If you follow technology news, you must be aware that Windows XP is officially dead. As planned, on April 8 Microsoft ended support for this popular operating system. There were lots of eulogies. There was a lot of mourning. There were many sad Windows XP users. And many happy people too among tech-savvy crowd, who believed XP’s demise is a good thing because it would force the industry to move forward.
But it is over. The moment is gone. Let’s forget Windows XP now.
The uproar over the crucial security bug in Windows XP and Internet Explorer several days ago was unnecessary. Chastising Microsoft for leaving Windows XP users unsupported is plain lazy. It is true that Windows XP users now face a heightened security risk but it is not the fault of Microsoft.
See it like this: Windows XP is now almost 13 years old. That is a LOT of time in the world of software.
There is no software company that can keep supporting an operating system for over 13 years. Maybe, if the company is dealing with niche customers and special software, it will probably do that—and charge thousands of dollars in fee for the special service—but expecting Microsoft to keep supporting an OS that is used by millions of people on hardware with thousands of different parts is not fair at all.
The only other company—please note that Linux Foundation is different—that makes operating system for personal computers is Apple. The oldest OS X version that Apple currently supports is OS X Lion, which was released in 2010. The users of OS X Snow Leopard, which was released in 2009, no longer get the patches.
Windows XP had a good run and it was an amazing operating system but now customers have to move on. The argument here is that a lot of companies and organizations are still using XP and for them moving to a different OS will require money and time, and possibly re-writing of some applications. This is true. But then it is the responsibility of the companies and organizations to plan ahead and move to newer technology. It is not as if Microsoft ended the support without any advance notice. It was known for quite some time that support for Windows XP will end on April 8, 2014. Just the way we know that the support for Windows 7 will end on January 14, 2020.
The real deal here is that the organizations and companies using Windows XP are lazy and incompetent, or probably both. They are also missing out on the newer technologies, part of the newer operating software in OS X, Windows and different variants of Linux.
For consumers, a copy of the latest Windows costs around Rs 5,000. It is a reasonable price to pay. In fact, if you are still using a 10-year-old computer, you can even think about getting a new one for around Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000. You will probably get Windows free with it.
For organizations and companies, the cost of moving to the newer system will be obviously higher but then it has to be done. If you don’t want Windows, you can opt for Apple computers running OS X or select some variant of Linux. In fact, Linux may turn out to be cheaper. But wailing against the end of support for Windows XP and slamming Microsoft is unnecessary.
If you have to criticize Microsoft, there are other, more genuine grievances. For example, you can criticize the company for Windows 8, which has usability issues even with the latest update.
Or you can slam the company for not giving option to mainstream consumers to choose Windows 7—organizations get this option—instead of Windows 8. Almost all laptops and pre-assembled computers available in the market come with Windows 8. Consumers are stuck with it. They can’t get a Windows 7 PC and they can’t buy Windows 7 all that easily. Windows 7 is no longer sold by Microsoft or its partners, though in some shops and with e-commerce websites it is still available.
If you still use Windows XP and want to upgrade to Windows 7 because you don’t like Windows 8, you are stuck. This is where Microsoft is at fault. Windows 7 should be available to consumers because Windows 8 is drastically different in terms of user interface, and many may not like to use it. If the option to downgrade is available to organizations, it should also be available to mainstream users.
The fact that you don’t have any choice other than to use Windows 8 is something for which Microsoft should be criticized. But it is definitely not at fault for ending support to Windows XP.
