Windows XP to retire after 12 years

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  Windows XP to retire after 12 years

Windows XP is no more. That's right, despite 27 per cent of you still using it Microsoft is waving farewell to its 12-year old OS in favour of Windows 8.

Latest News World of Warcraft expansion enters Alpha testing Apple patents smart headphones Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom image leaked Nest Protect sales suspended over safety fears Sony to test 4K at the 2014 World Cup After April 8th 2014, Microsoft will stop all technical support for Windows XP users, including security updates and support information. Microsoft Security Essentials will also no longer be available to download.

In a bid to push users onto Windows 8.1, the 12-year old Windows XP has reached its end-of-life, despite 27 per cent of all users still having XP on their computers Although only a fraction of Windows users are on XP, more than a quarter of infections are XP-based. Microsoft has estimated that after April 8th, infections for XP will rise 66 per cent.

Microsoft was warned that after April 8th "your computer will still work but it might become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses." However, the UK government has paid Microsoft £5.5million to continue updates for a year for UK public sector. These updates will be available for one year and will allow public sector organisations to download security updates for Windows XP, Office 2003 and Exchange 2003. Google Chrome has also said that it will continue support for Windows XP users until April 2015, saying Chrome on XP will be automatically updated with security fixes to help protect for security.