Since Vista was never that popular, the bigger issue applies to users of Windows XP, still the most widely used version of Windows. All support of Windows XP Service Pack 2 ended last year, but XP's third service pack is on extended support until April 8, 2014. According to Microsoft, sales of PCs with XP pre-installed ended last year and sales of PCs with Vista pre-installed will end in October of this year.

Microsoft is starting to show previews of Windows 8, signaling it could come out sometime next year. How long Windows 7 continues to receive support has not yet been determined.

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in Network World's Software section.