Technically yes, it's abandonware but anyone who loves and needs it, well, they can still use it. Security is another story and a major concern for certain users. You can use DefenseWall for instance, as a proactive anti-threat solution.
"Abandonware" is a casual term with no legal meaning. There are no strict definitions of it, so it's hard to answer the question. When people talk of something being an abandonware, they usually mean "is it morally OK for me to pirate it?" Note that it is pretty much never actually legal to pirate/copy/use abandonware. Because this is a moral issue, rather than a legal one, people draw the line in different places, and it's a fairly subjective question. There are two major factors that people tend to consider when deciding if something is abandonware. Can you still buy it, and is the owner still supporting it? In the case of Windows XP, the answer to both is actually Yes. There are still plenty of copies out there that you can buy. Also, you can always buy an MSDN subscription and get access to XP. As for support, although consumers don't get it anymore, a number of major organisations and governments just made million dollar deals with Microsoft for continued support. You may not like it, but MS has not abandoned XP, only refuses to support it for you. That is unfortunately their choice as the owner. In conclusion, I think you can't morally consider XP to be abandonware.
No, it's not abandonware because it's still available on MSDN. Same thing is for Windows Essential Business Server 2008, which is discontinued on June 30, 2010, but it's available on MSDN in 1 CD and 3 DVD's.
Firstly, the label "abandonware" is not a legal one, thus abandonware can still has valid copyrights, or not, as the case may be. On the other hand if WinDev statement is true then is not abandonware (perhaps cuasi-abandonware? )
even when it is no longer on MSDN, such as Windows 1, or whatever. MS still holds copyright to it and can ALWAYS choose to do as they wish with it, and pursue who they wish at anytime. Even after zero support for 100 years. Not to say they ever will, but that is their option. XP has a long way to go before it can be even classified as abandoned imo
It is not free, and you can still buy it. It is not legal to distribute. It is still supported if you are a major government organisation. So, in what sense is it "abandoned" at all?
The letter of the law may say that XP is not abandonware, but the spirit of the law is that MS has abandoned XP, and its users. For individuals, MS has made it clear that they have ended support for the operating system. They have also stated that support will end for corporate users in two years. Should MS continue to support XP? Of course they should. With almost every survey showing a huge remaining user base, they have a moral obligation to do so. As a company they can do whatever they want to force their customers to move on to the latest operating system, but that doesn't make it right. Making money is their bottom line. As far as I'm concerned, XP is abandonware. No doubt about it here. In the future, look for MS to move to a subscription basis for Windows, forcing customers and users to install a "partial" operating system on their computers, and requiring an internet connection to gain access to the "other part" of the operating system that will be found only online. You may pay a yearly or monthly fee, or perhaps every time you run a Windows application your credit card will be billed. Not to mention that MS (and other companies) will push for storing your personal data and documents on their servers in order to use Windows. The really sad thing is that the next generation or so, of computer users, will take this as being routine, and will not at all be concerned. Their understanding of privacy will be nothing like ours. So enjoy your Windows XP as it is. Tweak it and update it, however you can, and don't feel any guilt at all about it. Some day we'll be telling our grandchildren about the days when computers software could be hacked and personalized the way we wanted; about the days when some of us even had the knowledge and the tools to build our own computers, using software and hardware that no longer exist. In their day, computers will be sealed boxes, voice interfaces and minimal access to anything beyond that.