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Windows XP Service Pack 1 has reached the end of its rope, at least in terms of official support.

Microsoft has stopped producing updates, and recommends "that customers who are still running Windows XP SP1 or SP1a upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 2 as soon as possible."

This move may have seemed a bit sudden - SP1 has not been out all that long, in comparison to other products.

Support only recently ended for Windows 98 and ME, for example, while SP1 shipped in September of 2002.

As CNET's Colin Barker noted, though, Microsoft has been rather lenient in comparison to the terms outlined in its support policy.

"When a service pack is released, Microsoft will provide 12 months of support for the previous service pack," the policy states. "Support may be extended to 24 months for those service packs when Microsoft believes customers will need additional time for testing and deployment."

Nonetheless, some people were rather unhappy about the termination of support.

"Ole Man" used Mary Jo Foley's blog to express his opinion, remarking that this is "just one more step to force Vista down everyone's throat."

CNET's Barker offered a slightly less bitter take.

"There's little reason for anyone to still be running SP1," he wrote. Then, for those who may be unsure about what's on their computer, he mentioned, "People can check which version they are running by right-clicking on the My Computer desktop icon and then selecting properties."

In other Windows-related news, Vista Release Candidate 2 was just released, and Vista itself is apparently still on track for a widespread launch in January.

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Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.