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"Microsoft: We're serious this time; XP's dead to us"


dcs18

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Microsoft today reminded customers still running Windows XP that they would not receive security updates from the Patch Tuesday slate shipped to newer operating systems, or for that matter, future fixes of any kind.

"With today's Update Tuesday, if you are still on Windows XP you will not receive any security or non-security updates through Windows Update or Microsoft Update," said Microsoft spokesman Brandon LeBlanc on a company blog. "Because support has ended for Windows XP, we are no longer releasing updates to the general public for Windows XP going forward."

LeBlanc's missive was little more than a reminder that Microsoft has absolutely, positively, no-ifs-ands-or-buts retired Windows XP. The firm has been pounding the XP-is-dead drum for years at varying beats.

Microsoft served XP with its last Patch Tuesday collection on April 8, making today's set the first sans security updates for the 13-year-old operating system.

LeBlanc also reiterated Microsoft's rationale for deviating from policy earlier this month when it issued a patch for a vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE); that update was delivered to Windows XP PCs, even though the warhorse was technically already put to pasture.

"We made the decision to extend the update to all Windows XP customers based on the proximity to the established end of support date of April 8 for Windows XP," LeBlanc said. "This was an exception, however; the Windows XP end of support policy still remains in place moving forward."

For Microsoft, "proximity" meant 23 days, the stretch between April 8, when XP retired, and May 1, when the firm pushed the emergency IE update to Windows XP-powered PCs. Thirty-five days, the span from April 8 to today, was, by Microsoft's definition, too long.

Finally, LeBlanc made yet another pitch to customers on XP to upgrade to a more modern version of Windows, specifically Windows 8.1. "We continue to encourage customers still on Windows XP to upgrade to a modern, more secure operating system like Windows 8.1," said LeBlanc.

The continued call to migrate to Windows 8.1, rather than something more familiar to XP owners, like Windows 7, was another example of Microsoft's flogging a dead horse. In February, LeBlanc urged technically-astute customers to help friends and family upgrade existing PCs to Windows 8.1 or assist them in buying a new computer running 8.1.

The very users LeBlanc addressed nearly unanimously hooted down his suggestions, saying they'd not do their part because of what they perceived as Windows 8's and 8.1's failings.

Although LeBlanc seemed firm on the no-more-patches-for-XP stance, experts have questioned the company's commitment. "If next month someone finds another zero-day like this one, Microsoft could just move the line again," said John Pescatore, director of emerging security trends at the SANS Institute, after Microsoft rushed the IE patch to XP users.

The root of Microsoft's problem with Windows XP is that the OS runs on hundreds of millions of PCs worldwide. According to metrics firm Net Applications, 26% of all personal computers relied on XP in April.

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Why don't kill vista instead?

AFAIK it's the worst OS crapsoft has made...

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The Internet/Microsoft is STILL talking about Windows XP, hahaha, it will never die.

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jilowjacob1990

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/171814-posready-2009-updates-ported-to-windows-xp-sp3-enu/?do=findComment&comment=1077785

The latest Patch tuesday updates have been easily ported to a Windows XP virtual system - fully updated until April 2014.

The constraints are entirely artificial. Porting is easy as 1-2-3:

1. Modify update.inf file and remove the

condition=CompositeOp,OrOp,Prereq.XPInstallEmbedded.Section line

from the Prerequisite section.

2. Use a patched update.exe version 6.3.13.0 or later to accept the modified update.inf file.

3. Compress to SFX EXE file. Delta compression optional.

I (harkaz) have already uploaded the files at RyanVM.net...

So Windows XP can have semi-official support until 2019!

Edited by jilowjacob1990
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Very impressive! Thank you, jilowjacob1990. Although I'm not going to bother, myself. I stopped installing XP updates after SP3, and have never had cause to regret it.

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I stopped installing updates to the SP3 way back in 2009, itself. In fact, even removed the piece of :shit: from my system - but, can't see what's to boast about that. :dunno:

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Legend never dies

XP is a living legend... but at last, it's going to die, sooner or later and then it'll be a legend

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