While we are close to collecting our original stated goal of 100,000 signatures, not everyone thinks InfoWorld's Save Windows XP campaign is a worthwhile initiative.

As Peter Bruzzese points out, the author of Exchangeapedia, Bharat Suneja, suggests that the campaign won't inspire Microsoft to change its plans and keep Windows XP alive beyond June 30.

Suneja, it's worth explaining, is a Microsoft MVP. A rare breed, indeed, these disciples are devout enough that, while attending an MVP Summit back in 2001, a pair of them even got married in Redmond, Wash. and read vows from their Pocket PCs.

That said, Bruzzese writes that Suneja "has done his own research on the matter and his opinion should be heard." I agree, and particularly when he explains that mainstream support will end on April 14th, 2009, and extended support will be available for five years from that date, till April 8th, 2014, both points IT shops should research. Suneja writes, in his post, "Windows XP doesn't seem like a product that's being retired prematurely."

That, obviously, is a matter of some debate. Contrarians can easily point to the reality that Vista sales are not exactly going like gangbusters.

Microsoft, in fact, just today said it will slash prices of Windows Vista up to 50 percent, though mainly in developing countries, and wealthier nations in Europe and the U.S. are likely to see discounts as small as 3 percent -- while one industry analyst said that price cuts don't get to the heart of Vista's problems.

What's more, company e-mails that were unsealed this week as part of the lawsuit that claims Microsoft deceived buyers when it promoted PCs as "Windows Vista Capable" indicate that even top Microsoft executives struggled with Vista because some of their hardware would not work with the OS.

What's your take? Is XP worth saving, or nearing retirement? Talkback via the comments function below.

Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 29, 2008 10:51 AM