Reminder: Support for Win 2K, XP SP2 Ends July

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Now is a good time to ditch the old-school OS for a spiffier Windows 7.

Consumers and businesses still using Windows 2000 (desktop and server) and Windows XP SP2 will see the end of Microsoft's official tech support on July 13, 2010. This means both parties will no longer receive security updates, support assistance, or help from paid support. But all is not lost: users of both operating systems will still have access to self-help online support for at least another year.

Microsoft originally gave notice of the termination back in April 2008 when it released Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. "This announcement is in line with the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy for Windows service packs.," the company said. "This policy states that when a new service pack is released, Microsoft will provide 24 months of support for the previous service pack for products that belong to the Windows product family."

Microsoft also stated that Windows XP transitioned from the Mainstream Support phase to the Extended Support phase back on April 14, 2009 after the release of SP3. During this phase, Microsoft will continue to provide paid support and security updates at no additional charge. However, the company plans to terminate (aka "retire") Windows XP on April 8, 2014. Currently memorial services for the popular, die-hard OS have not been confirmed.

For those still using Windows XP with SP2 installed, the best way to extend the life of the OS is to (gasp) update to SP3. This can be done via Internet Explorer's Windows Update utility. Then again, this would be a good time to ditch Windows XP altogether and grab a copy of Windows 7--an upgrade that is well worth it.

Kevin Parrish
40 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Poisoner
    The only thing I don't like about Windows 7 is all the back doors MS put in there for the CIA and NSA.
    Reply
  • cadder
    Is this a big deal? Will lack of security updates become a security problem? I don't think it would be a problem for the near future. In our office we have 5 machines running WinXP and 4 running Win7. At home I have 2 on Vista and 2 on Win7.
    Reply
  • Bolbi
    PoisonerThe only thing I don't like about Windows 7 is all the back doors MS put in there for the CIA and NSA.Could you explain? I hadn't heard of that, and jumped on the Win7 bandwagon soon after it was released.
    Reply
  • Bolbi
    cadderIs this a big deal? Will lack of security updates become a security problem? I don't think it would be a problem for the near future. In our office we have 5 machines running WinXP and 4 running Win7. At home I have 2 on Vista and 2 on Win7.I can see it being a problem. Hackers know that XP is still very popular. And once security support ends, they also know that XP SP2 is vulnerable. Popularity + vulnerability = potential security disaster.
    Reply
  • proxy711
    PoisonerThe only thing I don't like about Windows 7 is all the back doors MS put in there for the CIA and NSA.Well don't do anything the CIA and NSA disapprove and you wont have any problems from them.
    Really the tin foil hat isn't cool anymore, no one likes being spied on, but to expect that the everyday normal joe is being spied on is just being paranoid.
    Reply
  • aford10
    Stay on topic fellas!
    Reply
  • zachary k
    hmmm, i wonder what i will be doing for my summer job with the school district. updating every computer with windows XP SP3.
    Reply
  • house70
    I have one machine I keep winxp SP3 on for some weird compatibility issues. Not many. the rest, vista and Win 7.
    For Poisoner: use True Crypt.
    Reply
  • mister g
    If Microsoft would end support for IE6 on that day too, maybe we could finally move on to actual web standards.
    Reply
  • kronos_cornelius
    Microsoft is quickly moving to a place where they are no longer a monopoly. Why would they want to force people out of their product? Once you force them out of Win XP, you take the change that they will move to Windows 7, OS X or Ubuntu Linux. At my school, they already have triple-boot machines, and one of them is Windows XP. The Linux side can surf the web, open PDF, edit files, and print to the lab's printer. OSX I would not know because I am not a mac fun, but Office can be used on OSX.
    I thought pushing people out of WinXP was a good strategy 4 years ago when Microsoft looked stronger and there was no alternative. But today, I think they could be accelerating the inevitable.
    Its as if Sony decided to make the PS2 obsolete in hopes that the user-base will move to the PS3... it could work, but it could also backfire.
    Reply