Posted: May 26, 2003

Under current plans, Microsoft Windows XP will remain the Windows client until Longhorn's release in 2005. As this chart shows, Windows XP (Professional and Home Editions) was originally released in late 2001.

In 2002, Microsoft released the first service pack (SP) for Windows XP, as well as the Media Center and Tablet Editions. This year (2003), Microsoft has released a 64-bit edition of Windows XP (Windows XP 64-bit 2003) for the Intel Itanium processor. Before the end of the year Microsoft will release a 64-bit edition for the AMD processor, XP Tablet and Media Center Second Editions, and an SP2 for Windows XP. It is also likely that Microsoft will want to send attendees of the Oct. 2003 Professional Developers Conference (PDC) home with a preview version of Longhorn and key developer files that they can use to test and develop Longhorn-compatible applications.

In 2004, Microsoft will likely release Windows XP SP3 and Longhorn betas, followed by Longhorn release candidates (RCs) in 2005. Finally, in late 2005 or early 2006 Microsoft will release Longhorn. It is also likely that Windows XP SP 4 will be released in 2005.