Support for Windows XP ended April 8, 2014
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After 12 years, support for Windows XP ended 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 ended 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.
How do I migrate off Windows XP?
This serves as an opportunity for us to use the opensource platform that we have been recommending like Ubuntu and many others. If anyone needs help they can contact DICTS by sending mail to helpme@dicts.mak.ac.ug.
The open source software is available and can be installed at anytime within the working hours.
A back up of your computer and your working and personal documents is done and this is put back after the upgrade to Ubuntu is done.
Potential risks of staying with Windows XP
Running Windows XP SP3 in your environment after April 8, 2014 may expose you to potential risks, such as:
Security:
Without critical Windows XP security updates, your PC may become vulnerable to harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software which can steal or damage your business data and information. Anti-virus software will also not be able to fully protect you once Windows XP itself is unsupported.
Compliance:
Businesses that are governed by regulatory obligations such may find that they are no longer able to satisfy compliance requirements. This may not apply to us as Makerere but an audit can be done at a certain point and they find most of the computers using their products which are also highly pirated.
Lack of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Support:
Many software vendors will no longer support their products running on Windows XP as they are unable to receive Windows XP updates. For example, the new Office takes advantage of the modern Windows and will not run on Windows XP.
Hardware Manufacturer support:
Most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting Windows XP on existing and new hardware. This will also mean that drivers required to run Windows XP on new hardware may not be available.