In 2001, Microsoft release what some might argue was their greatest operating system of all time: Windows XP. Windows XP brought in great advances over it’s predecessor, Windows 2000. It brought Windows away from just home desktop computers, and extended it to laptops, and even servers. Then in 2006, Microsoft released what some might argue was their worst operating system of all time: Windows Vista. The tremendous failure that this system was among consumers gave new life to Windows XP, extending the long-term support period all the way into 2014. This makes XP the longest supported OS Microsoft has ever released.
All good things must come to an end, though, and in this case XP has been replaced by other, better things. Windows 7 brought modern sharing and network capabilities to the operating system, along with a file permissions system that rivals that from UNIX systems. This means that the time for XP is over.
Support for Windows XP ends on April 8, 2014
So what does that mean?
Well, the short answer is you need to upgrade. The long answer is Microsoft will no longer be releasing critical security updates for Windows XP. It’s just a matter of time until somebody finds a big vulnerability in XP and starts cracking into any computer running XP. And when support ends, nobody is going to do anything about it.
Protecting yourself is simple, just upgrade to a newer system: Windows 7 or 8. Be careful, though as upgrading comes with risks of data loss. If you are afraid that you might accidentally get rid of something you need to keep, consider leaving the upgrade to an expert. You can come in to our computer store in the Lindenwood Park neighborhood, for example. When we upgrade computers, we always make sure that the data is safe and sound outside of the computer itself.