Perhaps Microsoft are hoping that those folk still using XP will upgrade to W9 when it becomes available if they have missed out the other OSes since XP?

What do you think?

Not really tbh - the transition to Windows 7 (in most cases) by major organisations (that includes public and private) is already under way and the deadlines will already be set in stone. There won't be many organisations running XP machines in anywhere near the masses after April 2014 - there may be a few which can't be upgraded for whatever reasons, but for the most part....

everytime I visit a nhs premises they always using XP.