The End of Windows XP

Microsoft has announced that from the 8^th of April 2014 windows xp will no longer be supported and is officially obsolete. Microsoft is also ending support for Office 2003 on that date. This article outlines what steps you may need to take if your computer is currently running XP and also what impact the end of XP support may have on your system. You can read what Microsoft has to say by visiting Visit http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/endofsupport.aspx

.

Steps You Need To Do Before April 8th

Audit Your PC

If you are running a small business on your xp computer you should audit the machine to see what programs, other than Microsoft office, you are using. Payroll, accounting packages, anti-virus packages, etc will all be impacted by the end of support from Microsoft.  Once you have a list then you should contact the suppliers to see if they will continue to support the software on xp after April. If they are not you’ll need to decide if you can continue without support and updates from them after that date. Bear in mind that many accounting and payroll packages require updating each year after the budget.

Decide Your Response

Based on the results of your audit you’ll need to decide to either maintain your xp computer or purchase a replacement.

Maintaining Your XP System

There are a number of solutions available if you need to continue to run xp applications after April. All of the solutions I have looked at require technical assistance and should not be attempted by non qualified personnel.

In the industry the primary fear is that once Microsoft stops providing support and updates the hackers and virus writers will search for any remaining weak spots in XP and use them to attack xp computers. This is a real threat and is not to be taken likely and without the correct solution there is a real chance your xp machine will be compromised.

Browsers and Java.

Many of you will be users of Java for online banking and Revenue on line. If Sun decides to stop providing updates for Java on xp you will be unable to use these sites. Likewise if sites such as your online banking require you to have a version of internet explorer greater than version 8 you will not be able to use these sites.

Replacing Your XP Computer

Next month I’ll deal with the issue of replacing your xp computer before the April deadline.