You should consider a broader point of view. Aka never say never. Let me illustrate: first of all, I did not choose that platform directly (though if I could,

You should consider a broader point of view. Aka never say never. Let me illustrate: first of all, I did not choose that platform directly (though if I could, I would, it is very hard to beat Visual Studio once you get into it), the branch we're in did. This is not some allround web/mobile app but a dedicated high performance desktop application that targets eg the automotive industry. And it's commercial. So if a big player (think Bosh/Siemens) asks you for software that runs on XP, you deliver it, simple as that. The other option is loosing them as a client, which would be about the worst mistake you can make in a startup you have to live from. And by far the easiest way to deliver what we need is by using Visual Studio, don't even try to deny that. Btw another thing about automotive and other huge industries is the typical life-cycle of a product (which in turn is used to produce other, erm, products) is waaaay longer then your typical application. Hence, XP still kinda lives there in some places. Also a lot of the hardware used there is built to last, e.g. your typical National Instruments ADC easily lasts 25 years. Which sometimes leads to (sometimes rather bad) decisions like 'well, then the software should keep on running for 10 years straight from now with no updates. And that again adds to the reasons why XP is still around.