Windows XP Support Ends in April 2014: What Technicians Need to Know

The end of a long overdue era comes to an unofficial end on April 8, 2014.  This is the date in which Microsoft says all extended support will end for one of the best operating systems the company has ever released. Windows XP, the cornerstone of most PC users for the past 10+ years, is being officially phased out as Microsoft “sunsets” support for the product in all respects. Read more after the cut

What Technicians Need to Know

Nothing, really. They will continue to work as normal and there will not be any kind of limitations imposed on the OS crippling its usage. But it’s the unknown that users should be warned about to the fullest extent. Microsoft has publicly stated that no new patches will be released for the OS after April 2014 (outside of very critical security flaws found.) Just as is the case for Windows 98 and Windows 2000 now, driver releases for new hardware that comes out will start to become non-existent for XP likely around or slightly after the April 2014 timeline. Customers who purchase new hardware even for otherwise fully capable systems may start to run into compatibility issues. Third party solutions arise to get around these driver issues, but they are not always 100% guaranteed for all scenarios. The bottom line? Using XP after April 2014 is an “at your own risk” situation for customers.

Microsoft will keep hosting all patches and service packs released through April of 2014, but no NEW updates will be released after this date. There will be no doubt that hackers and other nefarious malware writers will take advantage of all remaining XP users after this date, and hence why I will be pushing customers to rethink their XP usage going forward. I expect anti-malware software support for XP to continue well into past the middle of the decade, but start to drop off around 2016 or so.