GOODBYE XP.
“If
you are only acting now, you are pretty late” Michael Silver.
Tested
and trusted as more or less, the most
stable operating system since the advent of Personal Computers, XP
is finally going out of style in style. As of Tuesday, 8th April
2014, Microsoft has withdrawn all support for the rugged operating system and
its flagship Microsoft Office 2003 suite.
XP
(for
experience) went on sale in October 2001 and has remarkably proved
resilient. Figures from market research firm Net Applications suggest that it
was the most widely used Microsoft operating system until August 2012 when it
was overtaken by 7. The software is still popular in many government
departments and some studies suggest that majority of the world’s cash machines
(ATM’s) still run it. This is due to
Microsoft’s commitment to provide continous support for it, delay in release of
latter versions of , and the hardwork it takes for companies to effectively
transfer to newer versions.
Despite
advanced notice of the decision, XP is
still used on almost a third of all personal computers worldwide. Microsoft, it
seems, is going to be haunted by XP for a long time to come.
Though
angry users might berate Microsoft for discontinuing the product especially
when it is one of their most used products, the code under-pinning XP is
starting to become outdated and more difficult to operate, maintain and patch
in today’s world of hi-speed hardware and mobile-computing and cloud storage.
The truth is that once security updates stop, anyone still using XP will be a
tempting target for hi-tech thieves. Though a lot
of anti-virus companies have pledged to continue to make their Antivirus
softwares formidable against XP viruses, none can fill the gap that will
be left by Microsoft’s security updates and patches.
What makes this
issue more fatal in Nigeria is the fact about 92% of XP PC’s in Nigeria are
running pirated copies of XP. Most, if
not all Nigerian government organizations and even Law agencies are also
included. In these days when almost everything you do has to do with the
internet, a very large percentage of Nigerians are left at risk of Viruses and
computer crashes which will most probably cause irrevocable destruction because
of the Supports withdrawal by Microsoft. A lot of BUSINESS CENTRES, CYBER-CAFES and GOVERNMENT OFFICES will
be at serious risk if proper steps are not taken now.
To
be on the safer side, the best thing to do now is to upgrade to 7 or 8. Though the
change might be stressful for business owners due to file transfers,
applications deployment and other
things, it is worth the time and the effort. As they say, prevention is better
than cure, don’t wait until the cyber-criminals begin their large scale attacks
and ruin your company’s computers for you. When I say large-scale attacks, they
could be starting right now as I am writing, just about 16 hours after
Microsoft has withdrawn its supports. Don’t waste time, Talk
To Your Computer Engineer or consultant now. If you are just acting
now, it is already too late, so, START NOW.
H.R. Mcmak
What do you think about it...help us get better.... leave your comments....
What do you think about it...help us get better.... leave your comments....
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