Windows XP SP2 Support Ends Tomorrow

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."

Comments

Re:I feel no sympathy there either

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree that there's no excuse to be running XP SP2, but staying with XP and expecting continued support is perfectly valid. Users are entitled to expect continued support for XP up until the time that Microsoft delivers an operating system that is superior to XP and worth upgrading to.

My company just replaced all the commuters in my department (about 500) and the new computers came with Windows 7 licences but they were all downgraded (or upgraded depending on your perspective) to XP. We use all modern software so it's not for reasons of compatibility but because whoever makes the decisions in IT believe that XP is superior (something I'm inclined to agree with).

These XP licences are obviously newly purchased through the Windows 7 downgrade scheme. Since these are effectively brand new copies of Windows XP this provides another reason why companies should expect continued support for XP.

Microsoft could get around this problem by simply adding the complete Windows XP interface to Windows 7 as a second desktop environment, thus saving companies money on retraining staff and allowing them to reap the efficiency benefits of using a well designed interface compared to the inconsistent and wasteful Windows 7 interface. Sadly, Microsoft won't do that and for that reason companies will keep using Windows XP and keep expecting it to be supported.

Re:I feel no sympathy there either

[boxwood]

its free?

please read this