Current Events and Technology News
Windows XP End of Service Life
by Mike Dauphinee - CTS Team
Windows XP End of Support-On April 8, 2014, support and updates for
Windows XP will no longer be available. What does this mean?
Well, first of all, I am not a “sky is falling” scare you into
spending money kind of guy. Your PC running Windows XP is not
suddenly going to explode, fall apart or get attacked by aliens. But
it does mean that it will become more vulnerable each day. And don't
think that those people that hack and create viruses/malware are not aware
of this. April 8 IS a critical date when things begin to change for
the Window XP owner and also for those that will prey upon computer
users. Let’s
think prudently and consider the facts.
As we have seen from many times in the past, there are bad people
out there that want to steal information from us using our computers
against us. And they seem to
have an overwhelming number of devious ways to achieve this. Windows
XP is one of the most popular operating systems on people’s
computers ever, so it will be a target that no thieve will want to pass
up. They will be seeking new ways to exploit your XP computer and
new ways to fool you. While I am not an alarmist, I do think that
those unsavory individuals will be lying in wait to expose new XP
vulnerabilities. They will be banking on people not doing anything.
That leaves us with a question; what should the XP owner be doing?
Do you need to buy a new computer? There is no universal answer to
this. However, let's start with something prudent and worthy. Like anything in
life, start with a plan. (A plan to do nothing is also a plan, but
one that can lead to devastating results) Your plan should be to
evaluate what you have and what are your best options based on what
you have in computer hardware and how much you are willing to spend
to prudently protect yourself and the information you regard as
valuable. CTS can help you create a plan to protect and update your
computer and information assets. This plan can also be a long term
plan to keep you ahead of the IT expenditures.
In many cases, a computer running XP can be professionally evaluated
& upgraded to Windows 7 (or 8.1) for less than half the cost of a
new system. The cost can be even less if you are the kind that is
savvy enough to do it yourself. If you can upgrade without buying a
new system, this can be money well spent. I suggest you talk to your
computer professional about it. It may also be a good time to get
the tune up, memory or storage upgrade and other things you may have
been putting off. Doing it all at once can actually save you money
in the long run and extend the life of your computer along with
improving performance.
If you don't already have a competent computer professional, CTS can
assist you in evaluating and upgrading your system and giving you
protection and more importantly giving you peace of mind that your
computer security and personal information is prudently safe.
Contact CTS and let us help you continue to safely do what you do.