It’s the End of Windows XP
April 8th, 2014 ends the life of Microsoft updates and support to the very popular Windows XP desktop. It has been considered by many users to be the most stable and user friendly version of windows ever. But what does that mean to those who still use it? Will it stop working? Is it really the End of windows XP?
Will my Windows XP stop working?
No, basically this mean that it will continue to work AS IS. There will be no more patches and updates for it. This includes things like no new Internet Explorer version, but more importantly it means no more security patches.
No more Windows XP Security?
Not exactly. There are still many security tools such as anti virus and anti maleware tools from 3rd party vendors like Norton, AVG, and McAfee. But this does mean that Microsoft will no longer be releasing patches, updates and tools for Windows XP.
Potential Hackers Dream
But this combination is a hackers dream. Those people who want to hack your computer. Now, if/when they find a system vulnerability Microsoft will no longer being releases patches to fix that vulnerability. Being that Windows XP was had the most installations of any OS (just recently beaten by Windows 7) and that there are many who have stayed on Windows XP up until now, that means there is a huge potential for hackers to exploit a system without Microsoft fixing it.
What should I do next?
So although Longwell Technologies will continue to use Windows XP in a limited capacity to support some of our clients, we will be encouraging our customers to upgrade to at least Windows 7 and doing most of our work on Windows 7 and 8.1.
So it’s not exactly the End of Windows XP but if you haven’t yet done so, you should seriously consider looking to upgrade your windows operating system. Windows 8.1 is out and many find it a significant change that they are not yet ready for from their windows computer. Others really like the change. However if you are not ready to make that jump you need to be looking for a Windows 7 machine while you can still find them. With Windows 8 having been released over a year and a half ago, Windows 7 machines are getting harder and hard to find. BTW, Windows 7 it expected to have it’s Microsoft support end January 14, 2020 (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle)
Need further help, feel free to contact Longwell Technologies and we can help.