I realize this isn't current, but it is news to me, and I thought perhaps I wasn't the only one who hadn't heard.

I use Windows 2000 both at work and (more importantly) at home. Many, if not most, of the Windows users I am acquainted with also use Win2K as their primary OS. So, I was dismayed to learn that Microsoft's support for Win2K has offically entered the "extended" phase, as stated on the Win2K site. They say that they will continue to provide security fixes, but no more feature updates.

Clearly, this affects business customers more than home users. According to this article, in making this move now, Microsoft is jumping the gun by about two years. It seems like a fairly transparent ploy to force businesses into an expensive upgrade. In other words, Redmond is strong-arming its customers again.

Personally, I plan to avoid Windows XP if I can possibly help it (at home, anyway). I object to their intrusive method of registration, requiring be to re-register the OS each time the hardware configuration of my box changes (and as a computer hobbyist, that is pretty often). I recognize the usefulness of Windows (obviously -- I use it daily), but I have already begun a transition to Linux in my household, and I am giving serious consideration to migrating to Macintosh as well.

I encourage everyone to give serious consideration to ditching Microsoft at some point in the future, if not now. Windows is the easiest choice, but that does not make it the best. I am happy to offer what assistance I can (with Linux, anyway -- I am woefully ignorant of the Mac, my expertise being about fifteen years old); feel free to dave [at] palisadecove [dot] net (email me) with questions.