Will XP’s End of Life Affect Your Business

What’s this I hear about XP is dead?

Microsoft has finally confirmed the official end of life for Windows XP. They will no longer be putting out any security patch updates as of April 2014 – which means that any XP machines will not be security protected. Any support needed for XP machines will no longer be offered by Microsoft.

So what?

If you still have XP computers, the impact is much, much larger than you expect.

• No more security patches: this will leave your computer susceptible to virus and external attacks. I can confirm that I’ve already seen competitions forming in the dark nets on who will be the first to attack unprotected XP.
• Many software vendors are also taking the opportunity to stop supporting older versions of their software: so you’ll need to buy new software – and that could mean a learning curve as well as extensive data conversions.
• When you migrate to a new operating system, will it even run on your older hardware? How well will it work? Is it better to spend money to upgrade or buy new hardware?
• If you do buy a new computer, the computer will come with Windows 8 – will your programs run on Windows 8, or will you have to spend hundreds more to buy copies of Windows 7 and then reinstall a new operating system?
• Many XP-version programs just will not work with Windows 7 or 8.

What can I do?

You need to get to work! Advanced planning, collaborating with your software and hardware vendors and pre-testing a solution now will save thousands of dollars in the future. Don’t wait and have to make crisis-mode decisions… just to keep the computers doing what they did before.

Oh, and of course, this reminder from our sponsor (me): 30+ years of experience will make this transition easy. 

Contact me before there’s a line.