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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, @10:12PM
I work in a TV station, that's attached to a medium-sized newspaper service.
The guy who owns it believes that, when you buy a computer, it's like buying a printing press: parts wear out and you replace them, but that's it. A computer works forever. As such, we have about 2000 odd computers and servers, the bulk of which still run Windows XP. It actually does most of what we need, there have been a couple of computers upgraded to either Vista or 7 (can't recall which) because some of the more modern software won't run on anything older.
The odds of them upgrading to anything beyond XP for the bulk of users? Virtually zero, until the entire network gets pwned by some nasty exploit - I'm looking forward to that happening, I want to see the IT manager try and explain that.
We had a Windows 95 machine until the hardware cooked itself a few years ago.
We still have an NT4 machine running - and it's not even a fucking server, it's just a single-task computer.
The entire network is a bit slap-dash, there's no real design. The cabling just lays around on the floor, being walked on and getting damaged. When it gets damaged, the IT guys spare no effort in doing nothing about it. When there are computer problems, if they find a hack that's a lot more awkward, it's up to us to work with it.
Nothing in the place is as it should be, and patches only get applied in one lump without being tested. If they break something? That's the user's fault.