Ah, Windows XP. We hardly knew ye.
As of the date of this post the most current date for the “END” of Windows XP is April 8,2014. That is the firm date.. they promise..
You actually SHOULD have upgraded all of your systems starting in April 2009. That was the real day Windows XP was discontinued.
But for whatever reason, you are your company waited until now, and you are reading that Windows XP will cease to function, and be hacked immediately.
Unless you are a bank, then it will work.. or unless you are a major corporation.. because they are paying Microsoft to continue to secure the operating system… but April is coming really soon!!!!!
After April 8, 2014 will every computer with Windows XP suddenly implode?
In my humble opinion, that can be answered very simply in a word.
No
Is this going to be the next Y2K of Computer security? (Where it was all doom and gloom, fire and brimstone, planes falling from the skies, power failures for weeks and nothing happened?)
Yes
Could it happen?
Absolutely, on April 9th, 2014. The financial markets could collapse, the planes could fall out of the sky, and everyone’s computer could burst into flames.. But if you believe that will happen, then I have a bridge in San Francisco to sell you..
The answer, it is exceptionally unlikely that anything HORRIBLE will happen.. Sure there could be breaches of security, sure there could be a new “super virus” unleashed in the word.. But those happen every single day, and the world goes on. Microsoft actually only really patches its operating systems once a month anyway.. They update them immediately if they find a “zero day” bug that completely compromises your computer. After April the 8th they will just stop doing that.. That is unless that causes their company reputation harm, then I expect they will fix it.. ONCE..
Why do you care as a business?
On April 8th, 2014, Microsoft will formally discontinue one of the most popular operating systems of the last century. But on that day it will just be like December 31st, 1999 and January 1, 2000. It will just be another day, the sun will shine, the birds will sing (well perhaps not here because its very cold) and your computers will still be there. But your RISK will increase with a discontinued operating system, like Windows 98, 95, 3.11 and all those before it. That risk will increase overtime as patches are not being developed.. like every other operating system before it. Once they stop “patching” an operating system there are holes in it..
Oh, and If you never ran “windows update” all those years? You never had a secure system in the first place. That is why patch management is so important, but that is for another article.
So why the giant push to update Windows XP?
Because its time to put computers with Windows XP to pasture and put them out of their misery. Heck some charities don’t even want them that old? They are simply completely and totally obsolete.
If you own any computer that was factory installed with windows XP, it is very old. So old, that if you are a business you are likely using FAR more time and resources working on hardware that is SO old that its costing you more in frustration to use it than its worth. If you have an IT staff or paid piecework technician that you are paying by the hour, you are paying them TOO MUCH!. Not because of how much they charge by hour, but because by how much TIME it takes them to work on hardware that is so old kids these days think its the operating system run by the Flintstones! On average a simple transaction like spyware removal, or antivirus removal takes anywhere from 3-10x LONGER on a machine that was originally designed as early as 2001! Computers started with Windows XP in 2001, and the next version Windows Vista started showing up in 2006. If you have computers with Windows XP running still, they are at LEAST 7 years OLD! If you were an early adopter of Windows XP, you could be using a computer that is up to 13 years old!
Some companies are pushing installing windows 8 on a machine currently. Although that is a “technically” valid procedure its a horrible idea…
Will installing Windows 8 on a machine designed for windows XP work?
Yes!
In the same way you would go buy this:
and put it into this:
where you would get this:
Windows 8 in a computer made for windows XP
So do you need to upgrade computers that are running Windows XP?
Yes
But its more because of what they are costing you in lost time and money. Putting Windows 8 on a new computer that was designed to run Windows XP is just bad business sense.
Contact us at Just Ask That Guy, were we will help you see the value of upgrading those old computers, and instead of putting the latest and greatest “Windows 8.1”, we will advise you to use Windows 7. And if you were to purchace computers for your business.. We would recommend that you buy Windows 8.1 capapbable machines, and have the manufacturer load windows 7 on them. Because Windows 7 gets discontinued “next year”
Just because Windows 8.1 is brand new, doesn’t mean its better for your business.
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