Using XP after End of Life in a VM - Activation required ?

Hi there
While there is still some time yet before XP finally "Dies" I'm just wondering whether after the official End Of Life of this product whether Ms will issue a "Generic" serial that won't require activation.

I'm suggesting this since I know for a fact that there will still be a LOT of XP users even after the product is no longer officially supported -- for example old legacy hardware which can't be replaced / old legacy apps which can easily run for 30 years or more and don't need updating etc.

If for any reason the OS needs to be re-installed (probably by then most XP users will have it as a GUEST OS in some sort of Virtual machine) - then activation could become a serious issue since by then the product will probably have been removed from their activation servers.

I have some EXTREMELY expensive kit (would cost between 25,00 and 40,000 USD to replace even if I could find modern equivalents and an application to match) which will certainly perform for another 20 years at least and it only runs on Windows XP.

The original manufacturer has long since gone out of business but the hardware is functioning perfectly. If I have to re-install the Windows XP OS and the activation servers have removed the product from their database then I'm totally hosed up.

I also have some gear running under XP which cuts original VINYL records which I use quite frequently now I've found a source to get Blanks again -- I sometimes cut a 78 or a 12 inch LP or even a 45 for people with custom labels such as their photo . These are always popular gifts too -- especially really modern music re-cut on a Vinyl --talk about retro !!. No way can I find an application or hardware drivers for the cutting machine that runs on W7 / W8 -- it runs fine on an XP VM though.


I notice that for some products Ms has already issued "generic serial numbers" so they could in theory do this for a "Defunct" or final release of XP ( XP / SP3).

As another issue -- this is always a problem I have had about the whole idea of "Activation" in the first place -- what happens if the original manufacturer goes out of business or the product becomes "Obsolete" as far as mainstream is concerned but YOU still need to run it for all sorts of valid reasons.

XP is probably the first major OS where this is likely to be an issue especially as there will still be probably millions of XP users even by End of life date.

I notice Adobe has issued generic serial numbers for its CS2 product which has reached end of life -- this is an older version of photoshop and other parts of its Creative Suite -- but still extremely good fort most purposes -- most ordinary users don't need the latest CS6 for example.

I hope other major software manufacturers do this too that when a product reaches End of Life people who still have to use it can re-install it without any of these type of "Activation problems".

Cheers
jimbo

MS have always maintained that at some point they will issue a patch to bypass activation in XP.
However, I VERY much doubt that it will be within 5 years of the EOL.
There are still way too many copies of XP (and way too many counterfeits) in circulation and in use for MS to abandon it completely, yet.

XP was the first major product (after selected editions of Office 2000) to require activation - and Office 2K still requires activation to this date, AFAIK.

There is no free lunch yet