Microsoft recently announced that they will be keeping Windows XP alive until 2010, mainly for the Eee PC and other low cost tiny notebooks.

This goes hand in hand with Best Buy now offering a version of the Eee PC 4G (the 4G-X) that comes with Windows XP preinstalled. It is available in black, and apparently is (or will be?) available in actual stores. I ran a couple zip codes into the store availability/inventory part of the Best Buy website, but none seem to be in my area at least.

Users in the last post we had about this have done some investigating, and while the Best Buy employees don’t seem to know much, it looks like inventory might start to arrive on April 14th.

It looks like the Eee PC is a hit in Japan! Around 10,000 Eee PC units have already been sold in just the first week of the device being available.

If you didn’t remember, the Japanese have the Eee PC 4G-X model which costs a little more than the typical 4G but includes pre-installed Windows XP, a 4GB SDHC memory card, and a mouse.

It appears as though the ASUS Eee PC being released in Japan has enough differences between itself and the standard line of Eee PCs that ASUS has designated it as the 4G-X instead of 4G.

The Eee PC 4G-X will come with Windows XP Home pre-installed, a 4GB SDHC card, optical mouse, and in both white and black. The price will be ¥50,000 ($470 usd).