Microsoft extends support for XP Home, XP Media Center

Would you like some extra support with that software?

That's what Microsoft is now offering buyers of Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition. The company announced on Wednesday that it is adding five-year customer support for the operating systems, marking the first time that such extended service has been offered with a Microsoft consumer product.

The "extended" support, which kicks in after April 2009, will bring the two products on par with Microsoft's Windows XP Professional for businesses. Microsoft previously reserved its five-year extended support feature to only enterprise-grade products.

Under Microsoft's Support Lifecyle Policy, consumers and businesses both receive "mainstream" support for their products. XP Home Edition and XP Media Center will see mainstream support end in April 2009, which includes paid support, security updates, design changes and feature requests.

Once mainstream support expires, the five-year extended support is due to kick in. Previously, XP Home and XP Media Center consumers would migrate to self-help support for eight years, after their mainstream support ended.

The extended-support level includes roughly half of the eight features included in mainstream support. Those not included are design changes and feature requests, warranty claims, no-charge incident reports and nonsecurity hot-fix support, unless a user purchases an extended agreement within 90 days of the mainstream support expiring.

The phase for additional software support will provide consumers with service until 2014, Microsoft said.

For the software giant, extending its help window is nothing new. Microsoft extended support for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE and Windows ME by two years, with assistance ending last summer.

And although Microsoft is expanding its support for its two consumer XP products, the move comes as it is gearing up to release its Windows Vista operating system to consumers next week. Vista, which is currently available to computer makers to load on their boxes, is expected to ultimately replace XP, though market watchers note that it might take some time.

"Microsoft has listened to customer feedback and realized that providing security patches for Windows XP Professional, and not extending that support to the XP Home and XP Media Center Editions, was not a consistent approach," a company representative said. "Microsoft is currently making the change for Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition only, and (it is) taking additional time to evaluate a permanent policy change that would apply to all consumer operating system versions."

[LEOPiC]

Well I just bought a laptop

With Windows XP Media Center preinstalled, so I guess it's good news for me

[jchandler15]

Good to hear

I am certainly glad to hear that Microsoft will be giving the consumers that much longer, it will definetly benefit those who may want to stay with Windows XP for a while before switching to Vista.

Josh Chandler
http://www.josh-chandler.blogspot.com
http://www.techoriphic.com

[c|net Reader]

Confusing Story

The story doesn't explain what "mainstream," "extended," and "self-help" support mean, rendering it useless to those unfamiliar with the terms.

If one doesn't purchase the extended support, what does one lose in 2009? From the end of the story, it sounds as though at least security updates will stop in 2009. Is there anything else that might make purchasing the extended support valuable?

[Jeff92130]

Support?? Is that what you call it??

My home XP system is stuck in a constant state of attempting to update XP...and consistently failing to do so....their "support" consisted of reams and reams of complex codes to type in here and there...after several hours of following all their "support", I gave up and shut the automatic update feature off....

From my experience - I don't think extending support is a good thing.....

[slim-1]

Don't believe Microsoft they lie.

Consider long and hard before you base an real purchasing decision based on Microsoft's word.

They have a 30yr history of lying about just about everything.

Keep in mind WinMe support only lasted 6yrs.

Don't trust what they say about Vista either. It is an unneeded eye candy upgrade.

[ben::zen]

ME died unlamented

Well, it is true that ME only lasted 6 yrs, but it was only a reheat of 98SE with a bit of Milennium flair, the Win2k interface. So yes, it died, and after reading the review, I'm sticking with Windows XP MCE for a while, as my dual-boot Lin/Win machine will suit for some time, until games no longer run (then I'll switch) [Note which operating system I put first :)]

[sanenazok]

Where's the charge?

Whoa a free support contract! Doesn't MSFT have to charge people for it just like Apple, or does that rule apply only to companies with bad accounting?

[ronspruell]

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft has never giving anything away. Every time I have ever tried to get support from them I couldn't afford it so I either live with the problem or turn to on line users groups for help. I can't believe anyone would ever think they could get help from Microsoft for free or ever think they ever will. Charging the price they do for their products and or operating systems what would make anyone believe they would give away help for their buggy products?
Well I guess the next questions is why do I use any Microsoft products? I guess it's because they have a very good promo department and have convinced a lot of large companies how good they are then sold them their products which has made it essential that employees of said companies have to use their products or operating systems to get their work done. By the way a lot of the large companies are coming to their senses and started keeping up on how much Microsoft products are costing them every year in upgrades and licenses and are turning to other products and operating system to do the same work and job for a lot less.

[slim-1]

True and then Windows Fanboys will talk about the lack of support in Linux.

If you are going to use online support because Microsoft charges too much why not use Linux.

It has better online support.

I found everything I needed to know on the the Ubuntu web site and I was much more advanced than the Microsoft web site.

[charismaticstar69]

Little TOO Late

Microsoft.....Wow! What a joke. You buy their XP Pro, and then they later tell you, your xp is not genuine. I guess I do not understand big business. Microsoft lost my $ and will never see another dollar from my cute pocketbook. APPLE APPLE APPLE.....people you are lost until you have a apple. Microsoft is in the dark. Do not waste your $ on their products. My parents taught me, do on to others as they have done to you. Well so be it. Why does Microsoft have to wait till 2009? And will previous customers be offered this extension. I agree with another reader, this is not a clear article..poorly written. Good Luck! :) Shelby

[reverend_john]

Why do I dislike Bill Gates and windows?

I'm a minister with a church and we set up an area for the kids to learn and use computers. Of course we needed a windows operating system for the 12 computers that where donated. Upon contacting microsoft about needing windows for these kids, I get ?you can purchase a volume license? for a price that was so high we could not afford it.
So here we sit with 12 out dated computers, 12 inoperable computers (no system), and a bunch of unhappy kids. I try to teach them there is good in everyone but that?s hard to do when they see what Microsoft did to them.

[oakfield8]

why i dislike bill gates and windows

its just typical of microsoft(the global giant)money money money....what happened to charity...

[lo-tek]

Free software for reverend_john

What did Microsoft do to your kids? From what I can see you asked for something free or greatly discounted and were turned down. Are you going to give up and blame it on Bill Gates and Microsoft? There are organizations on the web that offer discounted copies of Windows to charitable organizations. They're easy to find on the web. You can raise the money for the discounted software in the usual manner: bake sales, car washes, raffles, whatever. It's easy to say "I'm a church and need free software" and get upset when you're turned down. It's not so easy to do something, get involved, and find a solution to your problem. Instead of telling your kids that Microsoft did something to them by not giving them software teach them the value of ownership and get them involved in finding a solution.

[nyej]

So you dislike bill because he ...

Ok so you dislike "Bill Gates" and "Windows"....

Because one of the countless employees at Microsoft didnt jump immediately on opportunity to give away there product to you. Now granted I understand your situation and I do wish those 12 computers where up and running for those children I really do.

I guess I just thought minister's taught love, forgiveness, patience... but you blind hate is a nice change to. You dislike Bill Gates, do you really think Bill made that decision? Do you know how much money he gives away?

I am no huge fan of Microsoft, but at least come up with a good reason to "Dislike" them. Oh and my minister always used to say "What would Jesus do?" now while I am not following that counsel by ripping your horrible arguement to shreds... I would expect more from a minister.

[realistic1]

You are an awful minister.

Do you realize that there are countless companies that will not give you free stuff just for asking?

Do you realize that there are free operating systems available?

Do you realize that there are government programs in place to provide funding for education and charities?

Do you realize that Microsoft did not do anything to the kids at your church?

Do you realize that you should never teach again, ever?

[slim-1]

Try Ubuntu Christain Edition

It is free and has many extra programs for churches.

[slim-1]

Before you blast him consider this.

1. He may not have known he had other options.

2. He was really indicating that Windows was overpriced not that he wanted it for nothing.

3. In the words of former Mexico Pres. Fox "I can feed the poor or use Linux, I will use Linux".

I would suggest the Ubuntu Christian Edition I recommended earlier as the best option.

Window's is the past and not the future. Let's teach our children the future.

Here is the link to Ubuntu CE

http://www.christianubuntu.com/

[tezza66]

get the church to pay

get the church to pay oh i forgot they spend all themself

[YourAdHere$19.95]

MS OS available at discount for Non-Profits

Reverend_John, you apparently spoke to some idiot on commission. That's no MS policy. Check out techsoup.com for good information and significant discounts on MS products available to non-profits.

I hope you'll also be contacted by one of the thousands of penguin-heads--likely some in your area--who would love a chance to set up a FREE Linux network for you. Check your local coffee shop for scruffy-looking guys with Bill-Gates-burning-in-effigy-tatoos... ;-)

God bless,
...$19.95

[Dandy55]

Instead of hating MS, learn how to search on the Web

Whom you contacted in MS? Have you checked MS corporate web-site on how to get a donation for non-profit?

Here is the link for you, reverend:
http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/citizenship/giving/apply/#head3

You should learn how to do search on the web, or ask your "buch of unhappy kids" - probably, they can teach you a lesson on finding solutions and getting what you need - and be happy!

With your attitude, it is you who do harm to your kids, not Microsoft or Bill Gates...

[thedreaming]

There is good in people...

...but while the operator understands your plight, the corporation (which has a narrow mind) only cares about profit.

Why not use linux instead of windows?

[umbrae]

Microsoft? Support?

You would have to be an idiot to use MS Support. It is useless. The only thing you need it for is to get a new Key when you add RAM or swap your Hard Drive. Other than that is just a bunch of clueless people with broken English.

[YourAdHere$19.95]

The Evil that Lurks in Redmond

It is grossly disingenuine to claim this company is "bad" because they don't meet your arbitrary emotional expectations. Support is the LEAST of the reasons to hack on Microsquish.

Microsoft is just another company trying to make money. They are providing products and services to a market that has no real traditions, standards, or any baseline of customer experience we can use to judge them--good or bad. Widespread support of home computer operating systems did not exist prior to M$.

What the heck are we comparing them to, your local florist? Apple? Is every negative comment here from one the 14 people who've called Apple tech support? Or do you all have Linus Torvalds on speed-dial?

Why do I let myself get baited into this nonsense...?

[tdrv]

Extended Support

Does all this mean that I'll be allowed to download wmp 11 someday? I have win xp media center prior to win xp 2005 and they (Gates and Company) won't allow me to have wmp 11 because my system doesn't run the 2005 edition.

[Maccess]

whooo.... just three versions of XP....

I wonder what support issues there will be with six versions of Vista.