Microsoft open to keeping XP around just a bit longer than expected

Steve Ballmer is full of quotables these days. Never one to shy away from saying something he might regret later, the Microsoft CEO went on record this morning, saying that Microsoft would be open to keeping the operating system on sale past the planned June kill date. If Microsoft truly listened to customer demand, the company would have stopped selling Vista months ago, and re-elevated XP to flagship status. Then again, a little concession isn’t bad. No word on just what qualifies as “sufficient” customer demand. In Vista’s defense, Ballmer goes on to say that “most people who buy PCs today buy them with Vista. That’s the statistical truth,” Sure, but when was the last time you walked into your local Big Box retailer to find XP as an option? Yeah, we thought so.

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