Windows XP Losing More Users on a Daily Basis

[bwop]

The last updates are in April, so theoretically, XP is safe that month. May will be the first month without updates. Knowing Microsoft, they will release a major update in May that will badly expose XP.

April 8 is Patch Tuesday, which still leaves the rest of the month. So I don't see how even theoretically XP is safe for the entire month of April.

As for your last sentence, I couldn't make heads nor trails of it. You mean to say Microsoft will surreptitiously release one final update in May that somehow no-one will come to know about and which will make XP completely vulnerable, thus forcing people to upgrade? If so then without doubt that has to be one of the biggest loads of conspiracy theory nonsense I have ever heard.

If they release patches on April 8th, that should mean XP is safe for that month, at least for known issues. When the new updates come out in May for the other versions of Windows, people will check XP to see if those vulnerabilities exist in XP, and if they do, they will most definitely be exploited. Hence, May is really the starting point for when using XP will be riskier than it already is.

As for my last sentence, what I'm saying is that Microsoft will most certainly very early on in the post XP era release a serious or critical update in Vista/7/8 that will expose a bad vulnerability in XP.

Understand?

[jackieo]

XP guys - ( I Love XP) Just have a good Image - Backup plan - Such as Acronis Home ( instant restore) or like O&O Image - or one of those Freeze programs - and you'll be fine, i use Acronis, and if my system becomes really stupid, i can be back up and running in 10 mins...so all this fear of XP becoming Vulnerable is a non issue ( to me anyway) as long as you have a good firewall and security plan...i cant speak for cryptolock tho..thats dastardly... time will tell the story and im sure they wil scare us of horror stories about this and that virus/trojan/attack that swept the globe taking MILLIONS OF xp BOXES AS ZOMBIES !! ( WE WILL SEE )

good to have multiple backups - Iso Images - of your C drive / operating system (O&O is a good one) as well

Edited November 27, 2013 by jackieo

[janedoe]

If they release patches on April 8th, that should mean XP is safe for that month, at least for known issues. When the new updates come out in May for the other versions of Windows, people will check XP to see if those vulnerabilities exist in XP, and if they do, they will most definitely be exploited. Hence, May is really the starting point for when using XP will be riskier than it already is.

As for my last sentence, what I'm saying is that Microsoft will most certainly very early on in the post XP era release a serious or critical update in Vista/7/8 that will expose a bad vulnerability in XP.

Yeah, but there's no reason that newly discovered or unpatched zero-day vulnerabilities can't be exploited immediately after April 8, instead of waiting till May. Anyway no point quibbling over theoretical matters such as how soon XP will be attacked after end of support. April or May, makes no difference really.

Will Microsoft find and patch vulnerabilities in Vista/7/8 that will go unpatched for XP? I'm sure this is bound to happen eventually. But you seem to be insinuating that they already know of such vulnerabilities and are biding their time doing nothing before deliberately unleashing hell on XP soon after end of support to scare the hangers-on and motivate them to upgrade. That is nothing more than unsubstantiated FUD and most certainly falls into the realm of conspiracy theories.

Edited November 28, 2013 by janedoe

[STEEL]

Man I love :wub: the Drama :lol: :P

I will only :chit: Myself if Anydvd drops their Support :rolleyes:

Edited November 30, 2013 by STEEL

[geeteam]

yewh

[demoneye]

XP is a great os as Microsoft is a bad company .

[Zigen]

Rofl many government organisations still using windows XP. Looks like they don't believe M$

[cyberber]

tough luck it should have been buried for a long time just because there cheap government organizations and individuals who do not care to renew there hardware and software doesn't mean its good.

[varakiro]

Have used it for a dozen years without a hitch.

Now I will have to upgrade to Windows 8 which looks like a stupid Apple OS with it's fancy tiles and no start menu.

All that is needed was kernel updates to make it more virus proof, instead we have new version(s) because they need to make more money.

So what's stopping you from continuing to use it? If you're not that worried about new unpatched vulnerabilities who's forcing you to move to Windows 8? Plus if you do have to upgrade why can't you move to Windows 7 instead? Or, here's a novel idea, move to Windows 8 to take advantage of its improvements (such as hybrid boot etc.), but get rid of Metro (chief source of your complaint) using one of the many free or paid apps. Regarding your last sentence, you do know that's how all for-profit companies function, right? Capitalism, take it or leave it.

[janedoe]

Have you ever heard of consumer protection? or does that sound like a communist idea to you.

I'm all for consumer protection, but how does that apply here? They've supported the OS for 13 years, which is far, far longer than any other company has ever supported an OS. They have extended the support period voluntarily for the OS beyond what was initially promised to customers when they bought it. It's all very nice to invoke the consumer protection bogey, but if that was applicable here there's no way Microsoft could have legally even contemplated this without having yet another huge fine slapped on them.

Anyway, actions speak louder than words, so if you truly believe your own claims that this move has violated tough consumer protection laws, why don't you go ahead and file a suit against Microsoft in a consumer court? I'd love to see how fast a litigant attempting this would be laughed out (besides of course being warned for making frivolous claims).

[LeeSmithG]

Windows 7 Professional x64 will be my Windows XP.

[shasi]

yes its true

[MidnightDistortions]

As far as i know Ransomware is the only recent thing that has really compromised Windows systems. Microsoft is just trying to cover their bases. Though i am pretty sure that even W8 has some holes in it but they probably have people trying to hack into it just so they can put up a patch. I don't think security on XP is as bad as MS says it is. A fully secure OS could easily be hacked into, but it's whether or not there is someone out there who wants to do damage. So much as the end support date on XP is really a day marked for hackers to have a field day with it i doubt it would be right away or within a few months of losing security updates. Sure the holes may be exploited but that doesn't mean your system is going to be hacked into unless you have some scary government secrets or keep yourself logged into your bank account long enough. More realistically i think XP will be severely compromised a year or so if hackers decide to wreak havoc then that's when XP users will run into trouble.

Needless to say a few months or a few years it's not going to matter when they can get in... it's just that you are more exposed then before and it's just a risk. Doesn't necessarily mean it will or won't happen for whatever reason. It's pretty much the same as having a car with no lock on the door. Lack of security but whether someone is around to just take anything in the car or take the car itself is really up to fate. Your better off having a lock on the door so it deters people from just waltzing right into it. The same is for XP. The locks are going to be pried open and whether or not your at risk depends on what your doing on that system and what the hackers intentions are.