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Windows XP SP2 Support Ends Tomorrow

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the better-get-patching dept.

Vectormatic writes "As can be seen on the product page for Windows XP, support for SP2 ends tomorrow, while the majority of Windows XP users still haven't upgraded to SP3. This could open up millions of users/businesses to exploitation, since security updates for SP2 will stop coming in while security fixes to SP3 may clue hackers in to vulnerabilities."

5 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. Note by segin · · Score: 5, Informative

    It should be noted that XP SP2 x64 has support until whenever XP SP3 x86 runs out. There is no XP SP3 x64

  2. Citation on the 50% number by Vectormatic · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://laws.qualys.com/2010/05/end-of-life-for-windows-xp-sp.html

    That article states SP2 is still used on 50% of XP machines

    --
    People, what a bunch of bastards
  3. Microsoft base system release lifecycle by DragonHawk · · Score: 5, Informative

    I wish MS updated their base system more than once every 10 years.

    Win95 (1995) -> Win98 (1998) [3 years] -> Win98SE (1999) [1 year] -> WinME (2000) [1 year]

    NT 3.1 (1993) -> NT 3.5 (1994) [1 year] -> NT 4.0 (1996) [2 years] -> Win 2000 (2000) [4 years] -> XP (2001) [1 year] -> Vista (2006) [5 years] -> Win 7 (2009) [3 years]

    Even the longest release drought, XP->Vista, was 6 years, not 10. The mean is 2 years; the median 2.5 years.

    (I detest FUD, even FUD directed at a target I happen to dislike.)

    --

    dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
    I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
  4. Re:Astonishing by LinuxIsGarbage · · Score: 4, Informative

    Windows XP SP3 requires 1GB of memory in the system, SP2 required about 512MB. This is not mentioned anywhere in the SP3 notes that I could find.

    That's because it's a figure you made up by yourself. Without any third party tools, the system requirements of Windows XP remain the same as when RTM rolled out in 2001. 64 MB bare minimum (which means it will basically boot), 128MB recommended (which means it will boot in under a day). I have several PIII machines with 256MB RAM that hum along with XP-SP3 quite well. The problem with requirements isn't so much Windows as third party software. Websites have richer and richer content (flash, Javascript) that can take an old machine to it's knees, on-access AV solutions considered "light" on new machines can have a huge performance hit on an older machine. Yet Office 2007, and even Office 2010 still perform better on these machines than Open Office.

  5. Re:the 5billion inthe bank is not enough by Spad · · Score: 4, Informative

    Erm, you don't have to pay anything for SP3. It's a free download and the min spec hasn't increased from SP2 so you don't need to upgrade any hardware.

    If your apps still require XP SP2 to function then you've got bigger issues than Microsoft dropping support for it.