Set Your Watches For the End of Windows XP

An anonymous reader writes "In one year today exactly, Microsoft will shut down support for Windows XP. The deadline will prove a challenge for many of Australia's largest users of IT, all struggling to migrate to new Microsoft environments." Net Applications' chart of current OS market share figures shows XP only slightly behind Windows 7, even now.

Comments

Is this the point in time..

[OhANameWhatName]

.. where people finally say:

"I'd rather have software that works than software that's supported?"

Because it's about time.

Re:Is this the point in time..

[Runaway1956]

Ipso facto? You want an ipso facto? For a few years prior to, and after the release of XP, I tried to keep three sons and a wife on computers. It proved to be nearly impossible. There were constant problems with viruses. Tons of malware, some of it installed by the likes of Compaq.

I finally converted the wife to Linux. My "service calls" to her computer have been for things like failed hard drives, and "Where can I find an application to do blah blah?" Not a single virus. Not one malware. One scare involving Wine, but no lost or corrupted data, no infestations.

Did the wife suddenly grow technically savvy, overnight? Hardly.

Despite the claimed superiority of Windows security - only the tech savvy seem to maintain a healthy Windows environment. But, a housewife who doesn't understand the differences between file systems can keep a Linux installation running for years, with very little technical support from anyone else.

Ipso facto - Linux has done something better than Windows. I think it's due to diversity, as much as anything. You may believe it's due to relatively low numbers of users. Whatever - Windows is ultimately less secure than any Unix-like which I'm aware of.

When XP has become history, then we'll see how the numbers stack up.

Re: Is this the point in time..

[jandjmh]

I clean up PCs for my clients pretty often - 1 or 2 malware infections per week. These are folks using PCs at work, doing their regular job, not downloading games, screen savers or much of anything at all. Because they hire me to keep their systems running they are (usually) fully patched, with working and up to date anti-malware.
They do, in fact, mostly get infected by zero day exploits - from compromised web sites. And the compromised sites have been mostly places they go to in the normal course of doing their job. Order entry sites for parts distributors, a web site for booking conference rooms etc. Windows XP and 7 seem about equally vulnerable.
When they ask how they could have avoided the problem I don't have any really good answer. Locking the PCs down so tight they can't install anything might help - but that's just not practical.
I have them keep regular system image backups so it's easy to clean up ...

Re:Windows 95

[Technician]

Actually Windows 95 is becomming secure because it is so obscure and limited that most current attacks are unable to run on it. Attacks that used to run on it are pretty much dead, much like Stoned for DOS is now officially no longer a threat to anyone. I remember seeing the article about a year ago, so sorry no current link to the story.

Re:It's easy!

[girlintraining]

I'm no IT professional and don't know the logistics of it all but when I upgraded it was like day and night.

Hi. I am. I am right now on a team migrating a 140,000 desktops and laptops from XP to Windows 7. I do know the logistics. Those logistics is what is holding up the switch over, not the arguments for upgrading from XP. As it turns out, a lot of businesses don't have the deployment infrastructure to do this quickly. Despite tools having been on the market capable of this for a decade, it turns out that it's not a simple matter of "flip the switch. Eat bacon."

With our own rollout at about 56% and about 38 weeks minimum to completion, even corporations with a lot of extra cash (I work for a financial company. A big one.) have run into significant logistical problems switching to the new operating system. Internal meetings are already being held in board rooms about how to manage the switch from 7 to "another" operating system; Reluctant to jump to Windows 8, but cognizant of the fact that this process will have to be repeatable and successful. We aren't even done with this project yet.

This right here is the real story about the "End of XP"; It simply can't be switched off that fast by corporations. The technology, shockingly, moves faster than bureaucratic change. And that's all it is. That's what's keeping XP sitting in your rearview mirror with it's middle finger stuck out like it's an upset teenager in mom's minivan. Logistics. Pure, simple, logistics.

"We here in IT know you love Windows 7. I apologize for the delay. As soon as I'm done taking the burned out husk of my last attempt to get this to you on a shoestring budget out of the oven, I'll get right on to the next one." Meanwhile, at Microsoft Headquarters...