Windows XP support ending. Time to Panic? Are Windows updates needed?
Sunday, March 16, 2014 at 12:01PM So next month Microsoft will issues the last set up updates ever to be written for its 12 year old windows XP operating system. Should you worry? No. Should you run out to replace it? Probably. But not because they are ending support for it.
Recently Steve Gibon (@SGgrc) from GRC, a well know programmer and security consultants stated that you should not worry and got a lot of flack on twitter for that. That is what prompted me to explain this to my clients here.
First, I completely agree that there is no real reason to worry about this. While updates will end, XP is a very mature operating system. All that is happening if when new vulnerabilities are found in XP, they will not write fixes for them. You may think that is bad but you first need to understand what these "vulnerabilities" that come up are all about. Typically, they are exploits that can be taken advantage of by malicious software. So when you download a program from that illegal music or game site you went to, it might be able to take complete control of your PC. Or when you go to that shady website to look at things you should probably not be looking at, it may take advantage of one of the new problems that is discovered after updates end. But that's it!
If your not downloading illegal or questionable software, if your not sitting there surfing the shady parts of the web or going to sites that are, lets say, of a questionable nature then there really is nothing to worry about.
Doing your normal business like running Word, Excel, Quickbooks, Email, even surfing the web when using well known company websites (e.g. your bank, major department stores, amazon, etc) is of no more risk than it is today. If you use your computer normally, nothing will change. Nothing!
Then why did I say you should probably upgrade? Because you should switch to a newer operating system that takes better advantage of more memory, 64bit software and that will continue to be supported for some time to come. This does not mean you should plunk down $200 on Windows 8 to install on your current computer but instead get it with a new computer when you are ready to upgrade. Since Windows XP, there has been Windows Vista, Windows 7 and now Windows 8.1. There is also nothing wrong with Windows 8.1 despite what you might have heard. It works well and is stable. There are just some major changes in using it that turns people off. But once you get use to the changes, it works just fine
In fact, in most businesses we completely turn OFF windows auto update feature. That's Right! We turn off the updates! Quite often updates cause more problems than they fix. If your computer is behind a firewall (yes, even that $39 Netgear router is a firewall.) and your running antivirus software and you just practice safe internet behavior (See Viruses and how we get them today at http://www.ineedbob.net/blog/2013/9/20/viruses-how-we-get-them-today.html) then its OK to not receive that latest updates. Often when an update installs on the second Tuesday of the month, something may cause a conflict and stop something else from working. Sometimes it even completely crashes your system. If most small businesses had all their PC's updating on their own monthly, their IT costs would go up greatly as things would need to be fixed, software conflicts resolved and updates rolled back (uninstalled). So as IT consultants, we install critical needed updates on a case by case basis.
In conclusion, don't worry that XP wont receive any more updates. Practice safe online behavior. If your computer is working fine, fast, reliable, don't worry about upgrading. If you feel its time for a new PC, upgrade. But don't worry about the end of support for Windows XP.
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