Microsoft Extends Support for XP Home and Media Center

Excellent news for Microsoft customers not yet ready to upgrade to Windows Vista, Microsoft announced extended support for Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition:

"With the addition of Extended Support, the support life cycle for Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition will include a total of five years of Mainstream Support (until April 2009) and five years of Extended Support, matching the support policy provided for Windows XP Professional."

With Windows Vista reaching the shelves next week, users with unsupported versions of Windows operating systems will likely be able to obtain discounted prices for Windows XP, knowing that security updates will be available until 2009, or with extended support to 2014.