Microsoft Windows XP, the operating system that still dominates most of the PC world, will have its support ended by Microsoft in the year 2014. This will come as a shock to most businesses and consumers, because many business still run XP on their employer’s computers. I even still run Windows XP on my personal laptop, because I am so used to it, and it still does everything that I want it to do in relation to today’s technology.

Even though 2014 is still a long time away, Microsoft is suggesting to start upgrading to Windows 7 now, because the process of getting a majority of the end users converted over prior to the 2014 cutoff will take a long time. Stella Chernyak, Marketing Director for Microsoft’s Windows group exclaimed the following statement on the Windows Team Blog:

“If you still have some PCs running Windows XP and Office 2003 in your organization, now would be a good time to start migrating them to Windows 7 and Office 2010. Windows XP and Office 2003 were great software releases for their time, but the technology environment has shifted.”

To help explain the reasoning behind this transition, I have provided information from the Microsoft Ends Support Site below:

• Why is Microsoft ending support for Windows XP and Office 2003? – In 2002, Microsoft introduced its Support Lifecycle policy based on customer feedback to have more transparency and predictability of support for Microsoft products. As per this policy, Microsoft Business and Developer products, including Windows and Office products, receive a minimum of 10 years of support (5 years Mainstream Support and 5 years Extended Support), at the supported service pack level.
• What does end of support mean to customers? – It means you should take action. After April 8, 2014, there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates. Running Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 in your environment after their end of support date may expose your company to potential risks, such as security and compliance risks, as well as lack of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) & Hardware Manufacturers support.
• How will Microsoft help customers?
  • Enterprise Customers: – Microsoft offers large organizations in-depth technical resources, tools, and expert guidance to ease the deployment and management of Windows 7, Internet Explorer 9, and Office 2010. To learn more about migration and deployment programs, please contact your Microsoft sales representative or Certified Microsoft Partner.
  • Small-to-Medium Businesses – There are many options for small and medium businesses considering moving to a modern PC with the latest productivity and collaboration tools. Small to mid-size organizations should locate a Microsoft Certified Partner to understand the best options to meet your business needs.

There has been some reaction from the Twitter community regarding this end to Windows XP support:

Are you sad to see support for Windows XP end? Or, is it definitely time for a new operating system to dominate? Let us know your reaction below in our comments section.