Thursday, April 3, 2014

Windows XP Support ends April 08, 2014

Beginning April 08, 2014 Microsoft will stop supporting all versions of Windows XP.  Your computer will still work but Microsoft will no longer provide technical support, software update and no more security patches.  In the short term all will be fine, but as time passes you face the following risks:
  • Exposure of confidential information due to new security vulnerabilities
  • Degradation of performance due to unresolved software issues
  • Inability to support new hardware due to lack of driver support
  • Destruction of critical business information by malware
You are left with two choices, either in-place migration to a new version of Windows on your existing hardware, or perform a forklift upgrade to a new version of windows on new hardware.

In either case you must know that you cannot upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 or 8 directly.  You must perform a new install and then re-install all programs, devices and import your data and settings.

The following links from Microsoft describes the upgrade process for XP to Windows 7.  However beware that if you follow this process you will in all likelihood end up with a 32 bit version of Windows 7 or 8.  You don't want this.  Literally 99 percent of Windows XP installations are 32 bit.  A 32 bit OS limits your computer to 3 to 4 GB of addressable RAM (memory).  For this reason alone users should want to upgrade  from XP since this limitation affects both performance and capabilities of your machine.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help/upgrading-from-windows-xp-to-windows-7#T1=tab01

A better explanation on the steps that should be considered before upgrading is found at the link below.  This article addresses the first obstacle in performing an upgrade and that is whether your existing machine is capable of running Windows 7 or 8.  It also discusses hacks and options you can employ to enhance your computer's performance and user experience.

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-move-on-after-windows-xp-without-giving-up-your-1556573928




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