Microsoft Confirms: IE9 Won't Run on Windows XP

Yes, Windows Internet Explorer 9 won't support any operating system earlier than Windows Vista SP2.
The reason IE9 doesn't work in XP is that it uses the Direct2D feature of DirectX when accessing the graphics hardware to accelerate image creation and drawing. Direct2D was introduced in Windows 7, and then added to Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 R2—but not to Windows XP.

Thanks Bill.

I wouldn't expect any software vendor to fully support an obsolete OS for ever. New software requires features only present in newer versions of the OS (else why bother to produce new versions?). Nothing has changed - all software that used to work on XP still will; but don't expect new software to work.

Time to move on from XP.

It's 8 years old. It is obsolete. Just because you are still using it and don't want to upgrade doesn't make it any less obsolete. People are still using Windows 95, 98, ME and 2K... would you consider those to be obsolete?

No DirectX 10 or 11, no IE 9 and likely driver support will begin to fade within the next two years. How long does it have to be before you consider it to be obsolete?

WXP is the best OS Microsoft ever made. Nowadays, most of the computers are still using it (vista was crappy). Therefore is not obsolete. Obsolete is something that is not useful.
I don't need Dx10 in those computers. I need they run "office" an IE properly. If we want to play, we are talking about other range of computers.
I have W7 64bits and I like it. But we are talking about different things.
It's just my opinion.

People still find Win 9x useful as well. They are still obsolete, however. Vista was a decent operating system if you had decent hardware. I had no problems with Vista and if it weren't for the great pre-order discount on Windows 7... I might still be using it.

You don't need DX10... what makes you think you will need IE 9? IE 6 and 7 still provide better compatibility than IE 8 in a lot of cases... so IE 9 is kind of moot right now anyway. Besides, there's always Firefox. If you're worried about not being able to run Windows Update, then you have nothing to worry about. XP Service Pack 3 will continue to be supported and you'll still be able to download all of its updates even after all support has been terminated.

Of course, by the time that occurs, you'll have probably upgraded anyway. Or perhaps you'll be like the people still hanging on to Win 9x. You still have to be aware that once MS stops supporting XP, other vendors will as well. Just like you can't find 9x drivers for new hardware... in a couple years the situation will be the same with XP. I'm sure it will still be "useful"... but only on older computers not capable of running newer operating systems.

Like IE 6 not running on anything older than 2K / ME...

Although unlike IE 9, most sites will actually require IE 6 or better. I don't see a lot of sites suddenly being inaccessible with anything other than IE 9.