Support Withdrawn For Windows XP
Microsoft is all set to retract support for windows XP come April. Effectively this’ll make it so that there will be no security updates available for the XP operating system. And the company will no longer be responsible for fixing any bugs, existing or newly discovered. Any Windows XP help that’s availed from that point on will come from third-parties.
XP has been in common use for the past twelve years, and so security exploits in the future are just a matter of time. Impending hacks will target XP en masse. And it’ll be impossible to get Windows XP help when the OS is breached, since there won’t be any reliable dedicated service left to take care of the issue.
There will hopefully be third parties to turn to, and this would be the only way to maintain the integrity of the operating system if you stick with its use even after the announced deadline.
There is the possibility that there are individuals who have developed hacks already, and are waiting to unleash them. The best time for them to do this is after Microsoft has stopped producing updates.
Security Updates In Windows XP
On personal computers it’s better to make a clean re-installation of Windows XP, by taking a full image backup of the PC. This is a much faster way than reinstalling from scratch. All of the updates will still be there, so there’s no need to download them from the beginning. It is always better to have all the available service packs and updates installed before the next clean re-installation, and then create the image for your personal computer.
Create an image for each PC. If you do not wish to have an image for your PC hard disk, there is an alternative way to create a slipstream installation CD for an XP system with SP3, with any remaining updates available until end of support. Such provisions help a lot, in that each time you re-install, you don’t have to install SP3 and then download all the subsequent updates.
It is best to assume that the XP operating Windows system will continue long after the end of support from Microsoft. So re-installing it and activating it will remain possible for some time, depending on what Microsoft decides. But there is also the possibility that they will disable the XP operating system in the near future, sometime after the support has been withdrawn.