Now that Windows XP is no longer supported by Microsoft it REALLY is time to upgrade XP to Windows 7 or 8, and GMan the PC Man here to help you!
“Why is this important??? ” I hear you ask
Well, I’m glad you asked!
Now that Microsoft has stopped updating Windows XP with regular security patches, XP has literally become a ‘training and proving ground’ for hackers to discover new ways to hack, and Microsoft will do nothing to fix these new security vulnerabilities going forward. Hackers ‘skills’ can now be practiced and honed on what has become a static operating system.
“But surely no one will bother targeting XP – as there would be so many more users running with Vista, Windows 7 and 8??”
Not true. The risk of exploit or compromise of your Windows XP system will increase over time. Windows XP defensibility will deteriorate quickly over the next few months as attackers will find ways to exploit certain aspects of the operating system, internet browser, mail programs, office software (Office 2003 is also at end of life), and even third-party programs such your PDF reader (Adobe says they will not update Adobe Reader on XP anymore)
Microsoft will only release patches and updates to fix flaws in supported versions of Windows, ie Vista and newer. Microsoft won’t test Windows XP to verify whether or not those same flaws exist in it, nor will it develop a patch to fix the unsupported platform.
Attackers, however, will be able to reverse engineer the updates Microsoft develops for later versions of Windows to identify the vulnerabilities patched, figure out if those same holes exist in Windows XP, and craft exploits to compromise the vulnerable systems.
So, to ignore the warnings and continue to use Windows XP is to do so at your own peril.
Unfortunately, your risk is also everybody else’s risk too, because compromised systems end up in botnets, distributing spam, or hosting and distributing malware. Continuing to use Windows XP on the public internet is akin to going out in public with an active virus and coughing on people.
Do yourself and everyone else a favor. It time to upgrade to a newer operating system NOW
Dont believe me?
Here’s some other people’s opinions that might be worth reading
You must upgrade XP
Survival guide
When you decide to go ahead, GMan the PC Man will upgrade XP for you, back up all your data and re-install all your old software, advising on any incompatibilities with Windows 7 or 8 as we go.
Might also be a good time for a hardware upgrade too