Windows XP & Office 2003 Mainstream Support Ends April 14, 2009

Here is an important news for Windows XP and Office 2003 users. On April 14, 2009, Microsoft plans to cut off mainstream support for Windows XP and Office 2003. As a consequence, both products will move in the Extended support phase, which will last for the next five years. Both products will continue to be supported until 2014, although the updates provided to customers running the two products will be less diversified.
This applies to the following Windows XP editions:

• Windows XP Home
• Windows XP Pro 32-bit and 64-bit
• Windows XP Media Center Edition
• Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

However, for ultra-low cost PCs like netbooks, Microsoft has set June 30, 2010 as the End-of-Sales date even though the general End-of-Sales date for Windows XP was February 28, 2009.
As per the Microsoft Support Lifecycle, Mainstream support delivers free fixes for security patches and other bug fixes to everyone. Extended support delivers security updates to all users, but non-security hot fixes are to be provided only to companies that have signed support contracts (purchase of Extended Hotfix Support Agreement and per-fix fees) with Microsoft. Self-help online support will continue to be available for a minimum of 12 months after the product reaches the end of its support lifecycle.
Thanks to Neowin & Softpedia for the news...