Requium For An Old Friend: Windows XP 2001-2014

More appropriately, I should have written this on Tuesday when Microsoft ended support for XP, but I was hip-deep in gators. Meaning, I was busy looking for and writing about DDR3 RAM. Well, OK. XP support ended at our house a couple of years ago when I took the kids off of their old machines. Although, right up until a few weeks ago, I had an XP box to support a client who can't afford to buy a newer version of CAD that would run on Windows 7. But I pulled it when I upgraded my desktop workstation and move it's parts over.

The issue isn't whether Windows XP is or isn't good. That'd be like asking whether a 120 year old whether they're a good athlete. Well.....100 years ago, they probably were......but they're 120 years old!!! The reason that we're even asking this question is that 30+ percent of the computers in the world are still running this. Why!?! Not that XP is just that great! It's mostly because Vista sucked just that much!

One of these days, everyone will just automatically avoid every other M$ product and be done with it. However, this issue cause them to keep XP on life support loooong after it should have been dead and buried! What does it have to do with you? Did your XP box just fall over on April 9th? Obviously the answer is "NO". You are welcome to continue to use it, literally "till the cows come home".

The issue is this..... If you've ever been a regular user of a XP box, you are aware, that it was the Anti-Virus maker's best friend. It was pretty darned unsecure, and was a haven for every virus and malware write in the word (Don't be too smug, Mac users; if your OS was more relevant, you'd be in a similar position too). So, imagine your are some virus/malware/spam/what-have-you writer out there, polishing your skills getting your latest brain-child ready to go out there into the "wild". It's ready in Dec, Jan, Feb, or March.....what do you do? Release it and have Microsoft patch the vulnerability in the last months/days of support? Heck no, you've known for months that the day YOU want to release is April 8th...or shortly thereafter, right? Who wouldn't!

No, No, No! Don't even think about getting out there on the Internet with that Z-Box (Zombie)!