Windows 98 and Windows ME continued to run on older systems, and there were still publishers targeting that platform as recently as a few years ago–mostly for children’s titles typically run on hand-me-down computers. Windows XP brought a lot of technological benefits to the platform, although that transition was not without some pain. A rogue driver or a game bug could easily crash your system, and sometimes even corrupt your whole system. Windows 98 was a decent consumer OS, but at its heart it was still basically DOS (albeit a 32 bit-extended DOS). It was also the first time the “NT” generation of technology finally reached the consumer space in a big way. When Windows XP released in August 2001, it was a pretty easy move for many game developers already running Windows 2000 for the superior stability and performance as a development platform.

I thought I’d take the opportunity to reflect on the product with respect to PC gaming and game developers.

The date has been moved a few times, but today marks the beginning of the final end for what has been a very long-lasting Windows release. There will still be support available for Windows XP Service Pack 3 through April 2014, and it will be sticking around for a time in some business, government, and emerging market settings, but by in large the days of Windows XP are fading.

Today, October 22, 2010, the sale of Windows XP comes to an end.

Directx windows xp 32 bit