11 Feb Windows XP, swan song…

We’re Ending Support for Windows XP

Dear SOS customers:

This is the year that will end support for Microsoft Windows XP.  For everyone this will mean that there will no longer be any security updates for Windows XP. Microsoft has this to share about the situation:

“Running Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 in your environment after their end of support date may expose your company to potential risks, such as:

• Security & Compliance Risks: Unsupported and unpatched environments are vulnerable to security risks. This may result in an officially recognized control failure by an internal or external audit body, leading to suspension of certifications, and/or public notification of the organization’s inability to maintain its systems and customer information.
• Lack of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) & Hardware Manufacturers support: A recent industry report from Gartner Research suggests “many independent software vendors (ISVs) are unlikely to support new versions of applications on Windows XP in 2011; in 2012, it will become common.” And it may stifle access to hardware innovation: Gartner Research further notes that in 2012, most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting Windows XP on the majority of their new PC models.”

 For those of you in the medical field, this has very special significance.  This means that Windows XP will not be HIPPA compliant starting on April 8. 2014.  No support doesn’t just mean that updates will stop coming, it means that Microsoft will no longer support the operating system, they will not continue to build drivers for the system, leaving you behind.

Windows XP has been around since August 1, 2001.  That means that this piece of software has been around for 13 years, which is an eternity in the life of software, but also a testament to what a great operating system it was.  Things in the computer industry double in speed every 2 years.  That means that the industry has doubled its speed and capabilities 6 times, and the operating system has not evolved much at all.

That is why Microsoft has released 3 new operating systems since the inception of Windows XP.  We had windows Vista (which is a big reason why XP lasted so long), Windows 7, (the best operating system that Microsoft has released, probably ever) and Windows 8 (windows 8 is really a bad operating system, which is why Microsoft released windows 8,1 which is a HUGE improvement over its predecessor, once you get rid of the dumb start screen.

Over the next few months you are going to have to make some tough choices with how you want to update your office or home to be safe on the internet, and to increase your productivity.  We want to be able to help advise you on that transition.

We would be happy to come out to your location and evaluate the systems you have so that we can recommend upgrades for systems to get them running Windows 7, which is what we believe will be the best course of action (also the least expensive) for most of your systems, but in the cases where Windows 7 just won’t run well on an existing system we may recommend a replacement.

Give us a call to schedule a time for us to come to your office and evaluate all of your XP machines! 801-563-9700.

ndr