Still running Windows XP? You have less than a year to upgrade

In 364 days, Microsoft will shut down all support for Windows XP.

The Redmond-based tech giant yesterday published an official blog post explaining that it would stop support for the operating system in exactly one year.

The post also acts as a kind of eulogy for the OS, which was first launched in 2001. “It’s no question that Windows XP was an outstanding operating system to meet the needs of customers more than a decade ago,” Microsoft says.

But 12 years on, technology has changed, along with what people require from it. “Modern businesses now have an increasing need to protect their data and ensure security, compliance and manageability. Meanwhile, modern users demand technologies that fit their personal work style and allow them to stay productive anytime, anywhere on a variety of devices,” it says.

There’s nothing malicious in the decision to halt support for the OS. It just means that it has come to the end of its support cycle, as per the policy Microsoft set out in 2002. Per this policy, says the company “Microsoft Business and Developer products – including Windows and Office products – receive a minimum of 10 years of support (five years Mainstream Support and five years Extended Support), at the supported service pack level”.

Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 will go out of support on 8 April 2014. As of then, there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates.

The scary part comes for businesses that have not migrated over to newer versions of Windows. “If your organization has not started the migration to a modern desktop”, says Microsoft’s Stephen L Rose, “you are late”.

According to Microsoft, the average enterprise deployment of Windows can take 18 to 32 months. You don’t need to be numbers genius to work out that businesses still running XP are seriously short on time.

It’s also interesting to note that Microsoft’s extending its efforts at pushing its touch devices to its support blogs. Take a gander at this passage:

And as businesses plan to purchase new devices as part of their Windows XP migration process, they should consider user scenarios where their company will benefit from having employees use touch devices — whether it is tablets, laptops with touch capabilities, all-in-ones, or other innovative devices.

Image: Vibrant Spirit