Microsoft Ends Windows XP Support

[Axiom]

So yeah guys..it's finally over. No more Windows XP support. Now, what does this actually mean? It means a couple of things..

-While you still can of course use the OS, it will be especially vulnerable to viruses since Microsoft won't release any new security patches, updates etc
-Google Chrome and Microsoft Security Essentials will be supported till 2015 to give you a little bit of a security backbone
-Newer programs will stop being supported on this platform. Sadly, this includes mine seeing as how mine are tied to a Microsoft based framework.
-Newer games will stop being supported

What're your thoughts on this? I'm all for it personally. I'll leave a poll up to see how many users still use Windows XP

[Dragonmaster146]

I used to use XP until it died on me. Now, I use 8.1. So no.

[silent_]

It's a damn good thing my Windows XP computer broke on December 13th, 2013. Thankfully, now I have Windows 7 which works for me a lot better.

[zlaker]

Thanks goodness I've Windows 7.

[SuperWingedYoshi]

Switched to Vista in 2008 and to Windows 7 in 2010. Vista wasn't so good, 7 is awesome. XP was great, but all things have to end one day. May XP rest in peace.
My school uses obsolete operating systems, by the way. Up to 2008, the computers all had Windows 2000 installed. Then they switched to XP. A handful of computers now use Windows 7, but most still have XP, for example the computers of my IT class.

[Danny]

I use a Virtual Machine running on XP Home Premium, just because I don't really like Vista. I'm not really happy that Microsoft is dropping support for their best OS.

[Bryan]

Microsoft announced this way back when? I first heard about it back in December. Certainly, some people including businesses rely on XP to run their applications/programs, so it will be an unfortunate event for them to bargain with. But I mean, since this was announced a while ago, I guess people had enough time to upgrade their systems. Either way it is sad that Microsoft dropped support for XP, their is still a lot of people that do use it, specifically at my old school. I guess it might keep some of those kids from using computers safely for a while. I have nothing to worry about, I use Windows Vista and Windows 7. However, I do know that a lot of people here in the community do use Windows XP, and it's unfortunate that they might have to upgrade to a new system.

Has Microsoft gotten a lot of backlash from this support cut?

[Raster]

To all those bashing Microsoft: they have newer projects to take care of. The OS is outdated and they gave people plenty of time to switch.

[Shadow Yoshi]

I had a Windows 98 computer that I used all the way up until late December 2007, at which point I got a new one running Vista.

...so I never used XP, save for computers at school and using my mom's laptop when my 98 couldn't run something (and because it was just nicer to use at the time).

[yoshi64]

i used to use xp until i bought a new laptop with windows 8.1, late 2013

my computer uses 7 though

[Keddy]

I've heard this news way back from like last year, so I knew this day would come. I'm glad I'll be getting an upgrade for this thing soon, I'm thinking W7 or maybe W8 it'd be cheaper for Vista, but that things has more bugs than the crawlspace of my garage. I just wonder what other people using XP will do, IE. reghrhre

[Bryan]

Next up in the support cut is Windows Vista, but hopefully in a couple of years. I still want to make great use of my Windows Vista computer, while it is still running and working fine. I also have Windows 7 which works great too.

[FutureNyanCat]

I'm very sad to hear that Windows XP has gone away - luckily I have Windows 8 on my side, (on its way to 8.1) Vista will be on its way to get a support cut, too, in many years.

[aero]

I have a lot of memories of XP, mostly good but some bad. It was the first OS I ever used, and probably the best version of Windows next to 7. XP was really the turning point between "the old" and "the new" to me.

[Julia Pseudo]

I feel like the real question is, why didn't Microsoft do this five years ago? They should just make the updates cheap/free once you're already a user instead of supporting four OS versions at once like Apple does.

Also yes I am an XP user but it's a virtual machine anyways so I'm not honestly too worried about it.

[Axiom]

I feel like the real question is, why didn't Microsoft do this five years ago? They should just make the updates cheap/free once you're already a user instead of supporting four OS versions at once like Apple does.

For whatever reason, people require the compatibility of XP. Which is rediculous because I haven't once found a program that doesn't work in 7/8.

[Danny]

A lot of companies still rely on Windows XP to run their software and store all of their data, and it would really suck if a company, that, oh I don't know, deals with running ambulances, tracing calls, and storing medical reports gets infected with spyware. Because if somebody actually gets hold of that personal information, all hell will break loose just because the company doesn't have the money to upgrade all of their computers to a more recent OS. Wouldn't that suck?

[Raster]

I feel like the real question is, why didn't Microsoft do this five years ago? They should just make the updates cheap/free once you're already a user instead of supporting four OS versions at once like Apple does.

Apple supports four OS versions at once while giving away free copies of their most recent OS, Mavericks. Microsoft has Vista, 7, 8, Windows Server, WP8, and RT while providing excellent backwards compatibility with each release.

8bit's point is moot because those companies had enough time to switch to Vista. Vista licenses are dirt cheap.

[Danny]

Vista is also the shittiest OS that is still supported by Microsoft, do you think a company would have the brains to switch to Vista? Plenty of people still used XP when Vista came out. If they were to upgrade now, they would get 7 or 8.1, with the latter being the more viable option.

[Raster]

Vista isn't as bad as they say. At least it's genuinely safe compared to some unsupported OS.