In yet another valiant effort to get people off Windows XP and onto Windows 7, Microsoft is finally ending its “extended support” for the decade-old PC operating system. Unlike Apple, however, when Microsoft puts its foot down, it gives users 1,000 days to get out of the way. The company won’t officially stop supporting XP until April 8, 2014–a year and a half after Windows 8 is expected to roll out. The company will not issue any security patches after this date.
While there are plenty of home users still running XP, Microsoft’s big concern is the large number of businesses that haven’t yet upgraded to Windows 7. Despite its lenient timeline, the Redmond giant is so desperate to get people off XP that it now routinely insults the OS, posting up an entire video called “Is Windows XP Good Enough? Really?” which we’ve embedded below.
To scare those concerned with the bottom line, Microsoft quotes a Gartner report as well, which indicates that “more than 50 [percent] of organizations that do not start deploying Windows 7 by early 2012 will not complete their deployments before Windows XP support ends, and will incur increased support costs.”
How did we get here?
So why are people still running XP, a platform that was released in 2001? There are a number of reasons, beginning with how bad a reputation Windows Vista gained when it launched in late 2006. Another may be the lack of overall change in the design of Windows over the years. To many, XP may look like it is current enough to do the trick and businesses know that compatibility with older programs is not an issue. Until the smartphone and tablet revolution began a few years ago, the evolution of PCs seemed to be moving at a snails pace.
In any case, Microsoft is beginning to get desperate. Earlier this year it refused to support XP with the release of Internet Explorer 9. You can bet further measures are being taken. Apple, meanwhile, does not support its 2005 OS X “Tiger,” will soon end Security Updates for its 2007 “Leopard” OS, and will likely end full support for its 2009 “Snow Leopard” when OS X “Lion” hits shelves shortly.
Is this the beginning of a less lenient Microsoft? We’re not so sure. The company has already somewhat encouraged businesses to run Windows 7 after the release of Windows 8, saying that the two operating systems will be fully compatible.
Seriously give us something that's not bloated and has features that users actually want. Of course, there's always linux :)
Lollll! That's why Linux has only 1% of market share after all these years. And Windows 7 is selling like hot cakes. Linux is useless crap. Windows 7 is beautiful, productive and amazing.
I disagree with a lot of that but your opinion matches your namesake so I won't get pulled into a flame war. Windows 7 is a nice system but there's no arguing that it is a bit heavy on older systems. Being a developer i've found linux quite useful but being a gamer also i've found plenty of uses for windows as well. Different strokes.
What do you mean by old systems? Windows 7 runs perfectly fine on 1 GB RAM and Intel Atom processor — much faster than XP. And which features are absent in Windows 7? Absolutely none.
Wow, people still uses "old system" that can't run window 7?
Might as well dig out the 486 or even 386 and run it on DOS or window 3.1 and get happy with it.
do you get paid by microsoft to say such great things about windows 7? you almost sound emotionally invested…
If you want to get technical, Android is a modified version of Linux and it's taking off quite quickly. This is part of the reason Microsoft is attacking Android manufacturers with lawsuits.
Maybe a better idea would me for Microsoft to kill support for Windows Vista and work on patches for DX10 support (among other things) for Windows XP.
I’ve got some older machines (both laptops and desktops) that are updated to the brim – putting 7 on them would take them to a grinding halt but they work flawlessly with XP.
Microsoft has been begging using to leave for years. Until they come out with a good OS, you might as well stay with the old one!
XP is dead and buried outside of China. Period. Windows 7 is the fastest selling OS in the history of computing. It has sold 400 million copies within 20 months. Windows 7 is the SINGLE most used OS in USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, the rest of Europe, Australia and ALL developed countries of the world. For example, in the US, Windows 7 has 42% usage share, while XP has only 28%. XP is a pathetic, fugly, insecure, unproductive and completely unusable OS. That's why NOBODY but the Chinese pirates use XP anymore.
your Idea about XP is wrong
I can;t believe a huge Company Like Microsoft is telling people to stop using their products ,,, Business ,Hospitals Stores and lots of other places like gas stations use windows XP if Microsoft stops helping them then Microsoft is no Good to anyone.
If they stop helping people that need there help ,the people that have been being helped with there problems with XP will no longer buy there products. thats the way i look at it looks like Apple will soon be the ig computer seller in the Usa and most other places also.
Meant to say users not "using"
Microsoft begs for more money?.. Just leave the good stuff alone… To get XP
Maybe a better idea would me for Microsoft to kill support for Windows Vista and work on patches for DX10 support (among other things) for Windows XP.
I’ve got some older machines (both laptops and desktops) that are updated to the brim – putting 7 on them would take them to a grinding halt but they work flawlessly with XP.
I think Microsoft has combined the best of XP and Vista into Windows 7, with tight integration of the browser
into the OS. That is why it is the fastest using the Internet I’ve used so far, and relatively more secure.
Windows 8 looks like it’s going to be a real bomb except for tablets. I can make Windows 7 look and act
like XP without the XP compatibility pack download and resulting security issues. There are compatibility
issues for x64 versions and legacy software, but that will change over time. Windows 7 will be around for a
very long time to come. It is a resource hog though. The OS requires 4 Gb RAM to start with, and 30Gb
HDD space. I use 8Gb RAM on an Intel DH55HC LGA1156 w/Core i5-650 CPU. Very fast system with the
Enterprise x64 Edition of Windows 7 and WD3000HFLS @10k RPM.
hhh why if people like winxp
I run XP on my Laptop I’m 13 i can’t get a high end laptop
I can;t believe a huge Company Like Microsoft is telling people to stop using their products ,,, Business ,Hospitals Stores and lots of other places like gas stations use windows XP if Microsoft stops helping them then Microsoft is no Good to anyone. think about what you have in plans before you do that. Do not stop helping people that need your help they will all stop using your products.
They are telling people – no more like forcing people – to stop using their older products because it is costing Microsoft money (to support it), not making the company money.
Can’t view the anti-XP video because it’s for Silverlight. I really just don’t install Silverlight because I’m being bull-headed, but if they want to convince Luddites to upgrade to newer OSes, they might consider posting their videos in a format supported on the older OS natively.
My old XP wouldn’t run Vista, 7 or 8, it’s only got a P4 and 2GB of RAM.
It is hard to compared Apple and Microsoft, with Apple you can purchase a copy of the OS and as long as the Hardware supports it you can roll it to all your computers, with MS because of the product activation you need to purchase the os for each computers, the real reason people are still getting their money worth out of xp is the cost, who wants to purchase a new OS for $199 or more, their value when you buy the computer, but to purchase the OS alone seems is seen as a waste, look at the computers plus OS for sub $500, and look at the cost of the OS alone a single license of $199 and up for ultimate, people do not see value, they feel ripped off. This is why people will throw away a table and buy a new one, the feeling of new features and value when it is bundled along with the hardware.
talking about loyalty and the quality product ………..
It’s over. I was a major fan of XP but Win7 is so much better.
@Mario yea true if we have WinXP then Win7 will run. But as Chris above said, theres the clean install and the money needed for such an upgrade.
If win xp run on your laptop, Win 7 will run as well.
Being a Professor in a reputed college, I don't see much need of shifting from XP to 7/8. XP does all the work fine as far as programming is considered.
what’s the hurt to keep it running, it’s not like they’re providing servers or something and it’s using resources of there own to keep WinXP shit running…
A second thought: Is Windows 7 THAT much better than Windows XP SP3? In some regards, yes but not that many. Touching on Dan’s point, people don’t want to shell out $100 dollars to upgrade their system, not to mention the need for an external HDD so they can back up all their files – you can’t upgrade XP to 7 without doing a clean install.
Apple will love this. More than 50% of Microsoft installed OS base is on XP and the “upgrade” to Win 7 process requires a complete scrubbing down to “parade rest”. If we are going to that much effort, Apple becomes a logical optin, even with the “Apple Tax”.
Going to take even further price markdowns, not begging, to help that along. Even then, some people just aren’t going to switch.