On April 8th Microsoft will release the last security patch for Windows XP, and then support will finally end for the 13 year old operating system.
The last XP update features a critical update for Internet Explorer 6 (which you really should not be using any more), 7 and 8, and an important patch. Office 2003 also gets two patches, including one to correct an exploit found in all current versions of Word.
As they have been at pains to remind users, April 8th marks the end of support for Windows XP. Users are advised to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8, and there’s a free tool to help make the change. However, as of December 2013, some 30% of computers worldwide were still running XP, which shows the scale of Microsoft’s task.
The end of support means remaining XP users will increasingly be at risk of malicious attacks and viruses. Some antivirus suites, like Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro are stepping up to provide longer protection to XP users, but this won’t replace the critical patches that Microsoft will no longer provide.
