Windows XP is a major release ofMicrosoft'sWindows NT operating system. It wasreleased to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor toWindows 2000 for high-end and business users andWindows Me for home users.
Development of Windows XP began in the late 1990s under the codename "Neptune", built on theWindows NT kernel and explicitly intended for mainstream consumer use. An updated version of Windows 2000 was also initially planned for the business market. However, in January 2000, both projects were scrapped in favor of a single OS codenamed "Whistler", which would serve as a single platform for both consumer and business markets. As a result, Windows XP is the first consumer edition of Windows not based on theWindows 95 kernel orMS-DOS. Windows XP removed support forPC-98,i486, andSGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540, and will only run on32-bitx86CPUs and devices that useBIOS firmware.
Upon its release, Windows XP received critical acclaim, noting increased performance and stability (especially compared to Windows Me), a more intuitive user interface, improved hardware support, and expanded multimedia capabilities. Windows XP andWindows Server 2003 were succeeded byWindows Vista andWindows Server 2008, released in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
Mainstream support for Windows XP ended on April 14, 2009, and extended support ended on April 8, 2014.Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, based on Windows XP Professional, received security updates until April 2019. The final security update for Service Pack 3 was released on May 14, 2019. Unofficial methods were made available to apply the updates to other editions of Windows XP. Microsoft has discouraged this practice, citing compatibility issues.[5]
As of 2025[update], globally, 0.3% of Windows PCs[6] and 0.1% of all devices across all platforms continue to run Windows XP.
In the late 1990s, initial development of what would become Windows XP was focused on two individual products: "Odyssey", which was reportedly intended to succeed the futureWindows 2000 and "Neptune", which was reportedly a consumer-oriented operating system using theWindows NT architecture, succeeding theMS-DOS-basedWindows 98.[7]
However, the projects proved to betoo ambitious. In January 2000, shortly prior to the official release of Windows 2000, technology writer Paul Thurrott reported that Microsoft had shelved both Neptune and Odyssey in favor of a new product codenamed "Whistler", named afterWhistler, British Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skied at theWhistler-Blackcomb ski resort.[8] The goal of Whistler was to unify both the consumer and business-oriented Windows lines under a single, Windows NT platform. Thurrott stated that Neptune had become "a black hole when all the features that were cut from Windows Me were simply re-tagged as Neptune features. And since Neptune and Odyssey would be based on the same code-base anyway, it made sense to combine them into a single project".[9]
AtPDC on July 13, 2000, Microsoft announced that Whistler would be released during the second half of 2001, and also unveiled the first preview build, 2250, which featured an early implementation of Windows XP's visual styles system and interface changes to Windows Explorer and the Control Panel.[10]
Microsoft released the first public beta build of Whistler, build 2296, on October 31, 2000. Subsequent builds gradually introduced features that users of the release version of Windows XP would recognize, such asInternet Explorer 6.0, theMicrosoft Product Activation system, and theBliss desktop background.[11]
Whistler was officially unveiled during a media event on February 5, 2001, under the name Windows XP, where XP stands for "eXPerience".[12]
Release
In June 2001, Microsoft indicated that it was planning to spend at least US$1 billion on marketing and promoting Windows XP, in conjunction withIntel and other PC makers.[13] The theme of the campaign, "Yes You Can", was designed to emphasize the platform's overall capabilities. Microsoft had originally planned to use the slogan "Prepare to Fly", but it was replaced because of sensitivity issues in the wake of theSeptember 11 attacks.[14]
On August 24, 2001, Windows XP build 2600 wasreleased to manufacturing (RTM). During a ceremonial media event atMicrosoft Redmond Campus, copies of the RTM build were given to representatives of several major PC manufacturers in briefcases, who then flew off on decorated helicopters. While PC manufacturers would be able to release devices running XP beginning on September 24, 2001, XP was expected to reach general retail availability on October 25, 2001. On the same day, Microsoft also announced the final retail pricing of XP's two main editions, "Home" (as a replacement forWindows Me for home computing) and "Professional" (as a replacement forWindows 2000 for high-end users).[15]
Updated start menu in theMedia Center Edition-exclusive Royale theme, now featuring two columns
While retaining some similarities to previous versions, Windows XP's interface was overhauled with a new visual appearance, with an increased use ofalpha compositing effects,drop shadows, and "visual styles", which completely changed the appearance of the operating system. The number of effects enabled are determined by the operating system based on the computer's processing power, and can be enabled or disabled on a case-by-case basis. XP also addedClearType, a newsubpixel rendering system designed to improve the appearance of fonts onliquid-crystal displays.[16] A new set of system icons was also introduced.[17] The default wallpaper,Bliss, is a photo of a landscape in theNapa Valley outsideNapa, California, with rolling green hills and a blue sky with stratocumulus and cirrus clouds.[18]
The Start menu received its first major overhaul in XP, switching to a two-column layout with the ability to list, pin, and display frequently used applications, recently opened documents, and the traditional cascading "All Programs" menu. Thetaskbar can now group windows opened by a single application into one taskbar button, with apopup menu listing the individual windows. The notification area also hides "inactive" icons by default. A "common tasks" list was added, andWindows Explorer's sidebar was updated to use a new task-based design with lists of common actions; the tasks displayed are contextually relevant to the type of content in a folder (e.g. a folder with music displays offers to play all the files in the folder, or burn them to a CD).[19]
The "task grouping" feature introduced in Windows XP showing both grouped and individual items
Fast user switching allows additional users to log into a Windows XP machine without existing users having to close their programs and log out. Although only one user at the time can use the console (i.e., monitor, keyboard, and mouse), previous users can resume their session once they regain control of the console.[20]Service Pack 2 andService Pack 3 also introduced new features to Windows XP post-release, including theWindows Security Center,Bluetooth support,Data Execution Prevention,Windows Firewall, and support for SDHC cards that are larger than 4 GB and smaller than 32 GB.[21][22][23][24]
Infrastructure
Windows XP usesprefetching to improve startup and application launch times.[25] It also became possible to revert the installation of an updateddevice driver, should the updated driver produce undesirable results.[26]
Acopy protection system known asWindows Product Activation was introduced with Windows XP and its server counterpart,Windows Server 2003. All non-enterprise (Volume Licensing) Windows licenses must be tied to a unique ID generated using information from thecomputer hardware, transmitted either via the internet or a telephone hotline. If Windows is not activated within 30 days of installation, the OS will cease to function until it is activated. Windows also periodically verifies the hardware to check for changes. If significant hardware changes are detected, the activation is voided, and Windows must be re-activated.[27][clarification needed]
To enable running software that targets or locks out specific versions of Windows, "Compatibility mode" was added. It allows pretending a selected earlier version of Windows to software, starting at Windows 95.[31] This feature was first introduced inWindows 2000 Service Pack 2, released five months before the release of Windows XP, and was backported from prerelease Windows XP builds. Unlike with Windows XP, however, it was hidden from the operating system as it was not enabled by default and had to be manually activated through theRegister Server utility. It was also only available to administrator users.[32] Windows XP has this feature activated out of the box and also grants it to regular users.
TheClearType font rendering mechanism, which is designed to improve text readability onliquid-crystal display (LCD) and similar monitors, especially laptops.[16]
General improvements to international support such as more locales, languages and scripts,MUI support in Terminal Services, improvedInput Method Editors, and National Language Support.[45]
Some of the programs and features that were part of the previous versions of Windows did not make it to Windows XP. VariousMS-DOS commands available in itsWindows 9x predecessor were removed,[46] as were thePOSIX andOS/2 subsystems.[47]
Diagram representing the main editions of Windows XP. It is based on the category of the edition (grey) and codebase (black arrow).
Windows XP was released in two major editions on launch:Home Edition andProfessional Edition. Both editions were made available at retail as pre-loaded software on new computers and as boxed copies. Boxed copies were sold as "Upgrade" or "Full" licenses; the "Upgrade" versions were slightly cheaper, but require an existing version of Windows to install. The "Full" version can be installed on systems without an operating system or existing version of Windows.[13] The two editions of XP were aimed at different markets:Home Edition is explicitly intended for consumer use and disables or removes certain advanced and enterprise-oriented features present onProfessional, such as the ability to join aWindows domain,Internet Information Services, andMultilingual User Interface. Windows 98 or Me can be upgraded to either edition, butWindows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 can only be upgraded toProfessional.[52] Windows'software license agreement for pre-loaded licenses allows the software to be "returned" to the OEM for a refund if the user does not wish to use it.[53] Despite the refusal of some manufacturers to honor the entitlement, it has been enforced by courts in some countries.[54]
Two specialized variants of XP were introduced in 2002 for certain types of hardware, exclusively throughOEM channels as pre-loaded software.Windows XP Media Center Edition was initially designed for high-endhome theater PCs withTV tuners (marketed under the term "Media Center PC"), offering expanded multimedia functionality, anelectronic program guide, anddigital video recorder (DVR) support through theWindows Media Center application.[55] Microsoft also unveiledWindows XP Tablet PC Edition, which contains additionalpen input features, and is optimized for mobile devices meeting itsTablet PC specifications.[56] Two different64-bit editions of XP were made available. The first,Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, was intended forIA-64 (Itanium) systems; as IA-64 usage declined on workstations in favor ofAMD'sx86-64 architecture, the Itanium edition was discontinued in January 2005.[57] A new 64-bit edition supporting the x86-64 architecture, calledWindows XP Professional x64 Edition, was released in April 2005.[58]
Microsoft also targetedemerging markets with the 2004 introduction ofWindows XP Starter Edition, a special variant ofHome Edition intended for low-cost PCs. The OS is primarily aimed at first-time computer owners, containing heavylocalization (including wallpapers and screen savers incorporating images of local landmarks), and a "My Support" area which contains video tutorials on basic computing tasks. It also removes certain "complex" features, and does not allow users to run more than three applications at a time. After a pilot program in India and Thailand,Starter was released in other emerging markets throughout 2005.[59] In 2006, Microsoft also unveiled theFlexGo initiative, which would also target emerging markets withsubsidized PCs on a pre-paid, subscription basis.[60]
As a result ofunfair competition lawsuits in Europe and South Korea, which both alleged that Microsoft had improperly leveraged its status in the PC market to favor its own bundled software, Microsoft was ordered to release special editions of XP in these markets that excluded certain applications. In March 2004, after theEuropean Commissionfined Microsoft €497 million (US$603 million), Microsoft was ordered to release "N" editions of XP that excluded Windows Media Player, encouraging users to pick and download their ownmedia player software.[61] As it was sold at the same price as the edition with Windows Media Player included, certain OEMs (such asDell, who offered it for a short period, along withHewlett-Packard,Lenovo andFujitsu Siemens) chose not to offer it. Consumer interest was minuscule, with roughly 1,500 units shipped toOEMs, and no reported sales to consumers.[62] In December 2005, theKorean Fair Trade Commission ordered Microsoft to make available editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 that do not contain Windows Media Player or Windows Messenger.[63] The "K" and "KN" editions of Windows XP were released in August 2006, and are only available in English and Korean, and also contain links to third-partyinstant messenger and media player software.[64]
Service packs
Aservice pack is a cumulative update package that is a superset of all updates, and even service packs, that have been released before it.[65] Three service packs have been released for Windows XP. Service Pack 3 is slightly different, in that it needs at least Service Pack 1 to have been installed, in order to update a live OS.[66] However, Service Pack 3 can still beembedded into a Windows installation disc; SP1 is not reported as a prerequisite for doing so.[67]
The boot screens for all editions of Windows XP have been unified by Service Pack 2 for Windows XP with a new one that no longer displays the SKU, with the boot screen for Home Edition using a blue progress bar instead of green. The copyright years on the boot screen were also removed.
Service Pack 1
Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows XP was released on September 9, 2002. It contained over 300 minor, post-RTM bug fixes, along with all security patches released since the original release of XP. SP1 also added USB 2.0 support, theMicrosoft Java Virtual Machine,.NET Framework support, and support for technologies used by the then-upcomingMedia Center andTablet PC editions of XP.[68] The most significant change on SP1 was the addition ofSet Program Access and Defaults, a settings page which allows programs to be set as default for certain types of activities (such as media players or web browsers) and for access to bundled, Microsoft programs (such as Internet Explorer or Windows Media Player) to be disabled. This feature was added to comply with the settlement ofUnited States v. Microsoft Corp., which required Microsoft to offer the ability for OEMs to bundle third-party competitors to software it bundles with Windows (such asInternet Explorer andWindows Media Player), and give them the same level of prominence as those normally bundled with the OS.[69]
On February 3, 2003, Microsoft released Service Pack 1a (SP1a). It was the same as SP1, except the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine was excluded.[70]
Service Pack 2
Windows Security Center window running Windows XP Service Pack 2, showing no virus protection installed
Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP Home edition and Professional edition was released on August 25, 2004.[71] Headline features includedWPA encryption compatibility for Wi-Fi and usability improvements to the Wi-Fi networking user interface,[72] partialBluetooth support,[73] and various improvements to security systems.
Headed by former computer hackerWindow Snyder,[74][75] the service pack's security improvements (codenamed "Springboard",[76] as these features were intended to underpin additional changes inLonghorn) included a major revision to the included firewall (renamed Windows Firewall, and now enabled by default), and an update toData Execution Prevention, which gained hardware support in theNX bit that can stop some forms ofbuffer overflow attacks.Raw socket support is removed (which supposedly limits the damage done byzombie machines) and theWindows Messenger service (which had been abused to cause pop-up advertisements to be displayed as system messages without a web browser or any additional software) became disabled by default. Additionally, security-related improvements were made to e-mail and web browsing. Service Pack 2 also addedSecurity Center, an interface that provides a general overview of the system's security status, including the state of the firewall and automatic updates. Third-party firewall andantivirus software can also be monitored from Security Center.[77]
In August 2006, Microsoft released updated installation media for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 SP2 (SP2b), in order to incorporate a patch requiringActiveX controls in Internet Explorer to be manually activated before a user may interact with them. This was done so that the browser would not violate a patent owned byEolas.[78] Microsoft has since licensed the patent, and released a patch reverting the change in April 2008.[79] In September 2007, another minor revision known as SP2c was released for XP Professional, extending the number of availableproduct keys for the operating system to "support the continued availability of Windows XP Professional through the scheduled system builder channel end-of-life (EOL) date of January 31, 2009."[80]
The third and final Service Pack, SP3, was released through different channels between April 21[81] and June 10, 2008,[82] about a year after the release ofWindows Vista, and about a year before the release of Windows 7. Service Pack 3 was not available for Windows XP x64 Edition, which was based on the Windows Server 2003 kernel and, as a result, usedits service packs[83] rather than the ones for the other editions.[84]
It began being automatically pushed out toAutomatic Updates users on July 10, 2008.[85] A feature set overview which detailed new features available separately as stand-alone updates to Windows XP, as well asbackported features from Windows Vista, was posted by Microsoft.[86] A total of 1,174 fixes are included in SP3.[87] Service Pack 3 could be installed on systems with Internet Explorer up to and including version 8;Internet Explorer 7 was not included as part of SP3.[88] It also did not includeInternet Explorer 8, which was included inWindows 7, which was released one year after XP SP3.
Service Pack 3 included security enhancements from those of SP2, including APIs allowing developers to enableData Execution Prevention for their code, independent of system-wide compatibility enforcement settings,[89] theSecurity Support Provider Interface,[90] improvements toWPA2 security,[91] and an updated version of the Microsoft Enhanced Cryptographic Provider Module that isFIPS 140-2 certified.[92]
In incorporating all previously released updates not included in SP2, Service Pack 3 included many other key features.Windows Imaging Component allowed camera vendors to integrate their own proprietary image codecs with the operating system's features, such as thumbnails and slideshows.[93] In enterprise features,Remote Desktop Protocol 6.1 included support for ClearType and 32-bit color depth over RDP,[94] while improvements made toWindows Management Instrumentation in Windows Vista to reduce the possibility of corruption of the WMI repository werebackported to XP SP3.[95]
In addition, SP3 contains updates to the operating system components of Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, and security updates for .NET Framework version 1.0, which is included in these editions. However, it does not include update rollups for the Windows Media Center application in Windows XP MCE 2005.[96] SP3 also omits security updates for Windows Media Player 10, although the player is included in Windows XP MCE 2005.[96] The Address Bar DeskBand on the Taskbar is no longer included because of antitrust violation concerns.[97]
Unofficial SP3 ZIP download packages were released on a now-defunct website called The Hotfix from 2005 to 2007.[98][99] The owner of the website, Ethan C. Allen, was a former Microsoft employee in Software Quality Assurance and would comb through theMicrosoft Knowledge Base articles daily and download newhotfixes Microsoft would put online within the articles. The articles would have a "kbwinxppresp3fix" and/or "kbwinxpsp3fix" tag, thus allowing Allen to easily find and determine which fixes were planned for the official SP3 release to come. Microsoft publicly stated at the time that the SP3 pack was unofficial and advised users to not install it.[100][101] Allen also released a Vista SP1 package in 2007, for which Allen received acease-and-desist email from Microsoft.[102]
^Even though this is Microsoft's stated minimum processor speed for Windows XP, it is possible to install and run the operating system on earlyIA-32 processors such as aP5Pentium withoutMMX instructions. Windows XP is not compatible with processors older than Pentium (such as 486) or theCyrix 6x86 because it requires theCMPXCHG8B instruction.
^A Microsoft TechNet paper from Summer 2001 (before Windows XP's actual release), states that: "A computer with 64 MB of RAM will have sufficient resources to run Windows XP anda few applications with moderate memory requirements." (Emphasis added.) These were said to be office productivity applications, e-mail programs, and web browsers (of the time). With such a configuration, user interface enhancements and fast user switching are turned off by default. For comparable workloads, 64 MB of RAM was then regarded as providing an equal or better user experience on Windows XP with similar settings than it would withWindows Me on the same hardware. In a later section of the paper, superior performance over Windows Me was noted with 128 MB of RAM or more, and with computers that exceed the minimum hardware requirements.
The maximum amount of RAM that Windows XP can support varies depending on the product edition and the processor architecture. All 32-bit editions of XP support up to 4 GB, except the Windows XP Starter edition, which supports up to 512 MB of RAM.[103] The 64-bit editions support up to 128 GB.[104]
Processor limits
Windows XP Professional supports up to two physical processors;[105]Windows XP Home Edition supports only one.[106]
However, XP supports a greater number oflogical processors:32-bit editions support up to 32 logical processors,[107] and 64-bit editions support up to 64 logical processors.[108]
Upgradeability
Several Windows XP components are upgradable to the latest versions, which include new versions introduced in later versions of Windows, and other major Microsoft applications are available. These latest versions for Windows XP include:
Mainstream support ended on April 8, 2014 Extended support ended on April 9, 2019[113]
Support for the original release of Windows XP (without a service pack) ended on August 30, 2005.[4] Both Windows XP Service Pack 1 and 1a were retired on October 10, 2006,[4] and bothWindows 2000 and Windows XP SP2 reached their end of support on July 13, 2010, about 24 months after the launch of Windows XP Service Pack 3.[4] The company stopped general licensing of Windows XP to OEMs and terminated retail sales of the operating system on June 30, 2008, 17 months after the release of Windows Vista.[114] However, an exception was announced on April 3, 2008, for OEMs producing what it defined as "ultra low-cost personal computers", particularlynetbooks, until one year after the availability ofWindows 7 on October 22, 2009. Analysts felt that the move was primarily intended to compete againstLinux-based netbooks, although Microsoft's Kevin Hutz stated that the decision was due to apparent market demand for low-end computers with Windows.[115]
Variants of Windows XP forembedded systems have different support policies: Windows XP Embedded SP3 and Windows Embedded for Point of Service SP3 were supported until January and April 2016, respectively.Windows Embedded Standard 2009, which was succeeded byWindows Embedded Standard 7, andWindows Embedded POSReady 2009, which was succeeded byWindows Embedded POSReady 7, were supported until January and April 2019, respectively.[116] These updates, while intended for the embedded editions, could also be downloaded on standard Windows XP with a registry hack, which enabled unofficial patches until April 2019. However, Microsoft advised Windows XP users against installing these fixes, citing compatibility issues.[117][118]
End of support
On April 14, 2009, the main Windows XP exited mainstream support and entered the extended support phase; Microsoft continued to provide security updates every month for Windows XP, however, free technical support, warranty claims, and design changes were no longer being offered. Extended support for the main version ended on April 8, 2014, over 12 years after the release of Windows XP; normally Microsoft products have a support life cycle of only 10 years.[119] Beyond the final security updates released on April 8 for the main version, no more security patches or support information are provided for XP free-of-charge; "critical patches" will still be created, and made available only to customers subscribing to a paid "Custom Support" plan.[120] As it is a Windows component, all versions of Internet Explorer for Windows XP also became unsupported.[121]
In January 2014, it was estimated that more than 95% of the 3 millionautomated teller machines in the world were still running Windows XP (which largely replacedIBM'sOS/2 as the predominant operating system on ATMs); ATMs have an average lifecycle of between seven and ten years, but some have had lifecycles as long as 15. Plans were being made by several ATM vendors and their customers to migrate to Windows 7-based systems over the course of 2014, while vendors have also considered the possibility of using Linux-based platforms in the future to give them more flexibility for support lifecycles, and theATM Industry Association (ATMIA) has since endorsedWindows 10 as a further replacement.[122] However, ATMs typically run the embedded variant of Windows XP, which was supported through January 2016.[123] As of May 2017, around 60% of the 220,000 ATMs in India still run Windows XP.[124]
Furthermore, at least 49% of all computers inChina still ran XP at the beginning of 2014. These holdouts were influenced by several factors; prices of genuine copies of later versions of Windows in the country are high, while Ni Guangnan of theChinese Academy of Sciences warned that Windows 8 could allegedly expose users tosurveillance by the United States government,[125] and theChinese government banned the purchase of Windows 8 products for government use in May 2014 in protest of Microsoft's inability to provide "guaranteed" support.[126] The government also had concerns that the impending end of support could affect theiranti-piracy initiatives with Microsoft, as users would simply pirate newer versions rather than purchasing them legally. As such, government officials formally requested that Microsoft extend the support period for XP for these reasons. While Microsoft did not comply with their requests, a number of major Chinese software developers, such as Lenovo,Kingsoft andTencent, will provide free support and resources for Chinese users migrating from XP.[127] Several governments, in particular those of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, elected to negotiate "Custom Support" plans with Microsoft for their continued, internal use of Windows XP; the British government's deal lasted for a year, and also covered support forOffice 2003 (which reached end-of-life the same day) and cost£5.5 million.[128]
On March 8, 2014, Microsoft deployed an update for XP that, on the 8th of each month, displays a pop-up notification to remind users about the end of support; however, these notifications may be disabled by the user.[129] Microsoft also partnered with Laplink to provide a special "express" version of itsPCmover software to help users migrate files and settings from XP to a computer with a newer version of Windows.[130]
Anelectroencephalograph running on Windows XP. The medical industry's continued use of Windows XP is partly due to medical applications being incompatible with later versions of Windows.
Despite the approaching end of support of the main version, there were still notable holdouts that had not migrated past XP; many users elected to remain on XP because of the poor reception ofWindows Vista, sales of newer PCs with newer versions of Windows declined because of theGreat Recession and the effects of Vista, and deployments of new versions of Windows in enterprise environments require a large amount of planning, which includes testing applications for compatibility (especially those that are dependent on Internet Explorer 6, which is not compatible with newer versions of Windows).[131] Major security software vendors (including Microsoft itself) planned to continue offering support and definitions for Windows XP past the end of support to varying extents, along with the developers ofGoogle Chrome,Mozilla Firefox, andOpera web browsers;[121] despite these measures, critics similarly argued that users should eventually migrate from XP to a supported platform.[132]
The United States'Computer Emergency Readiness Team released an alert in March 2014 advising users of the impending end of support, and informing them that using XP after April 8 may prevent them from meeting US government information security requirements.[133]Microsoft continued to provideSecurity Essentialsvirus definitions and updates for itsMalicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) for XP until July 14, 2015.[134] As the end of extended support approached, Microsoft began to increasingly urge XP customers to migrate to newer versions such as Windows 7 or 8 in the interest of security, suggesting that attackers couldreverse engineer security patches for newer versions of Windows and use them to target equivalent vulnerabilities in XP.[135] Windows XP isremotely exploitable by numerous security holes that were discovered after Microsoft stopped supporting it.[136][137]
Similarly, specialized devices that run XP, particularlymedical devices, must have any revisions to their software—even security updates for the underlying operating system—approved by relevant regulators before they can be released. For this reason, manufacturers often did not allow any updates to devices' operating systems, leaving them open to security exploits and malware.[138]
Despite the end of support of the main version, Microsoft has released three emergency security updates for the operating system to patch major security vulnerabilities:
A patch released in May 2014 to address recently discovered vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 6 through 11 on all versions of Windows.[139]
Microsoft announced in July 2019 that the Microsoft Internet Games services on Windows XP and Windows Me would end on July 31, 2019 (and for Windows 7 on January 22, 2020).[146]
In 2020, Microsoft announced that it would disable the Windows Update service for SHA-1 endpoints for older Windows versions. Since Windows XP did not get an update for SHA-2, Windows Update Services are no longer available on the OS as of late July 2020.[147] As of March 2024, many of the old updates for Windows XP are available on theMicrosoft Update Catalog.[148] A third-party tool named Legacy Update allows previously-released updates for Windows XP to be installed from the Update Catalog.[149][150]
Third-party support
In February 2016,Opera announced that version 36 ofits web browser would be the last version of the web browser to support Windows XP and Windows Vista.[151]Google Chrome ended support for Windows XP and Windows Vista in April 2016.[152]Firefox 52 ESR (Extended Support Release), which was released in March 2017, was the last version to support Windows XP and Windows Vista.[153] Support for Firefox 52 ESR ended in June 2018.[154]
There are several unofficial web browser projects that maintain support for Windows XP, well after official web browsers dropped support for the operating system.Supermium, afork of theChromium project that Google Chrome is based on, is maintained for Windows XP and later unsupported versions of Windows as of 2024.[157] MyPal, a fork ofFirefox 68, is also being actively maintained for Windows XP.[150]
Reception
On release, Windows XP received critical acclaim.CNET described the operating system as being "worth the hype", considering the new interface to be "spiffier" and more intuitive than previous versions, but feeling that it may "annoy" experienced users with its "hand-holding". XP's expanded multimedia support and CD burning functionality were also noted, along with its streamlined networking tools. The performance improvements of XP in comparison to 2000 and Me were also praised, along with its increased number of built-in device drivers in comparison to 2000. The software compatibility tools were also praised, although it was noted that some programs, particularly older MS-DOS software, may not work correctly on XP because of its differing architecture. They panned Windows XP's new licensing model and product activation system, considering it to be a "slightly annoying roadblock", but acknowledged Microsoft's intent for the changes.[158]PC Magazine provided similar praise, although noting that a number of its online features were designed to promote Microsoft-owned services, and that aside from quicker boot times, XP's overall performance showed little difference over Windows 2000.[159] Windows XP's default theme, Luna, was criticized by some users for its childish look.[160][161]
Despite extended support for the main Windows XP ending in 2014, many users – including some enterprises – were reluctant to move away from an operating system they viewed as a stable known quantity despite the many security and functionality improvements in subsequent releases of Windows. Windows XP's longevity was viewed as testament to its stability and Microsoft's successful attempts to keep it up to date, but also as an indictment of its direct successor'sperceived failings.[162]
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2024)
According toweb analytics data generated byNet Applications, Windows XP was the most widely used operating system until August 2012, when Windows 7 overtook it (later overtaken byWindows 10),[163] whileStatCounter indicates it happening almost a year earlier.[164] In January 2014, Net Applications reported a market share of 29.23%[165] of "desktop operating systems" for XP (when XP was introduced there was not a separate mobile category to track), whileW3Schools reported a share of 11.0%.[166]
As of September 2022[update], in most regions or continents, Windows XP market share on PCs, as a fraction of the total Windows share, had gone below 1% (0.5% in Africa[167]). XP retains a double-digit market share in a few countries, such as Armenia, where it is continues to be used on about 75% of Windows PCs.[168]
Source code leak
On September 23, 2020,source code for Windows XP with Service Pack 1 andWindows Server 2003 was leaked onto the imageboard4chan by an unknown user. Anonymous users managed to compile the code, as well as a Twitter user who posted videos of the process on YouTube proving that the code was genuine.[169] The videos were later removed oncopyright grounds byMicrosoft. The leak was incomplete as it was missingWinlogon and some other components.[170][171] The original leak itself was spread usingmagnet links and torrent files whose payload originally included Server 2003 and XP source code and which was later updated with additional files, among which were previous leaks of Microsoft products, its patents, media aboutconspiracy theories onBill Gates byanti-vaccination movements and an assortment of PDF files on different topics.[172]
Microsoft issued a statement stating that it was investigating the leaks.[171][173][174]
^Seltzer, Larry (May 26, 2014)."Registry hack enables continued updates for Windows XP".ZDNet.Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2021.[UPDATE:] Late Monday we received a statement from a Microsoft spokesperson: We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers. Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.
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^Nanjappa, Ashwin (January 27, 2010)."Windows: ClearType on RDP". CodeYarns.com.Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. RetrievedJune 16, 2014.
^Seltzer, Larry (May 26, 2014)."Registry hack enables continued updates for Windows XP".ZDNet.Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2021.[UPDATE:] Late Monday we received a statement from a Microsoft spokesperson: We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers. Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.
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