Dell sounds death knell for Windows XP

Dell is to stop selling hardware preloaded with Windows XP from this month.

According to Microsoft guidance, OEMs will no longer be able to pre-install Windows XP on new PCs from October, meaning Dell will cease to offer the software as a standard option.

"System vendors like Dell will no longer be able to ship systems with XP Professional and XP Home after 22 October 2010," said Dell in a blog post.

"This means that we will stop offering XP as an option for customers starting this month in preparation for next month's deadline."

However, Dell has promised to continue offering XP driver support until December 2012, and said that "qualified customers" will be able to buy Windows XP systems through its Custom Factory Integration service.

Dell advised enterprise users to prepare for the demise of XP by completing their migration to Windows 7, or making the most of the downgrade rights offered by Microsoft.

"Dell recognises that many corporate organisations and institutions are standardised on these operating systems, and that transitioning to a new operating system is expensive and time consuming," the firm said.

"Our goal is to help drive down the total cost of ownership of our relationship products, and provide managed transitions for our customers."

Although support for Windows XP service pack 2 ended in July, Microsoft has promised to continue support for firms running the old but very popular operating system with SP3 enabled until April 2014.