Windows XP support shutdown countdown begins
According to Microsoft reps, speaking at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference keynote in Los Angeles this week and writing on the Windows team blog, Windows XP's upcoming end-of-life means that some 200 million PCs will need upgrading or replacing.
XP was removed from retail channels three years ago. It remained available through OEM channels rather longer though, and is still available as a 'downgrade' from Windows 7 for users unwilling to migrate to the newer version. However, Microsoft says it will stop providing security fixes, updates and online tech support for the 10 year-old operating system on 8 April 2014.
For those determined to stay with Windows, the length of time needed to do large roll-outs means that the deathknell – even though it is almost three years away – is a call to action. In a Gartner report last year analysts Michael A Silver and Stephen Kleynhans suggested that organisations planning to deploy Windows 7 needed to get XP out well before support ends, ideally by 2012 and certainly by mid 2013.
