Late last week, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer said the software giant will stop distribution and all support of its Windows XP operating systems by June 30. Lenovo is the latest computer company to announce it will offer XP past the deadline, thanks to Microsoft's own downgrade rights for its hardware-intensive Vista Business and Vista Ultimate editions. Customers with qualified Lenovo PCs with the two Vista editions can purchase a Windows XP recovery CD until January 31, 2009.

Microsoft's downgrade rights allow anyone with either operating system to legally downgrade to the seven-year-old Windows XP Professional, creating a loophole usable by Lenovo to continue selling the earlier software past its official end date.

Dell's approach is slightly different, and is expected to last until 2012. The company will ship its PCs with XP pre-installed and include the relevant Vista discs as well as a backup media disc for Windows XP Professional. Technical support for both operating systems will be offered.

Some consumers and more businesses have been reluctant to adopt Vista OS because of the backwards incompatibility and increased hardware requirements, prompting online petitions as well as an ongoing lawsuit that accuses the Windows developer of setting misleadingly low requirements for the "Vista Capable" logo on PCs in late 2006.

Microsoft will continue to provide XP Home for ultra-low-cost PCs until June 2010. [via Ars Technica]