Windows XP Needs To Die

There I said it. The faster the better. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First off, this operating system was developed circa 1999-2000. Back then we had a completely different computing landscape that we have today. Dial up was still the most used method of accessing the Internet, computer viruses and other forms of malware were still spread via e-mails, and our computing needs were lesser than what they are today.


Today, high speed internet is everywhere, and only getting faster, and malware can come from any direction at any time. And Windows XP has shown time and time again how vulnerable it is to various forms of malware.
By default, the default user profile has full rights to the underlying system, meaning anything can go wrong if something comes in off the Internet on to your system without you knowing. We call them drive by downloads. The newer Windows Vista, and Windows 7, however by default, do not receive those same rights, further securing the system.

Secondly, as I had said before, XP was designed and released over 9 years ago, by tech standards, XP is a Trilobite compared with Vista and 7. Microsoft has been very generous in extending the life of XP, long term support ends in April 2014. But today, that seems to have changed. Despite the sixty some percent market share XP still holds was still not enough for Microsoft to support it with their upcoming release of IE9. Yet, that still seems to have upset quite a few folks who just won't let go. Why? This is 2010, not 2001 anymore. You should be, as an CIO or IT worker, be planning to upgrade withing the next year or two. DON'T WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE! If you are still seriously running XP in the workplace, then you get no sympathy from me at all.

Lastly, newer advancements in technology just won't work anymore with it. Don't like that? Tough. UPGRADE. XP isn't going to be around much longer, and it's share drops considerably month to month. It won't be long til 3rd party drops support, now that Microsoft has. It's about damn time.

There are many more reasons I could go on with as to why XP is obsolete in today's landscape, but I won't. The bottom line is that you need to start upgrade plans, if you haven't already done so or already upgraded. Today's hardware and operating systems are quite capable of carrying the weight that you need them to. Businesses need to quit living in the past.