When Microsoft ended support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014, a lot of people were left wondering what would happen next. In this article, we’ll try to answer some of those questions and explain what the end of support means for you.
XP is an operating system that was designed to run new software and provide compatibility mode for old applications. However, it lacks many of the features found in the newest versions of Windows.
It’s EOL
After more than a decade, Microsoft has officially ended support for windows xp. This means that anyone running the older operating system no longer receives security patches or updates from Microsoft.
As a result, there are many vulnerabilities that have not been patched that can be exploited by cyber criminals. If you are still running windows xp, you should start planning on upgrading your systems as soon as possible.
If you’re not sure how to do this, check out our blog post How to migrate to a new Windows OS. It has a number of useful tips and tricks to help you get started.
It’s Not Secure
Windows XP was the first version of Microsoft’s operating system to receive widespread criticism for its security vulnerabilities. These include buffer overrun errors, which can be exploited by hackers to take control of the machine.
Viruses and worms are also common. These are programs that infect computer systems by attaching themselves to e-mail messages.
In order to protect users from these worms, Windows XP includes a built-in anti-virus feature that blocks infections by known viruses and worms. In addition, it has a tool called Attachment Execution Service which prevents a user from running files he or she downloaded through Internet Explorer without verifying their origin.
For many business and academic computer users, the threat of cyber-attacks has driven them to keep windows XP installed on their machines. However, after April 8, 2014, the operating system will no longer receive any security updates and thus must be upgraded to a newer version of Windows.
It’s Slow
One of the biggest problems people have with Windows XP is that it is quite slow. This is a problem that can affect many aspects of your computer, including startup and shutdown time, performance on applications and the internet, and response times when using text editors.
Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to make your Windows XP PC run faster. The first is to defragment your hard drive regularly for better performance.
You can also optimize the size of your pagefile, which helps your system to find files faster when they’re needed. Another way to speed up your PC is to disable the “Automatically search for network folders and printers” option in Windows Explorer.
Finally, you should consider uninstalling programs that you haven’t used in a while. These programs take up valuable hard drive space, and they can slow down your computer.
It’s Expensive
The first version of Windows XP launched in 2001 at a time when Microsoft was enjoying its most successful years ever, with a thriving personal computer market and a lead over Netscape in the browser wars. It was the spiffiest OS yet, with a brighter graphical user interface, better performance on many systems, and easier networking.
But it was also a big jump from previous versions of the software, and it introduced new features that many users found annoying, such as product activation. Even so, XP remains the dominant OS in the market and is still used by millions of consumers worldwide.
To upgrade a new PC to XP Professional, Dell charges $159 with a Dimension B110, $149 from a XPS 700 or a Dimension 1100/3100/5150, and $79 for Sony’s Vaio VGN-SZ240 and Toshiba’s Satellite U200. That makes for a rather startling gap between the price you pay when you buy a new PC with a pre-installed copy of Windows and what you’ll have to spend to add the same software.