One Week Left: Windows XP Users Defiant Until the Very End or Just Uninformed?

In just one week from today, Windows XP reaches its expiration date. After April 8, 2014, Windows XP loses support from Microsoft, meaning no further security updates will be provided. And, as time marches forward, other vendors will stop supporting the 13 year old operating system, too. There are a few vendors that have stated support for the old OS, but don't be fooled, this is only an attempt to cash in on the last gasps of a dwindling market.

With only one Patch Tuesday left to go, Windows XP still enjoys an almost 28% market share, according to stats from Netmarketshare.com.

Are Windows XP users waiting to cut a deal with Jack Bauer to get full immunity from the President of the US? Is this bold-faced defiance? Possibly. But, I believe there's another factor.

No matter how much we've harped on the coming doom here at WindowsITPro over the last year, and no matter how vocal Microsoft has been about the hard deadline, there are many that simply don't know. Really.

Yesterday, in fact, I participated in an email thread on a popular myITforum email list where one IT Pro had just come to the realization yesterday that Microsoft will stop supplying security updates for Windows XP starting next week. Seriously. This is an IT Pro in charge of IT operations for the employer which includes delivering monthly patches as part of overall responsibility. This is a company that also invests in Microsoft support and has a Microsoft TAM. Of the roughly 28% of those still running Windows XP, it's reported that about 15% consists of businesses. The rest are home users. With that in mind, how the Microsoft TAM was not able to take a couple minutes over the past few months to issue a reminder to those under contract is unconscionable.

So, yeah. There are some that truly do not know. And, that's sad to me. We live in a world where communication and content is easy, is freely available, and crosses a vast array of mediums. Those that don’t realize that Windows XP is a ticking security time bomb just haven't been listening.