If you have an unsupported version of Windows XP or Windows Vista without any service packs, Windows will continue to start and run as usual but you won’t get security updates for Windows.
- Support for Windows Vista without any service packs ended on April 13, 2010. To continue support, make sure you’ve installed Windows Vista SP2.
- Support for Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) will end on July 13, 2010. To continue support, make sure you’ve installed Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3).
Note
There’s no SP3 for the 64-bit version of Windows XP. If you’re running the 64-bit version of Windows XP with SP2, you have the latest service pack and will continue to be eligible for support and receive updates until April 8, 2014.
Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy FAQ
Which version of the Windows operating system am I running?
What does it mean if my version of Windows is no longer supported?
by certifiedbug on February 1, 2010
in Microsoft
Windows 7 Blog
On February 15th, people still running the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) will receive a notification reminding them that starting March 1st, 2010, their PC will begin experiencing bi-hourly shutdowns. These shutdowns will continue through June 1st, 2010.
On June 1st, 2010, a non-genuine experience is triggered where your wallpaper is removed and “This copy of Windows is not genuine†will be displayed in the lower right corner above the taskbar. This means your PC will no longer be able to obtain optional updates or downloads that require genuine Windows validation.
During these shutdowns, your work will not be saved! Brandon LeBlanc suggests in order to avoid any data loss users plan to move to a released version of Windows 7 before the automatic shutdowns start.
For more information on the expiration of the Windows 7 RC see this KB article
Windows Blog article here
by certifiedbug on April 29, 2009
in Microsoft
The Release to Manufacturing of Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
This document describes the notable changes in the Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 release. For a complete list of all the hotfixes and security updates in SP2, see Hotfixes and Security Updates in Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2.
Overview: Notable changes document
Programs that are known to experience a loss of functionality after you install Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista or for Windows Server 2008.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969707/
This article should not be considered a comprehensive list of programs that experience loss of functionality when they run on a Windows Vista SP2-based or a Windows Server 2008 SP2-based computer.
