They supported 98 for a good 7 or 8 years from its release. XP was out around 2001 so I think we can expect another 3 or so years' support for XP.

[q=Grinenshire]Umm.. a friend of mine got a laptop just last week. That and an other machine were the only ones out of 15 sold models that had Vista on them. That was one of the leading mass-retailer chains...[/q]

Big chain stores are often some of the last to change their ways. They have a lot of economic inertia, so in some ways it will delay or slow the release of new products.