Hasta La Gadget!

As many are probably well-aware by now, Microsoft will soon be putting an end to their support for the Windows XP platform. Sure, you can still go ahead and use the platform, but there won’t be anymore security patches or updates. This is expected given that the software has been running for a very long time now, and we’re sure Microsoft are hoping that these customers will be upgrading to Windows 7 or Windows 8 in the meantime.

That being said, there are still many enterprises out there who are still relying on the platform, banks included. In fact earlier this year it was found that 95% of ATMs still run on Windows XP, but thanks to the cutoff date for further support, banks have reportedly been rushing to get their systems updated. (more…)

Banks Still Using Windows XP Could Pay Millions For Extended Customer Support original content from Ubergizmo.

This article was written on May 23, 2007 by CyberNet.

Back in April Paul Thurrott started to think that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) was a dead dream. He talked about the numerous delays it has suffered, and the lack of motivation Microsoft had to ship another Service Pack due to the release of Vista:

And while I’m ranting a bit, let’s dredge up Windows XP Service Pack 3, which was delayed from 2005 to 2006 to 2007 and now to 2008. If you were looking for any glimpse into the mind of Microsoft, this is it: The company has completely abandoned Windows XP, and it has absolutely no plans to ever ship an XP SP3.
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But the reality is, Microsoft is looking ahead to new revenue and not behind to money that’s already in the bank.

According to the Windows Service Pack Road Map SP3 is still scheduled for the first half of 2008, but that date is still considered to be tentative. Now there is speculation that XP SP3 could still be released this year (2007) because of a recent press release by Microsoft that says:

Microsoft is announcing that Windows Vista supports this protocol today and Windows Server 2008 and Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) will support it as well later this year. The Juniper Networks UAC solution is expected to support the new TNC standard in the first half of 2008.

Then later in the press release they make another mention of SP3:

Simplified deployment: Customers running Windows Vista or Windows XP SP3 will be able to easily realize the benefits of a Juniper UAC deployment without requiring the need to deploy additional client software.

In August it will have been three years since Windows XP SP2 shipped, so there is no doubt that SP3 is long overdue. It’s doubtful that any new features will sneak into the service pack since Vista is already available for consumers to purchase, but it should at least address common issues that XP users incur.

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

It’s doubtful that any avid readers of the ‘brick are still sporting a Windows XP machine for their online perusing, however if you are (and our stats tell us that 15% of you Windows users visiting here are) you may want to pay attention.

After a few pushes of the date, Microsoft’s end of life for Windows XP is coming near and it appears they are sticking with it this time. After April 8, Microsoft will no longer be officially supporting the operating system. This doesn’t mean that your XP machine will suddenly quit working, but it does mean that in about 30 days there will no longer be technical support or more importantly, security updates for this operating system.

After some time this will likely leave an XP user that accesses the internet with some vulnerabilities to hacking and technical issues as other software continues to evolve. After all, believe it or not the OS is 13 years old. Windows 7 or 8 (assuming you’re sticking with Microsoft) maybe something to look into this month. Check out Microsoft’s XP countdown and you can see the end of life dates for other Microsoft OS’s at the Windows lifecycle fact sheet.

Hackers could have a field day if most of the banks in the U.S. don’t upgrade their ATMs prior to April 8th. That’s the cutoff date that Microsoft has set for Windows XP, and after that, it is no longer going to provide support for the iconic iteration of Windows. This means that there won’t be any new updates, and certainly no security patches or bug fixes. End of support will not only leave consumer PCs out in the open, it will also make ATMs vulnerable, unless banks step up and upgrade them as soon as possible.

(more…)

Banks Rush To Upgrade ATMs From Windows XP original content from Ubergizmo.

Windows XP may have been one of the most popular desktop OS iterations to come out of Microsoft, but it too has come to its end. The company has been trying hard to get XP users to switch, preferably to Windows 8, however it hasn’t been a smooth ride. Some users simply don’t want to switch because XP works for them, but they could be left vulnerable to possible security threats once Microsoft ends support for XP. To inform users about the cutoff date, Microsoft will now being notifying them through pop-up notifications.

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Microsoft Turns To Pop-ups To Nag About Windows XP End Of Support original content from Ubergizmo.