Microsoft will officially cease all support for Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP 1) on October 10, 2006.
This is the latest announcement from Microsoft reminding solution providers and users about the end of free support for this operating system version.
Customers are advised to upgrade to Windows XP SP 2 within the remaining 3 months before the October 10, 2006 deadline.
Starting from that date, Microsoft will stop releasing security updates for Windows XP SP1.
In this month’s security bulletin, Microsoft has advised users to prepare for this transition. “I recommend that everyone using it switch to Windows XP SP 2 as soon as possible,” said Stephen Toulouse, Microsoft’s Security Product Manager.
According to previous plans, Microsoft was set to end support for Windows XP SP 1 on September 17, 2006. However, the company later decided to extend the deadline to October 10.
Windows XP SP1 was officially released on July 11, 2002. The next version, Windows XP SP2, was launched about 2 years later on September 17, 2004. The next version, Windows Vista, is expected to be released early next year.
During a customer support agreement signing, Microsoft announced it would extend support and issue security patches for business customers if they do not have plans to upgrade to Windows XP SP2. For regular customers, Microsoft suggests considering an upgrade to Windows Vista early next year.
Recently, Microsoft also officially announced the complete cessation of support for Windows 98 and Me on July 11, 2006.
Hoang Dung
