So, with Windows XP and Office 2003 having been on life support for the last couple of years, Microsoft has finally decided the time has come to let them go. I was recently asked to eulogize their passing, and thought it would be nice to share my thoughts with those of you not able to make it to that gathering. Now, I’m still tweaking this a little, so please bear with me. I’m still trying to get through this without letting my emotions overcome my control

I’d like to thank you all for attending today. It’s just unfortunate it had to be under this situation. We are gathered here today to say goodbye to our two faithful companions.

First, our dear friend Office 2003.

Office 2003’s arrival on the scene was a quiet affair. It came out in 2003, as a replacement for Office XP which had come out just 2 years before. It completely redesigned Outlook with features that are still critical to later versions, especially shared calendars and email, junk filters, and offline caching. It also gave us access to Office Online (yes, way back in 2003!). From access to clip-art online to full Office online in just 10 years! Office 2003 was there at the beginning.

Second, our right-hand man of software, the amazing Windows XP.

Think back to where you were when you first met Windows XP. I’ll wait a minute, it takes some of us a while to get all the way back to 2001. Most of you probably were hanging out with Windows NT at work, and Windows 95 at home. A few of you may have met Windows 2000 and Windows ME (bless you for trying!). Back then, XP worked hard to prove itself as more powerful and stable for business computers, and yet faster and more flexible for home users. How in the world could any 1 operating system handle that? And yet, XP did prove itself, and continued to prove itself for the next 10 years.

Now it wasn’t easy! XP had to face down Vista five years later. By 2006, already in the twilight years of its life, Windows Vista was destined to push XP off to an early retirement. However, Vista’s hype was much larger than its abilities, just like Denver in this year’s Super Bowl. Just 3 years later, any hopes for Vista were dashed as the next contender stepped into the fight. Windows 7, XP’s big brother, arrived and began immediately to gain attention. XP put up a brave fight, but eventually, in 2012, Windows 7 passed it as the largest OS in action. XP could finally look forward to retirement with a clean conscience, having left the world in good hands.

Now the reasons why XP was so successful are many. While it wasn’t the first computer to allow multiple people to log in, it WAS the first to allow one user to stay logged in with programs open, while a second user logged in and ran different programs. It also introduced us to roll-back technology to help recover from bad driver and patch updates. XP gave us Remote Desktop which has changed the way telecommuters work. Finally, it wouldn’t take no for an answer and forced us to accept the CD-ROM as a critical device for transferring information. (In fact, XP couldn’t be installed without it).

And so, after several attempts to send XP to its final resting place, the day has finally come. April 8th 2014 will be remembered as the day the longest running version of Windows was finally allowed to rest.

Well, there you go. Windows XP and Office 2003. They saw us through a lot of changes and helped us reach new levels of technological ease. So lift up a toast to the passing of a couple of dear friends and companions.

So that’s the eulogy. Thanks for sticking with me through that. If you are still having trouble letting go, we have counselors standing by to help you through this difficult time. If you would like to talk to us about what to do now that they have moved on to wherever it is software goes, please contact us.