Microsoft Reminds About Ending XP SP1 SupportMicrosoft Reminds About Ending XP SP1 Support

Microsoft reminded solution providers and end users Wednesday that support for Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) will end Oct. 10.

Customers running Windows XP SP1 must migrate to Windows XP SP2 over the next three months, or they will lose incident support. Microsoft also said it won't release any more security updates for SP1 after that date.

During its monthly security briefing, Microsoft executives told customers to prepare their migrations over the summer. "I urge all customers to have plans ready for moving to XP SP2 as soon as possible," said Stephen Toulouse, a security product manager at Microsoft.

The original support end date for Windows XP SP1 was Sept. 17, 2006.

Windows XP SP1 was released July 11, 2002. Microsoft's latest version of the Windows client, Windows XP SP2, was announced Sept. 17, 2004. Its successor, Windows Vista, is scheduled to be released to the first batch of customers in November.

Microsoft said it's open to signing Custom Support Agreements to extend support and hot fixes for Windows XP SP1 for eligible enterprise customers that have plans to migrate to Windows XP SP2. The Redmond, Wash., company recommended that Windows XP SP1 customers consider migrating directly to Windows Vista when it becomes widely available in January 2007.

Microsoft also reiterated that extended support for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE and Windows Millennium Edition (ME) will end July 11. Microsoft's Software Update Service 1.0 reaches the end of its lifecycle on Dec. 6.