Update: Microsoft responds to "Save XP" petition

Microsoft officials are aware of InfoWorld's "Save XP" petition effort, which is asking the company to keep Windows XP for sale indefinitely rather than drop the popular OS from most sales outlets on June 30 as planned.

A spokesperson noted that Microsoft had already delayed XP's demise by six months from its original Dec. 31, 2007, end-of-sales date, as software vendors, customers, and others complained that the deadline was too soon, coming less than a year after Windows Vista's release. "That's what informed our decision to extend the availability of XP initially and what will continue to guide us," another spokesperson told Computerworld Australia.

The first spokesperson told InfoWorld that Microsoft's rationale for the June 30 end-of-sales date has not changed since the delay it announced in September, though Microsoft officials continued to monitor customer feedback and had taken note of the petition effort, which has gathered more than 85,000 signatures as of the evening of Friday, Feb. 8. "We're aware of it but are listening first and foremost to feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs," the second spokesperson told Computerworld Australia.

The first spokesperson expressed some surprise at the resistance some users have expressed to adopting Vista. She also noted that Microsoft has several options for people to install XP on new systems after June 30 and that the company planned on supporting XP for some time after it is no longer available for sale.