Microsoft has officially ended support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. This operating system for the past 12 years have been a flagship OS that revolutionized every nook and corner of the planet. By ending the support permanently Microsoft urges everyone to bid adieu to XP and upgrade to 7 or 8.1. If you are still a loyal user of Windows XP, then you got to upgrade your system to prevent security risks and compatibility issues that may rise in the foreseeable future.
How does this “End of Support” affect
1. No more Automatic OS Updates:
At first place, remember that Windows XP have been receiving constant OS and security updates for the past the 12 years. With the “End of Support” you will no longer receive automatic/manual OS updates and without updates you can’t expect bugs to be fixed.
2. No more security updates:
Without automatic updates, there are no security updates too. And without security updates your computer might become more vulnerable security risks and viruses.
3. No more Microsoft Security Essentials:
Microsoft has also stopped providing Microsoft Security Essentials for download on Windows XP. If you already have Microsoft Security Essentials installed, you will continue to receive antimalware signature updates for a limited time. But this does not guarantee you a protected PC.
4. Internet Explorer 8 is no longer supported:
So if your Windows XP PC is connected to the Internet and you use Internet Explorer 8 to surf the web, you might be exposing your PC to additional threats
5. Upcoming Applications and Devices may not work:
With the support ended, most of Hardware and Software manufacturers are not going to concentrate on developing apps and devices that work with XP. So we can soon encounter a day when most of apps and devices will fail to work with XP.
Still many offices rely on XP
You may still see the operating system in many Government Offices and some Banks, where they use the operating system for specific reasons.
UK and Dutch Governments pay £5.5m to extend support
The UK and Dutch governments have paid Microsoft £5.5m to extend support for Windows XP past the 8 April cutoff date. And this support is valid for 1 year.
Even now XP has a Good Market Share
Even though the support has ended, XP still has got a very good market share, In January 2014, Net Applications reported a market share of 29.23% for XP, while W3Schools reported a share of 11.0%.
If you do not connect your XP powered PC to the internet, then you are good to go with this OS for few more years
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