It was Microsoft's operating system for use on personal computers such as home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs and media center PCs until replaced by Windows Vista in February 2007. Development of Windows XP began in the late 1990s as "Neptune", an operating system (OS) built on the Windows NT kernel which was intended specifically for mainstream consumer use.
== Development == 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 future Windows 2000; and "Neptune", which was reportedly a consumer-oriented operating system using the Windows NT architecture, succeeding the MS-DOS-based Windows 98. However, the projects proved to be too ambitious.
It was the successor to both Windows 2000 for professional users and Windows Me for home users, and it was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, with retail sales beginning on October 25, 2001.
An updated version of Windows 2000 was also originally 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 OS platform for both consumer and business markets.
== Development == 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 future Windows 2000; and "Neptune", which was reportedly a consumer-oriented operating system using the Windows NT architecture, succeeding the MS-DOS-based Windows 98. However, the projects proved to be too 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 after Whistler, British Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skied at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort.
Windows 98 or Me can be upgraded to either edition, but Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 can only be upgraded to Professional.
Both Windows XP Service Pack 1 and 1a were retired on October 10, 2006, and both Windows 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.
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.
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.
It was the successor to both Windows 2000 for professional users and Windows Me for home users, and it was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, with retail sales beginning on October 25, 2001.
Microsoft had originally planned to use the slogan "Prepare to Fly", but it was replaced because of sensitivity issues in the wake of the September 11 attacks. On August 24, 2001, Windows XP build 2600 was released to manufacturing (RTM).
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.
Despite the refusal of some manufacturers to honor the entitlement, it has been enforced by courts in some countries. Two specialized variants of XP were introduced in 2002 for certain types of hardware, exclusively through OEM channels as pre-loaded software.
However, Service Pack 3 can still be embedded into a Windows installation disc; SP1 is not reported as a prerequisite for doing so. === Service Pack 1 === Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows XP was released on September 9, 2002.
It also became possible to revert the installation of an updated device driver, should the updated driver produce undesirable results. A copy protection system known as Windows Product Activation was introduced with Windows XP and its server counterpart, Windows Server 2003.
In December 2005, the Korean 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.
Microsoft Corp., which required Microsoft to offer the ability for OEMs to bundle third-party competitors to software it bundles with Windows (such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player), and give them the same level of prominence as those normally bundled with the OS. On February 3, 2003, Microsoft released Service Pack 1a (SP1a).
Service Pack 3 is not available for Windows XP x64 Edition, which is based on the Windows Server 2003 kernel and, as a result, uses its service packs rather than the ones for the other editions. It began being automatically pushed out to Automatic Updates users on July 10, 2008.
== Source code leak == On September 23, 2020, source code for Windows XP with Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2003 was leaked onto the imageboard 4chan by an unknown user.
Two different 64-bit editions of XP were made available; the first, Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, was intended for IA-64 (Itanium) systems; as IA-64 usage declined on workstations in favor of AMD's x86-64 architecture (which was supported by the later Windows XP Professional x64 Edition), the Itanium edition was discontinued in 2005. Microsoft also targeted emerging markets with the 2004 introduction of Windows XP Starter Edition, a special variant of Home Edition intended for low-cost PCs.
In March 2004, after the European Commission fined 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 own media player software.
It was the same as SP1, except, the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine was excluded. === Service Pack 2 === Service Pack 2 (SP2) was released on August 25, 2004.
Two different 64-bit editions of XP were made available; the first, Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, was intended for IA-64 (Itanium) systems; as IA-64 usage declined on workstations in favor of AMD's x86-64 architecture (which was supported by the later Windows XP Professional x64 Edition), the Itanium edition was discontinued in 2005. Microsoft also targeted emerging markets with the 2004 introduction of Windows XP Starter Edition, a special variant of Home Edition intended for low-cost PCs.
After a pilot program in India and Thailand, Starter was released in other emerging markets throughout 2005.
In December 2005, the Korean 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.
However, it does not include update rollups for the Windows Media Center application in Windows XP MCE 2005.
SP3 also omits security updates for Windows Media Player 10, although the player is included in Windows XP MCE 2005.
The Address Bar DeskBand on the Taskbar is no longer included because of antitrust violation concerns. Unofficial SP3 ZIP download packages were released on a now-defunct website called The Hotfix from 2005 to 2007.
In 2006, Microsoft also unveiled the FlexGo initiative, which would also target emerging markets with subsidized PCs on a pre-paid, subscription basis. As a result of unfair 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.
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-party instant messenger and media player software. == Service packs == A service pack is a cumulative update package that is a superset of all updates, and even service packs, that have been released before it.
Both Windows XP Service Pack 1 and 1a were retired on October 10, 2006, and both Windows 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.
It was Microsoft's operating system for use on personal computers such as home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs and media center PCs until replaced by Windows Vista in February 2007. Development of Windows XP began in the late 1990s as "Neptune", an operating system (OS) built on the Windows NT kernel which was intended specifically for mainstream consumer use.
The Address Bar DeskBand on the Taskbar is no longer included because of antitrust violation concerns. Unofficial SP3 ZIP download packages were released on a now-defunct website called The Hotfix from 2005 to 2007.
Allen also released a Vista SP1 package in 2007, for which Allen received a cease-and-desist email from Microsoft.
Microsoft has since licensed the patent, and released a patch reverting the change in April 2008.
Service Pack 3 is not available for Windows XP x64 Edition, which is based on the Windows Server 2003 kernel and, as a result, uses its service packs rather than the ones for the other editions. It began being automatically pushed out to Automatic Updates users on July 10, 2008.
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.
However, an exception was announced on April 3, 2008, for OEMs producing what it defined as "ultra low-cost personal computers", particularly netbooks, until one year after the availability of Windows 7 on October 22, 2010.
Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, based on Windows XP Professional, received security updates until April 2019.
Windows Embedded Standard 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 were supported until January and April 2019, respectively.
However, Microsoft advised Windows XP users against installing these fixes, citing incompatibility issues. === End of support === On April 14, 2009, 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.
Both Windows XP Service Pack 1 and 1a were retired on October 10, 2006, and both Windows 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.
However, an exception was announced on April 3, 2008, for OEMs producing what it defined as "ultra low-cost personal computers", particularly netbooks, until one year after the availability of Windows 7 on October 22, 2010.
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's perceived failings. === Market share === According to web analytics data generated by Net Applications, Windows XP was the most widely used operating system until August 2012, when Windows 7 overtook it (later overtaken by Windows 10), while StatCounter indicates it happening almost a year earlier.
However, some industry reviewers were concerned by the new licensing model and product activation system. Extended support for Windows XP ended on April 8, 2014, after which the operating system ceased receiving further support or security updates.
Extended support ended on April 8, 2014, over 12 years since the release of XP; normally Microsoft products have a support life cycle of only 10 years.
As it is a Windows component, all versions of Internet Explorer for Windows XP also became unsupported. In January 2014, it was estimated that more than 95% of the 3 million automated teller machines in the world were still running Windows XP (which largely replaced IBM's OS/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 the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) has since endorsed Windows 10 as a further replacement.
As of May 2017, around 60% of the 220,000 ATMs in India still run Windows XP. Furthermore, at least 49% of all computers in China 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 the Chinese Academy of Sciences warned that Windows 8 could allegedly expose users to surveillance by the United States government, and the Chinese government would ban the purchase of Windows 8 products for government use in May 2014 in protest of Microsoft's inability to provide "guaranteed" support.
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. Microsoft continued to provide Security Essentials virus definitions and updates for its Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) for XP until July 14, 2015.
Windows XP's default theme, Luna, was criticized by some users for its childish look. Despite extended support for 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.
In January 2014, Net Applications reported a market share of 29.23% of "desktop operating systems" for XP (when XP was introduced there was not a separate mobile category to track), while W3Schools reported a share of 11.0%. , in most regions or continents, Windows XP market share on PCs, as a fraction of the total Windows share, has gone below 1% (3.3% in Africa, where it was previously at 0.8%).
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. Microsoft continued to provide Security Essentials virus definitions and updates for its Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) for XP until July 14, 2015.
Analysts felt that the move was primarily intended to compete against Linux-based netbooks, although Microsoft's Kevin Hutz stated that the decision was due to apparent market demand for low-end computers with Windows. Variants of Windows XP for embedded 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.
However, ATMs typically run the embedded variant of Windows XP, which was supported through January 2016.
As of May 2017, around 60% of the 220,000 ATMs in India still run Windows XP. Furthermore, at least 49% of all computers in China still ran XP at the beginning of 2014.
Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, based on Windows XP Professional, received security updates until April 2019.
Windows Embedded Standard 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 were supported until January and April 2019, respectively.
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.
In addition, experts reported a Microsoft security vulnerability, , based on legacy code involving Microsoft CTF and ctfmon (ctfmon.exe), that affects all Windows versions from the older Windows XP version to the most recent Windows 10 versions; a patch to correct the flaw is currently available. 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).
Others, such as Steam, had done the same, ending support for Windows XP and Windows Vista in January 2019. In 2020, Microsoft announced that it would disable the Windows Update service for SHA-1 endpoints; 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.
XP still has a double-digit market share in a few countries, such as Armenia, at 54%, where Windows 7 was highest ranked, and with it being replaced by Windows 10, Windows XP got highest ranked for the longest time, and had over 60% share on some weekends in summer of 2019.
In addition, experts reported a Microsoft security vulnerability, , based on legacy code involving Microsoft CTF and ctfmon (ctfmon.exe), that affects all Windows versions from the older Windows XP version to the most recent Windows 10 versions; a patch to correct the flaw is currently available. 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).
Others, such as Steam, had done the same, ending support for Windows XP and Windows Vista in January 2019. In 2020, Microsoft announced that it would disable the Windows Update service for SHA-1 endpoints; 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.
== Source code leak == On September 23, 2020, source code for Windows XP with Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2003 was leaked onto the imageboard 4chan by an unknown user.
However, as of April 2021, the old updates for Windows XP are still available on the Microsoft Update Catalog. == Reception == On release, Windows XP received critical acclaim.
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