Week 13 Blog

On April 8th, 2014, last Tuesday, Microsoft finally cutoff support to the Microsoft XP operating system. XP made its debut in October of 2001, and even though it is over 12 years old, it is still one of the most used operating systems in the world. An estimated  500 million computers still use XP, with 1 in 5 computers in America still running the system and over half the computers in China still using it. But the end of XP should come as no surprise considering Microsoft had been warning users of plans to discontinue XP support as early as 2007. Customers were giving more than long enough to adjust and setup new operating systems, but a lot have still yet to change and that is the problem.

With the XP systems open to hackers, now that Microsoft will stop any XP updates and security fixes, it poses a problem to those still using the XP system and anyone else using Microsoft operating systems. To the 500 million still using XP, a switch of operating systems is a must. The vulnerability of the XP systems to viruses puts all info on those computers at risk. Passwords, financial info and other important information will be extremely susceptible to any malware or other viruses. But also, those with other Microsoft operating systems such as 7 or 8 will also be at more of a risk. Microsoft shares much of its code with successor programs, so once hackers are able to hack into XP systems, they will be able to use those codes to easily hack into Microsoft 7 and 8. The discontinuation of Microsoft XP will leave not only XP vulnerable but also new versions of Microsoft operating systems.

Even though I am sure it cost Microsoft a lot for the upkeep of XP, I believe that they should have continued to do so. With over 500 million people still using the operating system, it seems a bit harsh for Microsoft to just cutoff support for the system. Considering all the money that Microsoft has made from its customers, and apparently some very loyal ones to still be using XP, it only seems fair that Microsoft would have offered a free upgrade. Maybe not a free upgrade to the newest system, but an upgrade to at least windows 7 would have been reasonable.  But because of Microsoft insisting that XP must go, now all of Microsoft users are vulnerable. 

News article: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/microsoft-xp-cybersecurity-problem-105451.html