Windows XP is no longer being supported - are you ready? |
You may
have heard that Microsoft withdrew its support for Windows
XP on the 8th April this year.
If you’re using XP then you need to be aware as you will need to take
action, either now or in the near future.
Windows XP
is the operating system that runs your computers. There are different operating
systems such as Windows Vista, Windows 8, Office 365, etc., but this issue only
applies to Windows XP. If you don’t have Windows XP then there is nothing to
worry about.
Microsoft
withdrawing support means that it will never be updated. You won’t notice
anything immediately, but over time there will be security vulnerabilities that
aren’t fixed and software will be created that doesn’t work on your computer.
Software that normally operates fine may start to slow down or fail, websites
will not operate the way they were designed to and you won’t be able to open
documents sent to you.
In the
short-term, companies that provide firewalls, anti-spam and other internet
security arrangements are likely to continue to ensure that their updates still
work on Windows XP, but eventually they too will stop.
So you do
need to take action, but it doesn’t need to be this afternoon.
The action
needed is to update your operating system, but that might be more complex than
it sounds. The first decision will be whether your existing computer and
servers can take a more up-to-date operating system. If they can’t, or won’t
work well with it, then you will also need new hardware. You’ll need to do an
audit of your equipment to identify which items may be affected.
Then
you’ll need to do a full and thorough back-up of everything on your existing
equipment before loading the new operating system and re-installing your
software and files. But this may create other issues as existing software and
documents may not be compatible with the newer operating system, so you’ll have
to update them too.
As ever,
the best advice is to talk to a reputable IT support company so that you can
plan the upgrade, and when the best time to do it is.