The Final Countdown

The say that celebrities all pass away in 3s.  Today we lost Margaret Thatcher and Annette Funicello.  I guess they're the pair that goes away with Roger Ebert.  (All three will be missed, BTW; may they rest in peace.). But before this post gets all morbid, there was another celebrity slated to die today. 

Ha! You wish!

Microsoft has officially announced that support for Windows XP will expire one year from today.  As popular as Windows XP still is today, the old girl is turning 12 this year.  Given the shorter lifespans of the previous versions of Windows, that XP has been this popular for this long is nothing short of a miracle.  Guess what?  This is a really big deal.  Take a look at this chart:

 

Here's the good news:  currently only 38.73% of users are still using XP.  The bad news is that's still a pretty good chuck of people.

Ok, by now you're thinking "So what if I'm still using XP?  It still works right?".  Yeah, it does.  The problem here is what comes from lack of support.  If you're a savvy user you've got your antivirus/anti-malware working and you're getting regular updates from Microsoft.  Well next year those updates go bye-bye and if someone comes up with an XP exploit after that time you'll be vulnerable whether you have antivirus/anti-malware or not.

If you don't have a current OS, you officially have 1 year to upgrade.  I know it's rough.  I was there when XP replaced 2000.  But it's time to put this classic to bed.