XP services to end in a year, M'soft warns
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Microsoft has reminded customers that it will retire service and support for Windows XP in one year from last Monday.

Small and medium-sized enterprises and consumers are advised to migrate from XP, an 11-year-old operating system, to avoid vulnerabilities and risks that have the potential to cause business disruption and extra costs.

Starting on April 8, 2014, automatic fixes, updates or online technical assistance will no longer be provided. No more security updates will be issued to help protect personal computers from harmful viruses, spyware and other malicious software that can steal personal information.

Rachod Isarankura Na Ayuthaya, leader of the Windows client business group at Microsoft (Thailand), said yesterday that while XP was one of the most popular operating systems in Microsoft's history, it was not designed to handle the challenges of today, such as the increased exposure to cyberattacks and demands for more data privacy, unlike the newer operating systems such as Windows 7 and 8.

According to StatCounter, XP still

makes up 36.4 per cent of PCs in Thailand, with a steady rate of decline since Windows 7 was launched in October 2009. That equates to more than 7.2 million PCs. This is high, compared with an Asia average of 34 per cent.

StatCounter data also show that about half of PCs in Thailand are already on Windows 7 and in the past two months, there has been an uptake of Windows 8.

According to Microsoft's Security Intelligence Report released last June, XP with SP3 is three times as vulnerable as Windows 7 SP1. Malware has become a severe threat in the past decade, having increased from 1,000 in 1991 to millions last year. Computer threats include viruses, worms, trojans, exploits, backdoors, password stealers, spyware and other variations of potentially unwanted software.

As well, continued use of XP poses threats including compliance issues such as encryption, hashing and signing, while more than 60 per cent of independent software vendors and modern browsers no longer support XP.


-- The Nation 2013-04-11

I still use XP ... maybe I will be retired also next year ...

.

I use version 7 on both my computers, but have now switched off the automatic updates as at this stage they just eat up available RAM storage with zero sum gain. My 1MB machine is already calling out for more RAM.

If you have less than 2mb RAM, don't upgrade your XP. Just switch off the auto updates & use your computer until age dicatates a hardware upgrade.

in the past two months, there has been an uptake of Windows 8.

...only because you can't buy 7 or XP any more.

I kept my XP lap top going for 8 years because I didn't want a new one with Vista.

I sometimes use 7 on a friend's desktop and hate it.

I now have a new powerful desktop with XP. It's great.

PS. And Windows 8 is garbage. MS's biggest flop of the century.

in the past two months, there has been an uptake of Windows 8.

...only because you can't buy 7 or XP any more.

I kept my XP lap top going for 8 years because I didn't want a new one with Vista.

I sometimes use 7 on a friend's desktop and hate it.

I now have a new powerful desktop with XP. It's great.

PS. And Windows 8 is garbage. MS's biggest flop of the century.

You obviously do not know what you are talking about, do not know about Win 8 but 7 is a good product, especially for the security factors, Malware etc.

in the past two months, there has been an uptake of Windows 8.

...only because you can't buy 7 or XP any more.

I kept my XP lap top going for 8 years because I didn't want a new one with Vista.

I sometimes use 7 on a friend's desktop and hate it.

I now have a new powerful desktop with XP. It's great.

PS. And Windows 8 is garbage. MS's biggest flop of the century.

You obviously do not know what you are talking about, do not know about Win 8 but 7 is a good product, especially for the security factors, Malware etc.

One could argue the same with that comment of yours else why use windows at all?

in the past two months, there has been an uptake of Windows 8.

...only because you can't buy 7 or XP any more.

I kept my XP lap top going for 8 years because I didn't want a new one with Vista.

I sometimes use 7 on a friend's desktop and hate it.

I now have a new powerful desktop with XP. It's great.

PS. And Windows 8 is garbage. MS's biggest flop of the century.

You obviously do not know what you are talking about, do not know about Win 8 but 7 is a good product, especially for the security factors, Malware etc.

Actually it's you that doesn't know what you're talking about. MS is (as always) full of BS and their only aim is to persuade (or scare) consumers to buy their latest OS.

Most malware, viruses, etc can be protected against by the many free products that are easily available on the internet. I've used XP for around 10 years, never had a serious security problem, and will continue to use it until my PC & Notebook give up the ghost. Then I'll look at alternatives to MS because, as already pointed out, Win 8 is a failure & seems to be targeted towards tablets & smartphones.

Actually it's you that doesn't know what you're talking about. MS is (as always) full of BS and their only aim is to persuade (or scare) consumers to buy their latest OS.

Most malware, viruses, etc can be protected against by the many free products that are easily available on the internet. I've used XP for around 10 years, never had a serious security problem, and will continue to use it until my PC & Notebook give up the ghost. Then I'll look at alternatives to MS because, as already pointed out, Win 8 is a failure & seems to be targeted towards tablets & smartphones.

I could've written that!

I will keep XP for many years to come

So ... I'm happy with my XP ... what to do in 12 months time?

I havnt update my XP for years, it works like a charm then and it will work like a charm in future,

until if and when new video formats require 64 bit

I havnt update my XP for years, it works like a charm then and it will work like a charm in future,

until if and when new video formats require 64 bit

As far as I know Win XP has a 64 bit version.

I bought a Toshiba Laptop in 2002 with XP. It still works fine.

PS. And Windows 8 is garbage. MS's biggest flop of the century.

I don't know. Vista was the worse abomination I have seen out of microcrap. I think the jury is still out on 8, but personally, I do not like it. Don't think much of 7 either.

As far as I know Win XP has a 64 bit version.

Yeah, but it's not particularily good.

You can lead a buffalo to water but ya cant make him drink.

Its about time MS stopped changing their OS every three years and concentrated on making one that works 'love you long time' - like

The real winner will be an open-source OS which runs any software which was originally designed to run on any Windows system.

Don't plan on ditching my XP either. No problems.

Still running Win XP. Does everything I need, even HD video editing.

Only downside is that it only recognises 3GB of the 4 GB of RAM I have.

The majority of the people and businesses around where I live, in the sticks, use XP, including me. I asked the local computer shop about Windows 7 and his statement was that most people do not have sufficient memory to upgrade and don't want to spend the money to fix something that is working fine. I'll plod along with XP until the inevitable, upgrade or death whichever comes first!

Haven't downloaded ANYTHING from Microsoft since SP3. Perfectly stable and still install it onto any new hardware I buy.

So long as I can get drivers, connectivity and use my simple 32 bit programs, on XP, nothing changes for me. It's the dog I know best!

One of my machines dual boots W7 64 Bit, I only use it when absolutely necessary.

Remember that old saying.....

'If it ain't broke,don't fix it' ??

why on god's great earth would they retire the OS that is probably the most popular OS anyone ever came up with ??.....

Why ??

And why can't they come up with one that works as good as XP ?.

Why can't 'they', the faceless 'they' adapt XP to today's conditions ?

It just shows ya how much they listen to their customers........

They're not politicians ...are they ?

The real winner will be an open-source OS which runs any software which was originally designed to run on any Windows system.

The current winner in the open source OS market is Ubuntu, once it is up and running brilliant and only uses around 20gb of hard drive.

There are also new players on the way, Google with the Chromebook & Android OS for notebooks, then there is also all the other Linux based OSes, bit too techy though.

Used XP for many years and liked it, then decided to upgrade to W7 and I like that as well and will stick with it. Don't really see why MS decided to move away from W7 so quickly?

How long is W7 going to be supported for, any one know?

The only reason I upgraded from XP to Win 7 was because the motherboard in my desktop computer was cactus and I had to buy a new system. I was more than happy with XP and my better half is still using it on her machine. Having said that, I am also very happy with Win 7.

I don't own a tablet but if I did, I would consider Win 8. For a desktop, I can't see any advantage of upgrading to Win 8.

Microsoft must be somewhat concerned regarding the slow uptake to Win 8.

The real winner will be an open-source OS which runs any software which was originally designed to run on any Windows system.

You mean like Ubuntu with WINE?

I use version 7 on both my computers, but have now switched off the automatic updates as at this stage they just eat up available RAM storage with zero sum gain. My 1MB machine is already calling out for more RAM.

If you have less than 2mb RAM, don't upgrade your XP. Just switch off the auto updates & use your computer until age dicatates a hardware upgrade.

I'm assuming you mean 2GB not 2mb. Either way, with RAM being so utterly cheap these days, it's foolish to try and run with such small amounts.

Windows loves RAM and will perform better (and page less) the more it has.

Same applies in Windows XP.

Windows 8 is better than both of them once you get rid of the Metro crap and go back to a nice start button/desktop arrangement.

Yeah, good luck with that, I'll believe it when I see it.

A large corporate client of mine uses XP on all their virtual desktops. Why on earth would they migrate all their users to Win7? Or worse, Win8 if Win7 isn't even offered anymore. The business gains nothing from shinier windows and semi-transparency effects. I mean sure they're neat but hardly worth the millions of $ in direct cost and the risks and productivity loss from updating and migrating. They use XP because it works. And they'll continue using it.

I imagine most other corporations are the same. MS can ill afford to piss off its enterprise customers. If they discontinue XP and only offer Windows 8, they'll have a corporate rebellion on their hands. And that would come at a time when MS is more vulnerable than ever.

I have a strong feeling that MS will reverse this decision.

The other problem in retiring XP is that many software programs will not work in Win 7 or 8.

I had to say goodbye to Adobe Photoshop 6, goodbye to MS Office 2003, goodbye to the Roxio suite, and goodbye to my old faithful HP scanner. But it's amazing how many free software programs are available on line that do most of the tasks performed by expensive software.

For example, I now use Paint.NET that does all I need for photos.

Kingsoft Writer takes care of my word processing needs.

Infra Recorder burns my CD's.

.....but I did have to buy a new scanner.