Your Windows is about to XP-ire, warns Microsoft
Microsoft will ‘pull the plug’ on Windows XP on April 8th this year and is telling XP users to upgrade their machines to Windows 8 or replacement ASAP. It is estimated that about 10% of computer users in the UK are still using XP, seven years after Microsoft took it off the market. But this may not be surprising, given that it was a really solid, efficient product and later editions of Windows, i.e. Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 have not been anything like a satisfying.
The situation is more acute in China were over 30% of users are believed to be still using XP. But in under two months, Microsoft will cease providing automatic patches, security fixes and other technical support for XP. The fear is that there are virus writers, ready and waiting to unleash malicious code targeted at known XP vulnerabilities, knowing that Microsoft will not respond by quickly filling the holes.
So, do XP users need to rush out and spend? Well, upgrading may not be that great a plan because many computers which are 7 to 10 years old will not make a good fist of running Windows 8. And new Windows 8 machines will not instantly appeal to contented XP users either. But, for users with good, up-to-date virus protection, there is no rush to do anything in the next six weeks. If XP computer has run for all these years it will carry on for a while, comfortably beyond April 8.
XP users should consider moving on, but have plenty of time to do so when it is right for them.
