Microsoft warns the end is near for Windows XP

In just one year, on April 8, 2014, Microsoft will stop delivering security updates for Windows XP, the second most popular operating system in the world. Microsoft issued several blog posts Monday urging businesses to get out before it was too late. You should take action to move off of Windows XP, Microsoft said Monday. After April 8, 2014, there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content updates. Most XP support for regular consumers ended in 2009, although security updates continue to roll in. But not for long. If you continue to run Windows XP on your PC, Microsoft says youre on your own in just under a year. You can probably keep XP going with a good anti-virus package, but that will only protect you from known threats.

Microsoft Quietly Fixes Windows XP Resource Hog Problem

Microsoft indicated this week that it has fixed a Windows XP resource-hog problem associated with the system's SVCHOST.EXE processes. Windows XP users affected by this problem typically found that the operating system was using up system resources for 15 minutes to an hour after startup, making it difficult to use the machine during that period. The Microsoft Update team had vowed last month to spend the holiday break tackling the issue, which has plagued some users for years. The fix involved stopping the system from perpetually checking Internet Explorer updates. Microsoft indicated that the fix was rolled out on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Microsoft depreciated [sic] legacy security updates for Internet Explorer that had been replaced by more recent ones. We did this to improve customer experience, reducing the time Windows Update requires to check existing updates before installing new ones. This action was purely to improve update performance and does not affect customer security. - Dustin Childs, group manager, Microsoft Trustworthy Computing Microsoft did not announce the fix broadly. Instead, it released the above statement to Susan Bradley, a Microsoft MVP and moderator of the PatchManagement.org list-serve service, which is a discussion group for IT pros. Apparently, that's the only venue where the statement appeared publicly. Microsoft's January security bulletin announcing four patches and nonsecurity releases did not mention the SVCHOST fix for Windows XP. Microsoft's fix took effect on Tuesday. It apparently stops systems from grinding through older Internet Explorer updates before releasing system resources. The fix also seems not to require any actions by Windows XP users or IT pros to take effect. Of course, Windows XP users still face the broader problem of the operating system falling out of product lifecycle support by Microsoft. On April 8, 2014, Microsoft won't issue updates to the 12-year-old OS at all.

What is end of support?

After 12 years, support for Windows XP will end on April 8, 2014. There will be no more security updates or technical support for the Windows XP operating system. It is very important that customers and partners migrate to a modern operating system such as Windows 8.1. Customers moving to a modern operating system will benefit from dramatically enhanced security, broad device choice for a mobile workforce, higher user productivity, and a lower total cost of ownership through improved management capabilities. Support for Office 2003 also ends on April 8, 2014.

What does this mean?

It means you should take action. After April 8, 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or technical support for Windows XP. Security updates patch vulnerabilities that may be exploited by malware and help keep users and their data safer. PCs running Windows XP after April 8, 2014, should not be considered to be protected, and it is important that you migrate to a current supported operating system such as Windows 8.1 so you can receive regular security updates to protect their computer from malicious attacks. Read the Windows lifecycle fact sheet to learn more.