Microsoft Renews Push to Move Companies Away from Windows XP

Are you still running Windows XP at your organization? If so, Microsoft (News - Alert) is again urging companies like yours to make the leap to Windows 7 before support for XP runs out.

In a recent blog post, Microsoft reminded XP users that Extended support for the 10-year-old operating system runs out in another 1,000 days. At that point, the folks in Redmond will stop providing security patches, hotfixes, and other updates for all versions of XP, including SP3.

Microsoft kicks off its support cycle for most products by offering Mainstream support for a certain number of years, during which time it addresses security flaws and other critical problems, offers feedback on design issues, and provides escalations related to specific features. After Mainstream support ends, the company transitions to Extended support, during which it will update the software to fix any security holes and other critical bugs.

Microsoft recently cut off Extended support for Office XP, which started life back in 2001. In the case of Windows XP, Mainstream support began when the OS was officially released on December 31, 2001. Extended support kicked in on April 14, 2009 and will end on April 4, 2014.

And though 1,000 days from now sounds like a lot of time, all good IT pros know that planning, testing, deploying, and supporting a major OS upgrade can easily chew up much more time than expected.

To back up its position, Microsoft cited a recent report from Gartner (News - Alert) claiming that “more than 50 percent of organizations that do not start deploying Windows 7 by early 2012 will not complete their deployments before Windows XP support ends, and will incur increased support costs.”

So, in Microsoft’s opinion, if you haven’t yet even started mapping out a migration from Windows XP to Windows 7, now’s the time to dive in.

To help organizations still stuck on Windows XP, Microsoft offers a series of online resources, documents, and tools. A Springboard series provides videos on how to migrate to Windows 7. The Windows 7 Deployment Learning Portal tests your knowledge about migrating to Windows 7. A TechNet article explains how to upgrade to Windows 7. And of course, you can find many other resources from third-party companies on how to move to the latest version of Windows.

With a lot of recent news and rumors about Windows 8, some of you may be wondering if it makes more sense to wait for the next version of Windows before upgrading from XP. Certain unofficial comments and hints from Microsoft executives, including CEO Steve Ballmer (News - Alert), have pointed to Windows 8 hitting the market in 2012. However, the new OS may not launch until late in 2012, giving companies still running XP little more than a year to transition to the latest version of Windows.

So if your organization is still running Windows XP, your best and safest bet at this point is to make the leap to Windows 7, a task you’ll want to start planning soon if you haven’t already started.

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