Launched in October 2001, Microsoft Windows XP has finally reached the end of its life. By that, we don’t mean your Windows XP-based PC will blow up today or your Windows XP will cease to function. What we actually mean by end of life is that Microsoft is stopping the support that it has provided to the operating system for the past 12 years starting from today onwards.
Specifically, what this means is that Microsoft will no longer provide any free updates for the operating system. That fact alone might lead to security or operational problem for Windows XP’s users since they might be vulnerable to malware or similar kind of security threat as Microsoft cease to work on patches or fixes for the operating system.
Truth to be told, the mainstream support for Windows XP has actually ended on 14 April 2009 and what Microsoft provided till today is part of what the company called as the “Extended Support” phase. Meanwhile, here’s the end of support dates for other Windows out there according to their mainstream and extended support respectively:
– Windows Vista: 10 April 2012 / 11 April 2017
– Windows 7: 13 January 2015 / 14 January 2020
– Windows 8: 9 January 2018 / 10 January 2023
You know, just in case you were wondering about them.
[Image: johnbullas @ Flickr, used under Creative Commons license]
