Windows XP Turns Ten: Why It Won't Go Away

First, a disclaimer: I don't like Windows XP. Microsoft's current operating system, Windows 7, is slicker, safer, less annoying, and just plain better. I recommend it frequently, and wince when I find myself having to use an XP machine.

That said, I'm fascinated — and, in a peculiar way, inspired — by XP's astonishing longevity. Microsoft formally introduced the software at a rather somber press event on October 25th, 2001 in New York City, just six weeks after the 9/11 attacks. A decade later, it's still the planet's most widely-used operating system. Absolutely nobody would have predicted that back in 2001, when an operating system that was more than three years old was considered to be long in the tooth.  More Read