Extended support for Windows XP is finally coming to an end. Exactly one year from today, Microsoft is pulling the life support plug. What’s this mean to you? If you want to stay secure and up to date, you need to upgrade to a newer version of Windows. For some, that’s as easy as buying an upgrade. For others, this comes by upgrading your whole machine and getting the OS bundled with it. Either way, it’s time to move on.

What does End of Support mean to customers?

Simply, it means you should take action to move off of Windows XP. 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. 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: Back in 2011, many independent software vendors (ISVs) were already unlikely to support new versions of applications on Windows XP.