Want Windows XP? You have until June 30, ladies and gentlemen

Microsoft has been trying to kill Windows XP for months. They really, really want you to use Vista. Now they've set a date, and that date is June 30. Unless you're buying an underpowered UMPC (ultra-mobile PC) that would otherwise ship with Linux, or you live in a country that isn't shipping the most modern systems, you've got less than three months to phone up your favorite PC vendor and have a box configured with XP.

Or maybe you've got a little longer. I can't really figure out where Micorsoft is on this. From Mary Jo Foley's post:

For plain-vanilla PCs, Microsoft is holding fast to its June 30 preload cut-off for XP. (In September, Microsoft granted PC makers a five-month extension, allowing them to continue preloading and selling at retail Windows XP until June 30 of this year. ) As Microsoft noted previously, users still will be able to get XP preloaded on new machines from white-box vendors/system builders through January 31, 2009. And Vista Business and Ultimate customers with volume-license contracts can still get XP via their “downgrade” rights.

What does that mean for Dell, HP, Lenovo, or your favorite seller of hardware? I have no idea. But I do know that the end is near -- for Windows XP, anyway. Vista might not be so bad, but I think most in the industry are looking ahead to Microsoft's next OS. They think of Vista as "Windows Me II," and are waiting for something better, faster and, yes, stronger from the boys and girls in Redmond.