Redmond has already made it clear that it will not be extending the Windows XP retirement date any further. After having done so once, the software titan will no longer release updates for the old operating system as of April 8, 2014.
And the company is urging the XP user base to make their move to a newer version of the operating system as soon as possible, whether it is Windows 7 or Windows 8 — preferably the latter.
In a recent blog post celebrating the 20th birthday of Windows NT, Microsoft says that users should get ready for Windows XP full panic mode soon, as sticking with the old operating system beyond the retirement date is very risky.
As Microsoft noted:
“Also a quick reminder, Windows XP will reach end of support on April 8th 2014 which is just a little over 8 months away so if you haven’t started your migration I can’t think of a better time to start. Full panic mode should be just over the horizon. If you are a premier support customer contact your TAM to get any help you need.”
All said and done, the old operating system still remains rather popular, even though many enterprises and businesses have outlined plans to move to a newer version of Windows in the coming months.
Windows XP currently boasts a significant market share. Figures provided by third party market research firm Net Applications claim the ancient operating system to be powering 37 percent of computers connected to the Internet — a figure Microsoft hopes to see reduced to below 10 percent soon.
I sent my management my list…we are just under 50% still on XP and just over that on Office 2013. They know the deadline and costs…I suggested back in January we update 1 maybe 2 PC’s a month…we’ve purchased perhaps 3-4 new PC’s with the latest OS/Office…slow start to our upgrade this year…
Aye, Windows XP upgrade process usually takes quite an effort, owing to the fact that both hardware requirements and the major architectural changes between that and newer versions of the operating systems have to be taken into account.
Things seem to be moving at a rather slow pace for now, but fingers crossed nothing severe happens once the deadlines ends. Hackers and cybercriminals would be licking their fingers keeping in mind the massive market share that XP still commands.
Good luck with your upgrade process, here’s hoping it picks up pace!
Well, I started pushing it when I took over as the solo IT guy 2 years ago, in 2 1/2 years, I’ve gotten to over 50% off of XP.
Money spending is often hard to do here but it didn’t stop the owner of the company from purchasing me a Surface Pro for appreciation…I was humble in thinking we could get at least two workstations upgraded to Windows 7 for that but he insisted. I didn’t complain but man, the clock is ticking.
We also need to get off of Server 2003 so working on that as well!
Awesomeness! Enjoy your Surface Pro, man!
I do like it…a lot. It did develop a hairline that I did not cause externally…I am thinking it got hot after I played Skyrim for a few hours and then I let it sleep in our cool house. Not sure but Microsoft will not take care of it beyond me paying $460 to replace the entire unit with a new one… 🙁
You are one lucky man. You’ll make it just before it’s too late.
I’ll wash my hands with it April 14th by stating I am not responsible for data loss…right now, getting on Server 2012 cheaply is a struggle…