I also find the article a little vague and confusing with respect to the technical details. This does not seem uncommon for BBC tech reporting though. It's often misinformed (on IT) and generalises a bit too much.
Besides, anyone using XP in 2011 is way behind the times. There's no excuse really. Enthusiasts want the best performance, Win 7 will most likely be the only route by then (DX10/11 for example), and your average joe will most likely have bought a new PC with Vista/ 7 on since XP was stopped being sold. If not, buying a new HDD is a good time to make the transition. I don't see this being a problem.