP out in the world, or hear that overly-familiar XP startup sound. But XP is still with us, and will be for a few more years at least. ... XP will ultimately be seen as the most successful PC OS ever, and a high-water mark for Microsoft, despite a rough start.   

Microsoft's Rich Reynolds blogs the inveitable:

While Windows XP was pioneering for its time, it’s clear the nature of work has changed and businesses are able to accomplish much more with Windows 7. Like Windows XP, Windows 7 has seen incredible market adoption.
...
The vast majority of enterprise customers got great value with Windows XP and are moving or have plans to move to Windows 7 Enterprise.   

 
Peter Bright shines a light:

[T]he thing that cemented Windows XP's status wasn't Windows XP itself: it was the lack of any successor. Microsoft's Longhorn project, an ambitious plan to radically rework Windows, with an all-new set of APIs and a database-like filesystem, was...abandoned. ... Windows Vista, a massively scaled back, more conservative release, eventually arrived in 2006, but by this time Windows XP had become so dominant that users...didn't want a new operating system.
...
Business users stuck with Windows XP, and Windows Vista struggled to ever make a serious dent in its predecessor's market share. ... Long in the tooth it may be, but Windows XP still basically works...that it remains usable so long after release is remarkable. ... [But it] is today a very tired platform, one that hasn't kept up with modern developments.   

But Dave Parrack has had enough:

Windows XP was a fine operating system, and still works well on a PC from that era. But the world has moved on, and we’re only a year or so away from Windows 8 with its radical new user interface.
...
Happy Birthday, Windows XP, but will you now kindly shuffle off this mortal coil. Thanks.   

  
And Finally...
When you see it, you will...
  
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. He's the creator and main author of Computerworld's IT Blogwatch -- for which he has won American Society of Business Publication Editors and Jesse H. Neal awards on behalf of Computerworld. He also writes The Long View for IDG Enterprise. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com. You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.