Windows XP Support Ends Today
Today’s the last day that Microsoft will support Windows XP. What does this mean for you?
The main thing you will find if you’re still running Windows XP is that after today, you won’t receive any security updates, patches or bug fixes for Windows XP. You will still be able to use the operating system though, but with the rollout of Windows 8, chances are most newer software wouldn’t be compatible with Windows XP anyways.
That being said, Microsoft is technically not abandoning Windows XP users.. well, at least not Government agencies anyways. Several Government agencies who still use Windows XP have struck multi million dollar deals with Microsoft, in order to still have access to support. If you’re not a Government agency, or don’t have a couple of million bucks lying around to entice Microsoft into providing you support for your installations of Windows XP, then you’re out of luck.
Statistics suggest 20% of all Windows users decided to stick with Windows XP, even though there have been 3 major Windows operating system releases since then (Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8). While this isn’t surprising, especially because when Microsoft releases a new operating system it’s usually full of bugs, or most software isn’t compatible with it as yet. Windows XP seemed tried and true, and users didn’t have to worry about (well, not as much) system crashes, incompatible software and the dreaded ‘blue screen of death’.
The main thing in my opinion with the end of Windows XP support is security. All computers are susceptible to virus, malware and even being hacked. With the end of Windows XP support, this means security won’t be updated as frequently as it needs to be, and the operating system will become more and more vulnerable to attacks and being compromised.
What should you do? Either run out and finally buy a version of Windows 8, or better yet, switch to a Mac.
You can read more about the official announcement of Microsoft’s website here.