Linked by Howard Fosdick on Wed 28th Nov 2012 01:24 UTC
The clock is ticking for XP users, with Microsoft ending support with its final security update after 11 years on April 8, 2014. Netmarketshare's desktop browser statistics show 40% of users are still using XP, totalling about 500 million users (versus Windows 7 at 45% and Vista at 6%). Gartner and Forrester analysts predict that 10% to 20% of enterprise PCs will be running XP after April 2014. Options for companies include: speed up XP conversions, sign up for Microsoft's Custom Support Program for after-retirement support, and add a supported browser to XP to replace unsupported IE8.
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Member since:2005-11-29
Member since:2012-02-03
Member since:2008-07-15
Its fine, Microsoft has already sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses in a month. (fyi Windows 7 sold 60 million in two months).
And that is relevant to this article, how? We're not even talking about sales, we're talking about IT departments running outdated software. Look, I know you love Microsoft, but at least shill intelligently. A proper shill here would've been something like: "Some enterprises are already considering upgrading to Windows 8." That might even be true, though I doubt it.
XP itself isn't even the problem, it's IE6. Yes, this is a problem and no, I'm not referring to IE6's security issues which are too numerous to count. The trouble is that a huge number of in-house software has been written for it, and the IT department does not want to invest the time it would take to re-write it. The IE6/ActiveX combination is firmly entrenched in some places, and upgrading Windows is therefore not an option. Compatibility mode won't cut it, and you can't get IE6 for Windows any later than XP. Therefore, XP is likely to stay where it is. You can blame it on Microsoft, or incompetent IT managers, or stingy management. In the end, it doesn't matter who wins the blame game. The situation isn't likely to change until change is absolutely force upon them. This means, among other things, that Microsoft would have to refuse to allow after-life support of XP and IE6. Not charge them extra, or re-negotiate the contract, but outright refuse. Ending support is about the only way to force these places to upgrade, as it means they can't call someone and bitch when something doesn't work anymore. IT departments love to pass the buck whenever they can.
Member since:2010-04-06
Member since:
2010-04-06
Hope Microsoft doesn't see that as a migration to Flat UI 8, we, under our license terms will stop at Windows 7 or finish the migration to Linux