Remember Windows Vista? Sorry, didn’t want to raise anyone’s blood pressure bringing up that old nightmare again. While most everyone we know has happily moved on to the vastly superior Windows 7, Microsoft is letting users of Vista and XP that the clock is ticking on their old-school OS.

The Verge is reporting that Microsoft has announced the end of normal support for the five-year-old Windows Vista. The move shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s used the troubled OS, especially after the arrival of the infinitely more usable Windows 7 -- not to mention Windows 8 on the horizon for later this year.

“Starting today, consumers will still get security updates for free, but everyone without a commercial support contract will need to pay for bug fixes or other patches,” the report explains. “In April 2017, this ‘extended’ support will also end, and both consumer and commercial users will be on their own, without security or other updates (although security fixes may be offered in special cases.)”

That sounds like a scary world to live in, and we feel for those of you stuck with Windows Vista -- but users of the even older Windows XP have a more pressing date with death (er, support).

While Microsoft has already essentially slit the throat of Windows XP, it’s taken a bit longer for the body to drain out, mostly because XP was so popular and many users are finding it hard to say goodbye. But those users have until 2014 to mourn at the gravesite -- after that, it’s sayonora to an old friend at last.

But hey, at least you won't have to worry about those nagging software updates anymore...

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