What (who) is Windows 2002 - definition
![An [[electroencephalograph]] running on Windows XP. The medical industry's continued use of Windows XP is partly due to medical applications being incompatible with later versions of Windows.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Electroencephalograph Neurovisor-BMM 40 (close view).jpg?width=200 "An [[electroencephalograph]] running on Windows XP. The medical industry's continued use of Windows XP is partly due to medical applications being incompatible with later versions of Windows.")
![Media Center Edition]]''-exclusive Royale theme, now featuring two columns](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/RoyaleXP2.PNG?width=200 "Media Center Edition]]''-exclusive Royale theme, now featuring two columns")
![[[Windows Security Center]] window running Windows XP Service Pack 2, showing no virus protection installed](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Windows Security Center XP SP2.png?width=200 "[[Windows Security Center]] window running Windows XP Service Pack 2, showing no virus protection installed")
![Versions before Windows 95 had to be installed from [[floppy disk]]s by end users (or in professional environments with a network installation), here Windows for Workgroups with nine 3.5-inch-disks to be inserted sequentially.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11 mit 9 Setup HD-Disketten.jpg?width=200 "Versions before Windows 95 had to be installed from [[floppy disk]]s by end users (or in professional environments with a network installation), here Windows for Workgroups with nine 3.5-inch-disks to be inserted sequentially.")
![[[Windows 3.0]], released in 1990](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Windows 3.0 workspace.png?width=200 "[[Windows 3.0]], released in 1990")
.svg?width=200 "Windows logo, 1995")
Wikipedia
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and business users and Windows Me for home users, and is available for any devices running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 2000, or Windows Me that meet the new Windows XP system requirements.
Development of Windows XP began in the late 1990s under the codename "Neptune", built on the Windows NT kernel and explicitly intended for mainstream consumer use. An updated version of Windows 2000 was also initially planned for the business market. However, in January 2000, both projects were scrapped in favor of a single OS codenamed "Whistler", which would serve as a single platform for both consumer and business markets. As a result, Windows XP is the first consumer edition of Windows not based on the Windows 95 kernel or MS-DOS. Windows XP removed support for PC-98, i486 and SGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540 and will only run on 32-bit x86 CPUs and devices that use BIOS firmware.
Upon its release, Windows XP received critical acclaim, noting increased performance and stability (especially compared to Windows Me), a more intuitive user interface, improved hardware support, and expanded multimedia capabilities. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 were succeeded by Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, released in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
Mainstream support for Windows XP ended on April 14, 2009, and extended support ended on April 8, 2014. Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, based on Windows XP Professional, received security updates until April 2019. After that, unofficial methods were made available to apply the updates to other editions of Windows XP. Still, Microsoft discouraged this practice, citing compatibility issues. However, over eight years from the end of life date (September 2022), the majority of PCs in some countries (such as Armenia) still appeared to be running on Windows XP. As of September 2022, globally, just 0.39% of Windows PCs and 0.1% of all devices across all platforms continued to run Windows XP.
