Has Microsoft thrown in the towel on Vista?

Steve Ballmer today hinted that Microsoft will indefinitely extend the life of XP, and not end it by June 30, as the company had previously said. Does this mean that Microsoft is throwing in the towel on Vista?

In a story headlined "Microsoft could keep XP if customers want it: CEO," Reuters reports that Ballmer told a news conference in Belgium that Microsoft would extend XP's life if enough customers demanded it.

"XP will hit an end-of-life," Reuters quotes him as saying. "We have announced one. If customer feedback varies we can always wake up smarter."

Given the number of enterprises that have so far refused to switch to Vista, and show no signs of moving to it, don't be surprised if they start demanding that XP not go into end of life. And if what Ballmer says is true, Microsoft will listen to them.

That means that XP could last indefinitely into the future. In addition, Microsoft has said it will ship Windows 7 by 2010, and may well ship it by the end of 2009. That means that Windows 7 could be here in about a year and a half. With the life of XP extending, and the Windows 7 release looming, that may leave Vista out in the cold, with enterprises waiting to upgrade until Windows 7.

Ballmer at times is a loose cannon, so it's hard to know whether he'll really back up what he said in Belgium. But if it's true, it spells bad news for Vista.

Update: Ballmer is a loose cannon. Microsoft today backed away from his statement, saying it has no plan to extend XP's life. For details, see my blog.

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