The oficial date that Microsoft will cease to offer support for Windows XP is April 8, 2014, otherwise known as "end of life" for Windows XP. Users will still be able to run Windows XP on their machines, however after this date Microsoft will cease to provide any support for the operating system. Although April 8th has been the official "end of life" date, Windows has just announced that it will continue to provide updates to its security products for Windows XP users through July 15, 2015. Support will still end on April 8, 2014. The company will be providing updates, only, for an additional 15 months, which means that they will be, at least, partially protected.
Windows XP has reached the end of its impressively long life cycle, and Pinnadyne highly recommends that users and businesses seek out a supported OS like Windows 7.
The two main reasons for moving from Windows XP are:
Find out what's happening in East Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
-There will be NO support from Microsoft. If you have an issue with the operating system you will no longer be able to call or open a support ticket with Microsoft to solve the issue.
-No patches or updates will be provided to the OS after July 2015, so those using XP will be open to security risks.
Find out what's happening in East Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
There are other risks in staying with XP:
Not only will Microsoft not be supporting Windows XP, but companies that made software for XP will do the same. Software companies will have no reason to develop or support their applications on XP. In addition, most third party software vendors will no longer test their software against XP, so there will be no guarantees that they will work with Windows XP. Security software vendors are likely to stop updating, patching and supporting their software. If your business is regulated by HIPAA or PCI, you will likely be Non-Compliant after July 2015. A big concern for healthcare is that an end-of-life OS could be interpreted as not being HIPAA compliant because of security risks. Banks and credit unions still on XP will also be considered Non-Compliant with payment card industry guidelines. Windows XP should no longer be used for email due to the security threats, as well as almost any type of communication over the internet. Microsoft stresses that the effectiveness of anti-malware services on the out-of-support OS is limited. While the extended date for updates to its security products for Windows XP is helpful to users, the bottom line is that using the old OS is still putting you or your business at unnecessary security risk.
We recommend updating to Windows 7. For more information about how Pinnadyne can assist you and your business during this transitional period, visit Pinnadyne at our website.
Remember, when in doubt reboot and save and save often.
And as always, Happy Computing.
