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Microsoft Kills Support For XP SP2

Posted by timothy on from the too-soon? dept.

Trailrunner7 writes "Microsoft's announcement this week that it is preparing to end support for machines running Windows XP SP2 not only represents a challenge for the thousands of businesses still running SP2, but also is the end of an era for both Microsoft and its customers. It wasn't until 2004 that the final release of XP SP2 hit the streets, but when it did, it represented a huge step forward in security for Windows users. It wasn't necessarily the feature set that mattered as much as the fact that the protections were enabled by default and taken out of the users' hands."

8 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. So what? by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What's wrong with SP3?

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    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    1. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Nothing wrong with SP3. Just another "security columnist" trying to make headlines by exaggerating a minor event. Title of his article? "End of Support for XP SP2 is End of an Era", give me a break.

    2. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Way back when I had XP SP1, installing SP2 borked *my* machine. Had to do a full reinstall.

      Just sayin'.

    3. Re:So what? by BitZtream · · Score: 5, Funny

      Anyone using XP 64bit has pretty much been doing that since the day they installed the OS anyway.

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      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    4. Re:So what? by sakdoctor · · Score: 5, Funny

      Way back when I had 2k, installing XP borked my machine. So I switched to Linux.

      Just sayin'.

    5. Re:So what? by pjfontillas · · Score: 5, Funny

      Way back when I had a typewriter, installing IBMDOS borked my machine. I couldn't figure out how to use the floppy disk. I put it in just like paper, right? The disk just jammed and I had to trash everything. I should have given up then.

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      Life. Is. Good.
  2. Too late, Redmond by Dystopian+Rebel · · Score: 5, Funny

    I ended support for Microsoft products a few years ago.

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    Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
  3. News? by toleraen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Microsoft has had their end of life policy available on the web for ages now. Sp2 has been well known to be going EOL. If this threw any sysadmins off-guard...then wow.

    The only reason I can see sticking with SP2 is that SP3 hasn't gotten an EAL rating.