lubuntu-qa team mailing list archive

[Jonathan Marsden <jmarsden@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ali,

On 06/23/2013 03:31 PM, Ali Linx (amjjawad) wrote:

> For how many years now, a Windows XP Users has been using XP?

Potentially since 2002 (technically, since 31 Dec 2001).  So up to 10.5
years.

> Do they really update it?

Yes, usually automatically via Windows Update.  You can use Windows
Update, or you can use WSUS, or you can use all manner of other 3rd
party management systems to help ensure your XP machines are as updated
as they can be.

XP Extended support continues until 08 April 2014.  Mainstream support
officially ended 14 April 2009.  See

  http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?ln=en-gb&c2=1173

So even if we take 14 April 2009 as "end of support" for the average
user, (and there have been security updates for XP since then), that is
an XP support lifetime of 7 years, 3 months, 2 weeks.  Let's call that
87.5 months.

That makes 9 months look a little short, doesn't it?  Lubuntu 13.10 will
have ten times less support lifetime than XP.

I'd think Lubuntu working with a major project like this, and suggesting
or recommending a slightly modified timeline (so it can benefit from a
LTS release) would be seen as a positive thing, if handled appropriately
and professionally by our communications people :)

I wonder if they set a March date because extended support for XP will
end in early April 2014?  If so, how they get support for XP for that
intervening 2 weeks or so could be something that needs thinking about,
if we want to propose a late April date for the mass Lubuntu 14.04
distribution.

Jonathan
(who manages IT support for over 100 companies that between them *still*
run at least several hundred Windows XP workstations, today in 2013, as
part of his day job!)