Microsoft stops offering boxed Windows XP

As of Monday, Microsoft has stopped selling boxed copies of the 7-year-old Windows XP operating system. Having said that, various levels of product support for Windows XP installations, especially pertaining to security updates, will still be available through April 2014.

The only way to get Windows XP on a new system from a big-name computer vendor, however, will be via the "downgrade" route available to certain editions of Windows Vista. Another exception would be going for "low-end" hardware: Makers of mini subnotebooks as well as low-end desktops, according to an announcement from Microsoft back in April, can still ship their hardware with Windows XP through June 2010.

For more on the availability of Windows XP:
- check out this ComputerWorld article