Computer makers will forced to switch to Windows Vista systems by the end of this year.

Current contracts that allow them to equip new computer with the Windows XP operating system will expire in January, a company spokesperson confirmed to vnunet.com.

"It's standard practice to allow OEMs, retailers and system builders to continue offering the previous version of Windows for a certain period of time after a new version is released," Mike Burk, product manager for Microsoft Windows Client said in an emailed statement.

He pointed out that OEMs have been aware of the pending changes since last year.
Although Windows Vista has been in the market for several months now, stores are still selling plenty of Windows XP systems. Especially businesses keep buying computers running the old operating system to maintain uniformity in their computers and test the new software for potential application compatibility issues.

Earlier this month, Dell on its Direct2Dell blog promised that it would continue selling Windows XP systems until " later this summer" to allow for ample testing time.

The vendor also said that is has no plans to do the same in the consumer market however.

"[With consumers] the preference and demand is for the “latest and greatest” technology which includes Windows Vista."