As with top posting it's not possible to work out what a 
reply is about I'll address both possibilities separately.

>>> Microsoft will stop all XP sales

Current sales end date is June 2008.

    http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/28/microsoft-extends-sales-of-windows-xp-till-june-2008/

>> And after that, I believe it's within the XP license 
>> agreement
>> that they can "turn off" operation of current XP 
>> licenses. :-(

> Sounds like FUD do you have any links to support this?

No link would prove this as well as reading your own EULA.
I don't know if it is true and IMHO there is about zero 
chance of them actually doing this.
I do know that EULA provision vary by region and target 
group and some can be far more draconian than others. Long 
ago I took the effort to compare certain key points in EULAS 
for a wide range of regions to check how our conditions 
compared to other countriy's. I found that ours (NZ) were 
the most restrictive of any in that example at that time. 
(Having a booklet with all of them in it made this a far 
easier exercise than it would otherwise have been :-) ).

BUT they have the power of life and death in their hands for 
any system which is internet connected. Having updates 
turned on makes the death part easier but that's not 
essential. Internet connected Windows is at Microsoft's 
mercy in all but the utterly most secure cases, and possibly 
then. Certainly, on my systems updates occasionally cripple 
systems to various extents for various periods. If you let 
them they can play fast and loose with your system and, 
whether by intent or not, they do.

But I don't think there's any real chance of them stopping 
you using the XP that you (think that you) have "bought".


        Russell 

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist