Finally Microsoft ready to halt the world’s most popular operating system Windows XP. This time Microsoft is not joking and very serious about the move. Microsoft has officially announced that, Windows XP OEM and retails sales will be ended on October 22, 2010.

Following are the final words about the Windows XP sales by Microsoft,

We know you love Windows XP, and you’re in good company. Millions of Windows XP users are fans of the operating system, and many depend on Windows XP to run earlier applications and hardware that is not compatible with Windows 7. Windows 7 is designed to be compatible with the most popular hardware and software products you use every day and even though we are ending the sale of Windows XP on October 22, 2010.

The future is here, and it’s better than ever with Windows 7, the latest Microsoft operating system. Windows 7 has proven benefits over earlier versions of Windows. It combines the latest in reliability, security, and responsiveness with the familiarity and compatibility of Windows XP, so you’ll feel right at home, right away.

Tech Tip => 7 reasons to use Windows 7

If you still want a retail or OEM version of Windows XP, you may have to get that Operating system rather soon, as Microsoft said that it will remove the operating system from retail on October 22. By then, no wonder that the operating system will have been on sale for a record 9 years and 2 months – or a total of 104 months (the software was launched in August 2001.)

If you are still running the Windows XP on your system, Microsoft says that it will provide support until April 8, 2014, provided you run the latest service pack SP3 or any future releases and keep the software up to date as far as those updates are available.

Windows XP was originally supposed to be removed in late 2007, but due to failure of Windows Vista in the market, Microsoft decided to continue XP sales. This time , Microsoft is serious that October 22 will be the final date.

Tech Tip: Final date for Windows Vista OEM sales is also April 2014.

Well we all know that, Windows 7 is now installed on more than 80% of netbooks, which means there is no need for XP anymore. Microsoft has already  stopped supporting Windows XP with  its new product  Internet Explorer 9. But still Windows XP holds most popular operating system in world and has more than 55% market share(according to StatCounter).

Is this a smart move by Microsoft to promote Windows 7 and move users from XP to 7? What do you think? Raise your voice now!