Microsoft to extend date on licensing XP to May 2009
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Vista, which went on sale to customers early in 2007, was poorly received in
particular by I.T. managers at large companies. The launch of Vista was dogged by incompatibility issues with certain peripherals and complaints that the program was slow to launch and unwieldy. I.T. managers complained that getting the best out of Vista required costly upgrades to users' computers
> Microsoft officially phased out XP at retail in June, but, partly in response
to requests from hardware makers such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), and Dell Inc. (DELL), allowed them to continue to ship Windows XP past this point.