If you are a small business owner who still is using Windows XP for your computers, you are now officially taking a big risk.
Microsoft released its last security update April 8 and officially stopped support for the 13-year-old operating system April 9. Can't say you weren't warned. Microsoft has been warning this day would come for a couple of years now.
What this means is that there will be no more customer support and no more security updates, which will leave these operating systems more vulnerable to malware and other computer virus infections and breaches.
It's a terrible injustice, I know: Microsoft allows XP to die but allows Windows 8 to live.
Don't get me started on Windows 8. I have learned to live with it, but I really hate it. I had to bite my tongue while interviewing Janet Kennedy, the new president of Microsoft Canada, who was in Vancouver April 9. She's very personable, by the way, and seems to be genuinely happy to be in Canada. Stay tuned – I hope to profile her soon.
Kennedy was in town talking to school officials about various programs Microsoft has for schools. I resisted asking her about Windows 8. She wasn't responsible for the new operating system, which I understand is great as a tablet OS, but which is an abomination as a desktop operating system.
I did ask her about XP, however. She said she could not share with me just how many people are still using the 13-year-old operating system. According to Net Market Share, however, 30% of the PCs out there are still running on XP.
Why would Microsoft would put that many users at risk by ending its support for the system? Is it a cynical attempt to bolster sales of Windows 8? Kennedy insists that, in the long run, it is the best way for Microsoft to protect its customers.
"The most secure software is in Windows 7 and Windows 8, so the best way we can protect customers is to get them off the older code," Kennedy said.
That may be true, but I wonder to what extent the attempt to get people on Windows 8 may backfire.
Forced to upgrade, how many consumers and small business owners will read all the negative reviews of Windows 8 and start looking around for something else? And there is an alternative.
I have read that downloads of Ubuntu, a Linux-based operating system, has soared in popularity, thanks to Windows 8's unpopularity.
Ubuntu is free, and small businesses that may have several PCs to update may well decide to save themselves some money and make the switch.
Whatever you decide, if you are still using XP, decide soon. Because you can bet that, at this very moment, hackers the world over are busy writing malicious code to exploit Windows XP.
