XP: Dead Man Walking

Windows XP end of life is coming soon! Microsoft will completely stop supporting Windows XP in April. This means there will be no more security updates, no more bug fixes, etc. The OS is 12 years old; software technology has moved on and a lot of software available now won’t even work properly on Windows XP because the underlying operating system has changed so much with the introduction of Windows 7 and 8.

Would you still use a computer that’s 12 years old? (If you are, you should immediately unplug it and throw it out the window!)

It’s Time to Upgrade.

 

XP End of Life: Risks of Not Upgrading

Not upgrading to Windows 7 or 8 puts your organization at risk: the “bad guys” are going to move in as quickly as possible the second Microsoft stops providing security updates for Windows XP and will stop at nothing to turn millions of old XP machines into mindless drones secretly carrying out their bidding (seriously!)

Not upgrading to Windows 7 or 8 means businesses that are required to be in compliance with regulations such as HIPAA may no longer be in compliance.

Not upgrading to Windows 7 or 8 means you’ll have a hard time getting new software that works correctly with your PC.

And really, our recommended maximum lifespan of a business PC is five years – anything older than that creates risk factors (unexpected failure, productivity slowdowns) and causes a drag on your organization’s costs.

XP End of Life: What Do I Do?

If you still have PCs running Windows XP and they are older than five years old, you should immediately replace them with new PCs running Windows 8.

In most cases, if your computer was manufactured within the past few years, we can likely upgrade it to Windows 8 for you–but keep in mind it may still be more cost-effective to simply buy a new PC with Windows 8 preinstalled.

We do not recommend upgrading the Windows XP operating system on any business computer to Windows 8 for cost and reliability reasons. You should buy it preinstalled on a new computer.

Finding a New PC

We strongly recommend business-grade PCs from Lenovo or HP or laptops from Lenovo. These PCs can not usually be found in stores, but are easily obtainable directly from Lenovo or IBM. You can find a reliable, powerful PC pre-loaded with Windows 8 starting at about $500 retail. When you consider these workhorses will give you at least four years of solid performance, they’re very reasonably priced.

We’re Here to Help!

We have complete, continuously-updated hardware inventory lists for all of our clients available on demand. We can identify the computers that need to be replaced and put together an action plan for replacing them.

Contact Sean Place, your Account Manager, and he’ll help you through this transition period.