How many operating systems still receive security patches 12 and a half years after their release? According to InformationWeek, that's the treatment Microsoft will give Windows XP. The site says Microsoft VP Bill Veghte has sent a letter to customers saying Microsoft will continue to update Windows XP with security patches "and other critical updates" all the way until April 2014.
To put things in perspective, Windows 95 will be 13 years old in a couple of months. Windows XP is somewhat of a special case, though: Microsoft didn't release a successor until five years after its launch, and the company plans to keep selling XP to low-cost subnotebook makers until at least 2010. In the letter, Veghte reportedly told customers, "Our ongoing support for Windows XP is the result of our recognition that people keep their Windows-based PCs for many years."
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