A lot of people are throwing words like ‘retro’ or ‘classic’ and sometimes even ‘dated’ to describe literal pieces of junk they own. I’m looking at you, hipsters. Well, here’s a piece of retro fashion for you, it’s nice to look at, it’s kind of slow and it’s literally everywhere, it’s Windows XP.
So, what kind of options does this retro, classic cool piece of software offer? Well, since Microsoft discontinued support for the operating system, a whole two days ago, the system is expected to be a magnet for viruses, spyware and adware. Running it in the next few months will guarantee you your very own computer virus to love and care for in your new operating system.
Support for Windows XP has now ended. No more updates will be sent, no more security fixes will be uploaded. Microsoft is however offering continued support for the operating systems for private businesses, but only if you have $500,000 handy. I’m not kidding, reports are showing that the price for organisations still using the operating system to continue using it has exceeded that amount. It’s currently going for $200 per year per computer for private individuals.
In fact, the UK government, probably not keen on replacing their systems which extensively use XP, have apparently paid out £5.5 Million for Microsoft to provide dedicated, personalised support for the outdated operating system. It’s not apparent what this continued support will entail, but hopefully all our personal data and the entirety of our lives as recorded on CCTV will be lovingly protected under Microsoft’s benevolent wing
For all current XP users, we urge you to update. If you wish to continue to use your computer without viruses, lack of updates, and all general issues the manager would fix, you will need to update to at least Windows 7. Microsoft will no longer help with XP problems. Resistance is futile.