Andre Yoskowitz
11 Apr 2012 12:40
Microsoft has reminded its customers this week of Windows XP's impending end of life.
Support for Windows XP SP3 will be dropped on April 8th, 2014, as will support for Microsoft Office 2003.
Marketing director Stella Chernyak says the end-of-life means Microsoft will kill off all security updates, non-security hot-fixes and technical support after that date.
Says the director: "Windows XP and Office 2003 were great software releases in their time, but the technology environment has shifted. Technology continues to evolve and so do people's needs and expectations."
Microsoft has always supported a policy of a minimum of 10 years of support and has given Windows XP extra time despite the release of Vista, Windows 7 and soon, Windows 8.
If you are an enterprise, the company recommends switching to Windows 7 and Office 2010 rather than waiting. To help the move, the company is offering free deployment toolkits.