Some Irony With XNA

I was just browsing the FAQ on Microsoft's XNA studio when I ran across this again:

Q: What versions of Windows does XNA Game Studio support? I'm running Windows Vista, can I run XNA Game Studio Express?
A: Right now XNA Game Studio Express is only designed and tested for Windows XP SP2. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 are unsupported platforms, although we are working on bringing Vista support in a future update.

-- XNA Frequently Asked Questions

I've drifted through these answers before - but the irony of this fact didn't click with me the first time. Microsoft's vaunted Games For Windows program, a Vista only feature set which the New York Times believes will help revitalize the PC gaming world, should help merge the worlds of the Xbox 360 and the PC world.

For Vista users.

But wait, if us XP users aren't even worthy of playing Halo 2 ... why is it we are the only ones allowed to code XNA? In other words if I wanted to be a part of Microsoft's new gaming initiative in all it's glory - to cross-develop 360 and PC games AND play with Xbox Live on both a computer and console ... I'd need three installations. A 360, Vista and XP.

Nice. If Microsoft is still tied to XP enough that it is an intergral part of XNA - I don't see why Games For Windows shouldn't include XP as well. What's good for the goose, right?

More evidence that Games For Windows is primarily a marketing sham.