XPocalypse Now

Windows XP is going to become dangerous to the health of your computer on April 9, 2014!

You may have already heard that Microsoft will stop supporting XP after that date. Does that mean it won’t work anymore? No. But it means that Microsoft will no longer be issuing patches and security fixes to plug vulnerabilities in this operating system. That means that hackers who discover those vulnerabilities will be able to attack your computer and you will have no real protection.

You will be able to stop some of those attacks by keeping your antivirus and antimalware software up to date. But because no one knows at this point what those vulnerabilities are, there is no way to predict how to stop attacks.

So what is the first thing you need to do? I know many of you don’t even know if your computer is running XP. There is an easy way to determine this. Click on this link (http://amirunningxp.com/) and you will know immediately if you are running XP.

So what if you are? What should you do next?

You need to update to either Windows 7 or Windows 8. Both are available and it is your choice which one you choose to run. There are a couple of things you might want to consider in making that decision. 1) Windows 7 will be more like XP than Windows 8. That means it will take you less time and effort to learn the new ways you have to do things you are used to doing now. 2) Windows 7 already has a date after which Microsoft will no longer support it, just like is happening with XP. That known date is 2020. That means in six years you will need to make a switch again. Changing to Windows 8 means you will have several years longer before you need to make a change.

Those are the two major considerations but there are others; we will be happy to discuss those with you if you are still trying to decide.

There is one piece of great news about this. Microsoft is releasing a software tool to assist you in making the transition to your new operating system. "This tool will copy your files, music, videos, email, and user profiles and settings from your old PC to your new device, transferring across your home or work network, and even enables Windows XP users to customize exactly what they want to bring over to their new device." That is what Microsoft senior marketing communications manager Brandon LeBlanc wrote in a recent blog post.

This tool is not available yet. We will post an update with the link when it is. Check back every day or two until you see it.

By the way, how old is your computer? Since you need to make this change in operating systems, this might be an ideal time to upgrade your computer. If your computer is old enough it came with XP, it might be at or near “end of life”.

Finally, how likely are you to have problems after April 8? Very likely! When Microsoft stopped support for Windows 98, attacks on computers started immediately after the cutoff date. There are probably hackers right now who have discovered new ways to attack your computer. They are eagerly waiting for April 8 to pass so they can start attacking you. Because it may take a few days to make the changes, we highly recommend you get started now.