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from the we-need-to-get-them-to-buy-the-new-version dept.
Windows XP holdouts are even more danger than ever after Microsoft abandoned anti-malware support for the ancient platform.
Redmond overnight stopped providing XP support for new and existing installs of its Security Essentials package.
The run-as-needed Malicious Software Removal Tool has also been axed, while support for patching ended in April last year for those who aren't paying large wads of cash to stave off an upgrade.
"Please note that since the above real-time protection products have limited effectiveness on PCs that do not have the latest security updates, your PC will still be at risk for infection," Redmond says.
"We strongly recommend that you complete your migration to a supported operating system as soon as possible so that you can receive regular security updates to help protect your computer from malicious attacks."
Netmarketshare.com data shows XP is alive and kicking
Windows XP's market share still beats its loathed successor Windows Vista, MacOS and Linux on the desktop.
The operating has a 12 percent market share or 180 million users, according to netmarketshare.com , putting it in third spot just behind version 8.1 representing 13 percent of installs, and version 7 with a whopping 61 percent of installs.
Are you still running Windows XP? What about your company?
Original Submission
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @01:34PM
an unsupported OS so long? Crazy stuff.
(Score: 2) by ngarrang on Thursday July 16 2015, @01:49PM
Two levels of "unsupported" going in here. There is the issue of the OS itself no longer receiving security and bug fixes. Then there is the issue of software developers no longer supporting the OS. The OS does not magically stop working just because Microsoft stops releasing fixes, so as you can see, people kept going with XP and their existing software. When you really get people to upgrade is when the useful software they need will no longer install.
At my company, we established a policy that XP machines were no longer allowed to access the internet. Period. Same thing for the one remaining Windows 98 box running its one special legacy application.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @04:04PM
Only your first unsupported has an intuitive definition. Air gap didn't help the folks at Natanz. I would recommend your company does some research on virtual machines or even emulators.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday July 16 2015, @09:31PM
If air gap didn't work why would you think VMs would?
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @04:13PM
Then there's the Apple iPad first generation. Obsoleted to the point that functioning programs stop working when a mandatory upgrade is not compatible. No, it's not that the old version can't be upgraded - the old version stops working at all!
I've got a roughly 5 year old iPad that is losing software, can't install updates and crashes frequently. Safari, which crashes at least once a day, can no longer play videos, since everyone has moved on and Apple has decreed that not only do they not support the old hardware, they block app makers from supporting old version properly.
I will never buy another Apple product. Overpriced obsolescence is not a business plan (for the buyer).
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday July 16 2015, @10:09PM
With an attitude like that, you're obviously not the kind of person that Apple wants as a customer.