Will SP3 Save Windows XP?

Will the third and final service pack for Windows XP manage to breath new life into the operating system? Will users and original equipment manufacturers be able to apply enough pressure on Microsoft to keep Windows XP alive? There is even an online petition available to save Windows XP. Anything but to move to
Windows Vista. Yes, by all means. Save Windows XP. But from what? Is XP even in need of saving?

Last I checked, Windows XP still accounts for the lion's share of the operating system market. All other platforms, including Windows Vista, don't even manage to come close to it. And growing on the operating system market means actually eroding XP's audience, because there is little elbow room with this ubiquitous platform having dug its roots in deep starting back in 2001. According to Net Applications, XP is credited with 76.91%, while after almost a year since it hit the shelves, Vista has only gone as high as 10.48%. By comparison Mac OS X has a share of 7.31% and all the Linux distributions just 0.63%.

Microsoft is currently developing XP SP3, having already made available for download a standalone version of the public Release Candidate in December 2006. The company points to the first half of this year for the delivery of XP SP3, and while the long overdue service pack will indeed breath new life into the platform it will not save Windows XP either.

On June 30, 2008, Microsoft has set the expiration date for the retail and OEM availability of XP. Vista's predecessor will still be available via system builders until 2009. And on top of it all, Mainstream support will last until April 2009, with extended support until 2014. That's longer than the support Microsoft is offering for Windows Vista Ultimate. Just in case that you were wondering, Windows XP is not going anywhere... It will still be around for Windows 7, that's 2010, in case you're confused. The last thing it needs is to be saved.