Broadband Tech > Security > Security > End of Windows XP support means beginning of security...

End of Windows XP support means beginning of security...

Actually, this is nothing new, MS seems to want to continually end support for one product in order to push their newest or whatever the going reason is for the time. Having read about Vista etc. I have decided to stay with XP until my machine stops, liking the ease of use as it is, however I do make sure all security programs including NIS, host file etc are updated.

reply to daveinpoway
They were already given an extension beyond their normal support period, and that was mostly due to the low adoption rate of Vista after XP hadn't been replaced in nearly half a decade. All I see is crying here, they were given a few more years to come to terms they are going to lose XP, you can't complain they were not given ample warning. The dropped support for 9x, and 2K also. The red letter final notice was sent years ago, and they ignored it.

XP is decade old operating system, and two generations behind, soon to be three after Win 8 is released estimated at the end of this year.

Besides many of the machines stuck with XP are single processor systems that couldn't play hd video smoothly if they tried, and 64-bit support sucks so most are stuck with 3GB or less of ram if the motherboard even supported that much.
--
I distrust those people who know so well what god wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires- Susan B. Anthony
Yesterday we obeyed kings, and bent out necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to the truth- Kahlil G.

reply to daveinpoway
Is there any example of software version N that is supported indefinitely after the release of versions N+1, N+2, N+3?

The article is a lot of blather about nothing.

Did anyone not know that MS would end support for XP some day? Was "the recent announcement" a surprise? Thus, I hardly think it "signals the end of an era", as the breathless prose of the "author" puts it.

reply to daveinpoway
I've never understood what all the fuss is about either.
Do people expect a lifetime of support for an operating system?
That said, I sure wish they still had support for my machine running Windows 3.11 for workgroups.
--
I had a life once.....now I have a Computer and a Modem.

reply to daveinpoway
Why do you need support for WXP?

There was no significant support, even at the times, when XP was the "latest and greatest" OS. They did not fix many bugs everyone asked them to fix. For example, many, many users complained that infotip may go behind the system tray. Was that bug fixed with m$'s full fledged support in place? No, not at all. Another one - big memory leak in Windows Explorer, in cases, it it opens shares on a remote storage... I'm sure you know more such examples too... Vendor knew about lot of bugs, but despite the full support, those bugs still in place even now.

So, why anyone needs so called "support". Take it as it works now and use it, or just move on.
--
Keep it simple, it'll become complex by itself...

reply to daveinpoway
I understand that it is time to end support but I hope that they will come up with a Service Pack 4 before they throw us to the wolves.
--
Printed on 100% recycled bytes

reply to daveinpoway
The oft-posted Life cycle fact sheet if this is what you were after.

reply to daveinpoway
Hmm, Windows and security....seems like quite the oxymoron to me

reply to daveinpoway
XP is old as heck. Lots of businesses already have Vista/7. XP is fast losing it's majority share, especially since the release of Windows 7. When XP's support ends it will have been the fourth-longest supported operating system in Microsoft history, behind Windows 2.1. People have had plenty of time to migrate/upgrade to a newer operating system. Windows 2000 was retired in mid-2010, 10 years after its release. XP is only one year younger than 2000.

This article is not only pointless FUD, but it is TWO years early. People still have TWO years to make a move in order to stay secure. XP will be nearly THIRTEEN years old by then. If they can't make a move before 2014 when XP will be retired, well, sucks to be them.

I mean, just imagine, what kind of machine would be running thirteen-year-old software back when XP was released? That would be Windows 2.1 or MS-DOS 3.0, running on i486. The difference between XP-era machines and Vista/7-era machines are about the same, for the most part.

Microsoft isn't obligated to keep spending time and resources on cheapskates that refuse to upgrade their machines.

reply to daveinpoway
As for the issue of upgrading large orgnaizations/governments/schools to something beyond XP, if it hasn't been done already and/or it can't be done by 2014, one of three things is the issue.

1. Incompetent or apathetic IT staff.

2. Stubborn or equally incompetent software vendors (whaddaya mean 16 bit apps don't work in 64 bit windows!?)

3. Short-sighted and ultimately incompetent management that wont give the IT people the resources needed to do the upgrade.

reply to daveinpoway
Just because vulnerabilities aren't patched, doesn't mean you can't still be protected from them. Taking the remote desktop bug, for example, most decent AV software has a firewall component that could detect and block that sort of malicious traffic before it even hits a vulnerable module.

There's also Firefox, Flash and Adobe Reader which can still get updated. I'd simply avoid using IE. All that said XP had a great run, but its time to move on.
--
AT&T U-Hearse - RIP Unlimited Internet 1995-2011
Rethink Billable.

I think it would be safe to say that many 3rd party programs will still run fine on XP even after it's no longer officially supported as long as they are 32-bit, but other support might be lacking like directx 11/12 support for games unless they still supported DX 9. Some software still runs fine on 2K, but there are changes under the hood which are less obvious to the consumers between these major versions which prevent newer software from running. Maybe it's a new runtime/etc..

I will however be glad when IE 6 dies with XP, may that proprietary browser die a horrible death even if corporations don't like it, and their custom software no longer works. Businesses are required to protect their customers data, and they can't reliably do that on an outdated operating system. Computers which need to run custom software, and don't have the requirement to deal with sensitive data is acceptable, like computers that run manufacturing machines, they don't even necessarily need to be networked, otherwise put on their own subnet on the intranet.
--
I distrust those people who know so well what god wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires- Susan B. Anthony
Yesterday we obeyed kings, and bent out necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to the truth- Kahlil G.

reply to Oedipus

reply to WhyMe420

reply to daveinpoway
I hope they release a final XP SP3 disc with all the final updates, so we can still update Windows after a format.

reply to daveinpoway
I bet half the poster's on this topic are still using xp.

Heck I still running windows 98se, windows 2000 pro, windows xp, xphome.

The web itself still the same, nothing wrong with my computer if it can handle the web still.

Not much into programer but do use few tools.

Not much into games but still can loadup old game. ghost recon

Still can download music, movies.

reply to XP support