What does the end of Microsoft support for Windows XP really mean?

Windows XP is a popular computer operating system created by Microsoft. It was officially released for sale in October 2001. There are currently three newer versions of the Windows operating system; Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

With the release of Windows Vista in January of 2007, retail sale of Windows XP ended. Also, computer manufacturers phased out preinstalling Windows XP on their systems and began deploying Windows Vista with their systems. During this time, Microsoft still offered technical support for Windows XP (oftentimes for a fee, depending on the nature of the support required) as well as important security updates and bug fixes. Www.avg.com/retail

What is going to happen when Microsoft ends support for Windows XP?

Microsoft has officially announced that on April 8, 2014, all support and updates for Windows XP will end. The official announcement can be found here: https://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help

There are two major details that must be understood regarding what is going to happen on April 8th.

First, the company Microsoft is completely ceasing all technical assistance (free and fee based) for Windows XP. This means that if you have a computer with Windows XP as the operating system and you call Microsoft requiring some kind of technical assistance, it will not be provided.

Second, and probably more importantly, Microsoft will stop releasing updates and security patches for Windows XP. You have likely noticed that periodically you would see a popup in the lower right of the screen saying "updates are available" or "Windows is installing updates". This is Microsoft releasing updates to the operating system; they typically include security updates, bug fixes and general system enhancements. The security patches are beneficial as they "patch up" security holes/flaws in Windows that Microsoft programmers, or even hackers, have discovered. This helps in the prevention of the computer becoming infected with malware, viruses, worms, etc. Www.webroot.com/safe

How does this affect me and my computer?

The first important detail to take into account is that this ONLY affects users of the Windows XP operating system. Both Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional are affected. Any systems running a newer version of Windows, such as Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8, will not be affected.

If you have a computer running Windows XP, it will continue to function and operate. The system will still be fully useable and it will not stop working. You can still use the system, go online, run applications and do anything else you've done previously. Nothing is actually going to "change" on your computer on April 8th. The system will continue to work just as it always has been. The system isn't going to crash at the stroke of midnight! Any technical issues that you may or may not already have will not get worse because of this. Any third party software on your computer (Antivirus, word processors, financial software, etc) will continue to work as they always have (assuming the manufacturers of the third party software continue to allow their software to be compatible with Windows XP). Www.office.com/setup

What should I do differently, if anything, after April 8th?

While it isn't absolutely necessary for you to replace your computer or upgrade to a newer version of Windows, the fact that there will no longer be Windows Updates released does present some potential security risks. So please follow these recommendations below:

- Make sure that you have installed ALL Windows Updates available to the system. The ability to install old updates will still be available after April 8th; so be sure to make a point of checking for and installing any lingering updates as early as even April 8th.

- Always have current and updated antivirus software installed on your computer. While discontinuation of Windows Updates poses the potential for security holes in Windows XP not to be patched, antivirus software should be able to block most threats that try and make their way into your computer.

- Be sure to have an active firewall on your computer. Most security companies (Webroot, McAfee, Trend Micro, AVG, etc) have firewalls included in their "internet security" software if you buy their full "security" package. But if yours is just a standalone antivirus, be sure that you have Windows Firewall enabled.

- Be sure that any important data stored on your computer is backed up. Important data typically includes documents, videos, music, pictures, financial information, etc. This can be done with cloud storage services and/or copying data to an external hard drive or flash disk. While there is not a direct threat to your data, it is something that is highly recommended for all computer users - regardless if they are using Windows XP or not. Since Windows XP is quite old, it also stands to reason that your computer may be fairly old as well and therefore has a much higher risk of hardware failure - especially a failure of the hard disk drive which stores your data. Tech to Us offers an easy to use, affordable cloud backup solution. We even set it all up for you at no additional cost.

Bear in mind that all of these recommendations are very important even for newer computers. So don't ignore these suggestions if you don't have Windows XP. But it is especially important for Windows XP users.

Summing things up

As mentioned briefly in the data backup recommendation, an important factor to consider is that while the April 8th change shouldn't directly impact the performance of your computer, the simple fact that your computer has Windows XP generally means that it is an older system. Just like any piece of hardware (cars, dishwashers, etc), we have to accept the fact that eventually the hardware will simply fail.

If you were on the fence about replacing your computer anyway, this may be the something that pushes you over. Newer computers will have much more modern hardware and more robust operating systems, which in turn, will provide you with much better performance than your Window XP computer. Of course Windows Updates and their benefits will be available for quite some time on a new computer as well.

If you don't quite want to invest in a new computer, but want to move away from Windows XP, you can consider upgrading to Windows 7 or Windows 8. You would just need to make sure that your computer's hardware can support running them.

Windows 7 System Requirements
Windows 8 System Requirements