Microsoft has posted their end of support date:

Final customer notifications about the end of Windows XP SP1 and SP1a support
Support for Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Service Pack 1a (SP1a) ends on October 10, 2006. Microsoft will end support on this date. This also includes security updates for these service packs. Microsoft is providing final notifications to customers regarding the end of support for these products.

You can see their notice here.

Microsoft has a lifecycle policy about their software. How long do you think there should be support for any software that comes out?

Dave

Support should be given until a product is outdate, IMO.
XP is not outdated (yet), Sp's and subversions don't count.

I disagree. When you release a product that is as widely used and depended upon as Windows, then it is Microsoft's responsibility to continue to support it.

In this specific case (SP1 of XP) I think it's okay to discontinue support (since it's only a very small update in the big picture), but I think they are right to continue to provide support for older versions of Windows.

its not a shame really people should upgrade to sp2

Its another attempt of making a better sale for Vista when it comes out. Who cares about a service pack that's so close to a completely new version.