Date: Thursday, March 20, 2014
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/, http://www.newsroomamerica.com/,
Impacted Users: Anyone using Microsoft XP or Office 2003 on April 8th will no longer receive support. If you are running newer versions of Microsoft Operating Systems, Version7, 8, 8.1 or Office 2007, 2010, 2013 software you are not at risk for losing support anytime soon.
Description: Microsoft, along with its hardware and software partners, has been supporting XP for 12 years. They, like any other company want to invest their resources in new product and services and retire their older products and services.
What does end of support mean?
“…after April 8, 2014, technical assistance for Windows XP will no longer be available, including automatic updates that help protect your PC. Microsoft will also stop providing Microsoft Security Essentials for download on Windows XP on this date.” – Microsoft.com
There is no plan for online support or patches written to fix vulnerabilities after April 8, 2014. This infers you will become more vulnerable to security risks and malware that you will not be able to fully defend. The software will remain functional but overtime both will experience an increase with security risk and performance issues.
According to an IDC study, there is a lifecycle cost of ownership associated with the XP estimated at $870.00 annually per pc per year, while Windows 7 has an estimated annual cost per pc per year of $168.00.
Prevention and Mitigation Procedures:
Option 1: You should upgrade your software, provided your hardware is capable of running the new software. If your hardware is dated and not capable of running the newer software, you should consider Option 2.
Option 2. Update your computer to a newer model running newer software.
Caveat: Some software is not capable of running on anything other than XP. Your first and best option here is to try and upgrade that software as well. If you cannot upgrade the software then try running that software in XP Mode, a feature in the newer Windows 7 operating system.
If you absolutely have to stay on Windows XP, you should discuss that with your campus ISO or local IT Service Desk to learn about their exception process. At the very least, you should be cautious about which links you click on and what personal information is on your system, run Identity Finder.
