Windows XP: As good as leaving your back door open

If you are planning to continue using Windows XP on an internet connection, then you should consider it like having your house set up with the best burglar alarm, but keeping the back door open.

Softpedia reported that security expert Egan (in an interview with USA Today) said, “Imagine you're living in a house. Every night before you go to bed you go around to make sure the doors are locked, and the windows are closed. And maybe you've got an alarm system for extra peace of mind. The security system will detect somebody coming through the windows, and it will call in the alarm and stop the intruder. However, you really want to fix the windows and the doors.”

Security risks of the almost dead operating system, Windows XP, is clearly huge, and Microsoft wants users to migrate to the safer Windows 8.1 operating system to safeguard their data. However, the issue still remains that most users don’t want to migrate or upgrade citing hardware and software costs and implementations. In recent news too, the RBI issued warnings to banks and financial institutions that their systems could be highly vulnerable to hackers and viruses. ATMs across the world are still stuck on Windows XP and upgrading the hardware could be a very costly affair.

Microsoft is helping out by giving discounts and free offers on their latest Windows 8-based hardware. Home users might find it difficult to abide, but they would have to migrate some day. Many would learn the hard way.

Some financial institutions are opting for alternatives such as Linux, which is hardware friendly and comparatively cheaper to maintain.

Microsoft Windows 8.1 has a minimum hardware requirement of 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and 20 GB of storage space. Additional features are available on touch-enabled devices, which are optionally installed if you have them.

Windows XP will be officially announced obsolete in the next few days (April 8^th 2014).