Microsoft to stop support over 5.7 Million Windows XP-based PCs in Thailand from April 8

[webfact]

Microsoft to stop support over 5.7 Million Windows XP-based PCs in Thailand from April 8

BANGKOK: -- Microsoft Friday reminded business and consumers in Thailand with PCs still running Windows XP that it will officially retire service and support for Windows XP in six months' time, on 8 April 2014.

With half a year left to this crucial milestone, there are over 5.7 million PCs in Thailand, or 28% of PCs in Thailand, which are still running on Windows XP, an 11-year-old operating system no longer capable of handling sophisticated cyber-attacks and demands for more data privacy and productivity.

Thailand has one of the highest Windows XP installed bases in Asia Pacific, according to StatCounter figures for September 2013.

After April 8, 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates, non-security related fixes, there won't be a number to call for technical assistance, or online technical content updates for Windows XP.


-- The Nation 2013-10-11

[schondie]

I'm sure that there will be third party support for XP after it happens. After the updates stopped for Windows 98 there was free ported updates for years by people that didn't want to move to XP.

XP will carry on being supported by the die hard fans that don't want upgrade. It's not a bad OS compared to some of the other offerings by Micro$oft.

[webfact]

MICROSOFT
Millions of Thai PCs 'still at risk' by running Windows XP, Microsoft warns

BANGKOK: -- More than 5.7 million personal computers in Thailand are still at risk with just six months left before Microsoft ends support for Windows XP, according to the head of Microsoft (Thailand)'s Windows Client Business Group.

Microsoft reminds business users and consumers with PCs still running Windows XP that it will officially retire service and support for the operating system next April 8, said Rachod Isarankura Na Ayuthaya.

With half a year left to this crucial milestone, there are more than 5.7 million PCs in Thailand - or nearly three in every 10 computers - that are still running on Windows XP, an 11-year-old operating system no longer capable of handling sophisticated cyber-attacks and demands for more data privacy and productivity, he said.

StatCounter figures for last month show that the Kingdom has one of the highest Windows XP installed bases in the Asia-Pacific region, at about 28 per cent of all PCs in the country. That is equivalent to an "alarming" figure of 5.7 million computers, which is higher than the population of Singapore, he said.

On the bright side, as of last month, consumers and businesses have been slowly upgrading to newer versions of the operating system, and at least 57 per cent of PCs are now on Windows 7 and 8.

After April 8, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates and non-security-related fixes, and there will not be a number to call for technical assistance - or online technical content updates for Windows XP, Rachod said.

This means that users will no longer receive the updates that help protect PCs from harmful viruses, spyware and other malicious software, which may result in downtime and software-compatibility issues.

He added that while no one liked change, consumers and businesses needed to consider newer operating systems like Windows 7 or 8 to modernise their computing devices and stay safe from cyber-attacks and data loss.

With the typical deployment times for upgrades spanning from three to six months for small businesses, and more than six months for mid-sized businesses, Microsoft is very worried that companies in Thailand are cutting it too close to the end-of-service date, he said, adding that the company is committed to helping Thailand upgrade.

Thai companies such as Charansanitwong Printing - operating under the name Fast-Books - are already reaping the benefits of upgrading from Windows XP.

Explaining the decision to upgrade to Windows 8, managing director Thurdthoon Chaithurdthum said an additional benefit of migrating PCs to the latest Microsoft operating system was that Windows 8 comes with Windows Defender.

This free lifetime anti-virus and Internet security suite avoids the need to buy additional anti-virus software, saving the company in terms of purchasing costs as well as time to handle virus issues.

Industry analysts have been advising businesses to move away from Windows XP over the past years. Now, with six months to go before the end of service for Windows XP, they are stepping up their education efforts to drive a greater sense of urgency.

"Time is running out," says Handoko Andi, manager of Client Devices Research at IDC Asia/Pacific. "To make sure that PCs continue to be securely supported and operational, both consumers and businesses alike should be migrating to newer versions of the operating system now, given the termination of extended support for Windows XP in just six months' time."

Microsoft urges all business and consumers still using Windows XP to upgrade to either Windows 7 or Windows 8. According to the findings of its "Security Intelligence Report, Volume 14", released in April, Windows XP with Service Pack 3 is up to 56.5 times as vulnerable as Windows 8 RTM[iii].

Customers can visit the Windows Upgrade Centre website, which features insights from analysts and customers on their XP OS migration journey, Rachod said.


-- The Nation 2013-10-12

[tominbkk]

Just a way for Micro$oft to scare people into installing that crappy windows 8 bull$hit.

[bushman1666]

I wonder how many of those 5.7 million licences in Thailand were legally purchased?

Thailand, land of scams

[Bagwan]

How can they withdraw support that few, if any, use? Windows XP has NEVER provided adequate protection against sophisticated cyber attacks. Microsoft, the new IBM. Chancers all of them. Whatever MS trot out now, kids in their bedrooms will find holes in it so say nothing of the organised Russian gangs.

[Bagwan]

Double post. MS software to blame?

Edited October 12, 2013 by Bagwan

[FangFerang]

If you know anyone who has the XP version, tell them to turn off automatic updates as soon as they can. MS is infamous for giving blunder updates as a product is phased from support. I worked with those pirates for ten years.

[Equalizer]

I did not know you could do updates on copied versions? 90% of them are counterfeit.

[sunshine51]

Sadly this is just Microsoft's way of scaring common folks into spending more $$$

on an OS they ( the common folks) may not want or need. If my memory serves me

right this all started back in the days between Win 98 (a very good OS in its day)

and MS's releasing the new Millenium OS because of the Millenium Bug which

wasn't a bug at all...in fact it was nothing at all...but MS made billions flogging

a "new" OS that was a piece of shit...off of a scare tactic. If you have Win XP

Pro on your PC now and you have additional 3rd party security software I see

no reason for an "upgrade" to Win 8...forget Win 7...it's ok but 8 is somewhat

better if you don't mind the touch screen BS. And don't taks MS's advice when

they tell you Windows Defender is the best there is...that's a load of crap.

About a week ago MS sent out a 80MB update for XP which I downloaded then

turned off auto-update for good. Guess I'll wait & see what happens in 6 months

time. Mind you...I'm not worried...

[Stokakrishna]

just switched to Linux UBUNTU. much happier now

[hkt83100]

The only scenario where I run XP (or any other MS OS) is as guest in a Virtualbox on my Linux system. It is fired up about once a month to run some specific software which has not been ported to other environments.

[Torrens54]

I wonder how many of those 5.7 million licences in Thailand were legally purchased?

Thailand, land of scams

And of course, there are NO SCAMS or Scam Merchants where you come from?

If you just don't like Thailand, I doubt anyone will miss you if you pack your frilly panties and go home.

[lee b]

Lets all get windows 8 support. Its needed, i'm really not happy with this operating system what so ever

[sustento]

There are major British and US companies that still use Windows NT4 to run their retail outlets...

[Turkleton]

Win Xp was good at it's time.

But nowadays, it's outdated, compared with modern OS, like Win 7 / 8.1 (8.0) or even Ubuntu + Co.

And after 12 (!) years, MS has cancelled the support - time to say goodbye. So what?

Enough better and safer alternatives available.

If you know anyone who has the XP version, tell them to turn off automatic updates as soon as they can

what a stupid and dangerous advice if you use your PC online. Follow him only, if you want to convert your PC into a "malware hub"

Thailand, the hub of Win XP "malware hubs"

I'm sure that there will be third party support for XP after it happens

Nope, impossible without source code. You won't be able to patch the kernel or buggy system libraries.

[BuriramRes]

Sadly this is just Microsoft's way of scaring common folks into spending more $$$

on an OS they ( the common folks) may not want or need. If my memory serves me

right this all started back in the days between Win 98 (a very good OS in its day)

and MS's releasing the new Millenium OS because of the Millenium Bug which

wasn't a bug at all...in fact it was nothing at all...but MS made billions flogging

a "new" OS that was a piece of shit...off of a scare tactic. If you have Win XP

Pro on your PC now and you have additional 3rd party security software I see

no reason for an "upgrade" to Win 8...forget Win 7...it's ok but 8 is somewhat

better if you don't mind the touch screen BS. And don't taks MS's advice when

they tell you Windows Defender is the best there is...that's a load of crap.

About a week ago MS sent out a 80MB update for XP which I downloaded then

turned off auto-update for good. Guess I'll wait & see what happens in 6 months

time. Mind you...I'm not worried...

This was probably to ensure that the XP users, who are probably running on 1/2 to 1MB of RAM simply die through lack of RAM.

The advice to turn off automatic updates is very good advice, contrary to what Turkleton has just said.

Edited October 12, 2013 by BuriramRes

[SjaakNL2013]

Yes correct, NO automatic updates, just check what they offer for updates and download/install what you like or need.

For malware, spyware, adware and so on are many, more reliable, companies to keep your PC save.

Windows 8 is nice if you have a touch screen and have nothing else to do then clean your greasy finers of the screen. The old XP start button is luckely allready patched by a Dell add in and there are now coming cleaners who take away what you not need for normal office work. This make it more workeble but your harddisk is still loaded with stuff you don't need and in many cases never will use.

About the safety, I am not sure that the NSA is hold out my system. For Internet i would advice user to use Morzilla and always work over the TOR network.

[khunken]

The usual BS from MS to try and scare users into buying more of the same but with minor upgrades.

I don't rely on MS to protect my PC. There are loads of freely available firewalls, anti-virus, anti-malware software available and anyone who relies on MS for protection needs their head examined.

I never let MS update my Win XP automatically. I select what I want and if MS have no updates - good - less time wasted.

The only reason to upgrade is if some important software (to you) doesn't run on XP. However, I wouldn't go any further than Win 7 on a PC. I have a dual boot PC - XP & 7 - and only use Win 7 for football downloads which wouldn't work on XP.

[bkk_mike]

I did not know you could do updates on copied versions? 90% of them are counterfeit.

I believe you can't run Windows Update on a dodgy XP instance.

However, it will do the automatic updates. (The issue of botnets running DoS attacks is bad enough without having a bunch of PCs that don't get security updates.)

[schondie]

If you're a XP user that doesn't want to upgrade another option is to run your web browser in a "sandbox" and there's a lesser risk of being infected by malware.

I really liked XP and then switched to Win7 before seeing the light and switching to Linux. Far less of a risk of infection and all the programs get updated in one easy step.

[Arkady]

Does it matter? MS support usually means downloading patches that cause your computer to crash. I doubt whether the hackers are bothering to write viruses for XP anymore and many of the copies still in use are bootlegs anyway.

[JSixpack]

Does it matter?

Yes, it does.

MS support usually means downloading patches that cause your computer to crash.

No, though it does mean downloading patches--and more, they don't usually cause your computer to crash. You can run a poll if you wish.

I doubt whether the hackers are bothering to write viruses for XP anymore

But they certainly are. Hence the continual patching by M'soft. After support goes down, hackers will learn of new vulnerabilties from the Win 7 patches and will attempt to exploit them on unpatched XP installations. It's all so obvious.

and many of the copies still in use are bootlegs anyway.

So? Somebody's using those bootlegs productively nonetheless and wouldn't want them hacked--beyond the activation hack.

Next.

[inthepink]

A Microsoft update has never crashed any of my PCs in the last 15 years. Why anybody would expect them to support an 11-year old OS I don't know. Apple don't even support devices with operating systems that they sold two years ago.

Torrens54 is undoubtedly right that there are individuals all over the world who use pirated copies of Windows and other software, but I don't remember large corporations doing so in the UK, whereas it seems to be accepted practice in Thailand.

If you don't like Microsoft, don't use their software, it's quite simple.