This just in! Windows 7...is really XP in disguise! Vista was just a ploy to get more of your money!  Shhhhh....don't tell anyone!  And! And this is a secret as well! So...Shhhhh....don't tell anyone!  As soon as you buy it...they have yet another new OS in the works that will be out on the market...and this one will blow all the others away!  So get your pre-orders in now! 

Vista / Win7 dual boot. Virtualbox is installed on both of those, and either of those can load the same virtual machine running XP. I only use XP to check XP skins now.

Please will everyone stop using XP now? Then I can stop making pesky toolbar icons and progress animations...

  They are such a DRAG!

and shutown\logoff dialogs and shell images and icons 

I think this is why Microsoft stopped releasing XP in June 08... because things like these are old hat and a pain in the arse to support, as is XP... XP is too much work to support when they themselves (at MS) have moved on to a newer, better OS

The thing is, these kinds of frustrations are not being felt purely in the field of skinning, but in all areas of Windows computing. The major (and not so major) hardware and software developers have the frustration and added expense of having to create additional drivers and alternate versions because people are hanging on to XP in droves.  In some cases separate specialist teams are employed (MS, Nvidia, AMD, etc) to cater to each OS.  Now surely those resources wasted on XP could be put to better use.. to future development, innovation and the improvement of current tech for Win 7.

What it'll have to come down to at the end of the day, though, is somebody high up in one of those organisations (preferably MS) having the balls to say: "That's it, NO MORE SUPPORT FOR XP!!!!", and sticking to their guns.  Only then will we see the kind of shift away from XP that you guys (skinners and devs in general) are hoping for.

Frankly, I wouldn't have been so humane with the 'pig in lipstick' that is XP....like June 08?   I'd have put it out of our misery and hit it on the head 6 months after the release of Vista.

It'll take more than that. As I said in a previous post...the only support I get is through unsolicited updates and patches in Windows Update. Other than that I've never asked nor received any support form MS for XP. Never needed it anyway. It just comes down to this...very simply...if you create anything for skinning windows or anything else...don't support it or include it in your endeavours if it bothers you this much.

The reason I asked the question in the first place.

To be honest, it wouldn't take much at all.  While you (and perhaps power users) may be comfortable without MS/third party support, the average home user wouldn't be... meaning there'd be an immediate and urgent push for a 'supported' OS if MS 100% pulled the support plug on XP.  These people are a majority market (if not the majority market), so if they feel unsafe and/or exposed by an unsupported system... no security updates/patches, etc, they're going to ditch it for an OS that provides them support and a sense of security. 

And if third party devs (such as Adobe; Corel; Nero and Stardock) suddenly decided to provide updates, patches and new software only for Vista and above, the exodus from XP would be even more pronounced/dramatic. 

So, it still comes down to who's got the balls to pull the plug/turn off XP's life support?

Gotta be honest here!  The bastard child of Fisher Price doesn't bother me... that much.  No, not at all!  It's a pig that, with the right lipstick on, I could be seen together with in public... providing it's not held up to close scrutiny... cos no matter how well you tart it up/give it a facelift (WB's, IP's and OD), the flaws of age and obsolescence soon becomes apparent.

Nah, seriously, it's just that I prefer Win7 and Vista x64... but the day (XP's demise) will come.

At the end of the day, it comes down to your priorities...what you want to skin and how much you enjoy it.  If giving XP a complete make-over gives you a sense of achievement and satisfaction, then keep doing it... but if not, then skin that which you want to. If that's Vista and/or Win 7, then so be it.

In other words, follow the first rule of skinning.... skin for yourself.  If you share and others happen to like it, that's a bonus, but if not... you can't please all the people all of the time.

As I said in an earlier post, Starkers, I am happy skinning for XP, &  I have written before skinning is my lifeline, I would have gone up the wall without it, as it is one of the few things I can do at the moment, but it just seems a bit pointless if if there is no one out there who might download it. I agree with you about moving on & I am looking forward to trying Windows 7 when finances allow, with all the positive comments about it, but that said I will make my own judgement, as I was taught to always have an open mind until you try something, then form your own opinion. I quite often go against the crowd.

I have always skinned for myself, if you look at my gallery my download numbers are not very good, but that does not concern me, I am always trying something different, & although there is always room for improvement, I do not think the quality of my skins is too bad.

spot on attitude....  

You create it...we will download. Those of us who continue to use this dinosour fondly called XP will still be here. 

Thanks Webgizmos, I will be carry on making my skins for XP & Vista, I think my question was answered, & I will add on Window 7 when I get it.

Ha! I think I found the inspiration for my next theme...

Hehe, I type this post while in the dinosaur fondly known as XP.... my primary rig is out of action and in the shop, so I'm on my secondary rig with the bastard child of Fisher Price.   F**k the fickled finger of fate... Murphys Law... whatever... I'm not impressed... at all.

Nah, it's not that bad... like I can think of worse things.  Not having a spare rig with XP on it would fall into the caregory of worse.

BTW, I picked up 2 copies of Win7 Home Premium x64 at $129 AUD a piece from my local PC store today.  Can't activate them until next Thursday, but that's ok, we've got them.