Once More, Microsoft Pushes For Users to Ditch Windows XP

When will it end? I suppose only when Windows XP ceases to exist? Earlier this month, Microsoft urged techies to help their friends and families transition from Windows XP to Windows 8.1. Via a blog post, the company highlighted – not for the first time – that support for  Windows XP will end soon, and that users will  only benefit from ditching the iconic operating system.

Not a month has gone by, and another blog post highlights the “need” for people to remember that support for Windows XP (and Office 2003) will end on April 18. That’s less than two months away.

It’s the usual spiel – how the OS has had a great run but that it does not keep up with the times.

Jay Paulus, director, Windows marketing, says:

“It’s been a great run for these popular products, but a decade later, times and technology have evolved. Windows XP and Office 2003 weren’t designed for the world we live in today, where technology is increasingly mobile and we have services like OneDrive, which give us access to our files wherever we are, not to mention the new generation of devices and the always-on Microsoft Office 365.”

He might have a point – this niche does evolve ever so quickly, and Microsoft does have something new to offer. The blog post also reiterates the security risk that users run if they continue using Windows XP. In fact, Paulus goes straight out and says that computers running these programs should NOT be considered protected at all. Here’s a number you might want to consider: Windows XP is five times as susceptible* to viruses and attacks as Windows 8.1.

The post goes on to highlight the benefits of Windows 8.1, OneDrive, and Office 365, making it sound like a sales pitch for these other products – which it may very well be.

One thing that I think we can conclude from this most recent push: Microsoft really is leaving Windows XP for dead. Is it time to hang the white flag?

[Image via collectionofpicture]