Original photo here, fair use for humour purposes

Summary: The worst nightmare of GNU/Linux on the desktop starts walking the plank (6 weeks to go)

Windows XP has been Microsoft's weapon against GNU/Linux adoption. We have given many examples of ways in which Microsoft dumped XP on the markets where GNU/Linux gained significant traction. The thing about Vista 7 is, just like Vista it won't run on older hardware, so this expiry of XP's life -- with caveats -- really is a blessing to free platforms such as GNU/Linux. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols writes about the dates today:

Now, Microsoft is getting ready to pull the plug on Windows XP sales. No! Really! They mean it this time. Would they lie to you?

Just because Microsoft has extended XP sales over and over again doesn't mean that they'll keep selling XP forever. Well, yes, they are supporting XP for years more to come, but this time -- cross their hearts and hope to die -- Microsoft really is killing XP sales on Oct. 22, 2010. Some companies, noticeably Dell, are pulling the plug on XP even sooner.

Trying to keep it alive for some form factors only makes Windows look bad compared to GNU/Linux and Vista 7 has been rejected for use on many devices, e.g. Slate, which are better off with Linux (MeeGo, Android, WebOS, and also Ubuntu sometimes). ⬆