Reports are coming in that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has announced that they will consider XP’s end-of-life to be negotiable, based on customer feedback.

However, the details of that customer feedback are apparently focused on sales figures of new PCs, rather than the installed user-base that has opted (so far) not to upgrade. To my mind, this makes XP’s phase-out imminent rather than just possible. On the other hand, Service Pack 3 has reached RC2 status and should be released soon. Whether this is a final hurrah, or a stepping stone to longer life remains to be seen.

My recommendation is to stick with XP for as long as it works for you. I was not happy with Vista (Business Edition) and would keep using XP for as long as is viable. It won’t be forever, but you don’t have to make the jump yet.