Microsoft CEO Explaining
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gestures during his keynote address at the company's "build" conference in San Francisco, California April 2, 2014. Reuters/Robert Galbraith

It's not over yet for Windows XP as both the UK Government and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service have reportedly sought Microsoft to extend support and even willing to pay huge amount.

'Extended Support' Until April 2015

The British government is willing to pay about $9.2 million for a year of MS Windows XP support. It has signed a contract for Windows XP, paying the Redmond software company to support its Windows XP, Exchange 2003 and Office 2003 until next April. Microsoft told ComputerWeekly, it has made an agreement with Crown Commercial so that eligible public sector bodies in the UK can download security upgrades for Windows XP, Exchange 2003 and Office 2003 until April 8, 2015. But this does not remove the need to phase out Windows XP. The public sector groups are migrating from XP and need to be ready with the necessary changes before their contract ends.

U.S. IRS Support Until Yearend

The UK government is not alone with the XP extended support. It was reported the U.S. IRS is also set to pay huge cash to get the support for XP. It is willing to hand "millions of dollars" to have its legacy systems up after the cut-off date. Half of the body's system runs XP, although it plans to get everything to shift to Windows 7 by yearend. Windows 7 is supported by Microsoft until 2020.

Other Microsoft Matters

Apparently, Microsoft has its hands full with good news recently. In the previous week, Microsoft's buy of Nokia devices and services business was approved by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on April 8, when Windows XP support was supposed to end. Meanwhile, Queensland, the second-largest state in Australia, partnered with Microsoft to take Office 365 to 149,000 government workers. This is a step to simplification and standardization of communications. The government aims to enable new forms of interconnectivity, teamwork and knowledge sharing.

Also, Microsoft keeps with the dynamic media consumption atmosphere by announcing on April 7, during the 2014 National Association of Broadcasters' exhibition, new Microsoft Azure customers FansChoice TV, a partnership with Ooyala video analytics company and a fresh studio-grade broadcasters solution Skype TX.