Microsoft’s Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 will go out of support on April 8, 2014 as the company starts countdown to stop support for the operating system.
Microsoft wants consumers to start migrating their PCs running on Windows XP and Office 2003 to Windows 7 and Office 2010.
The company asked customers to take action as now there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates.
Based on historical customer deployment data, the average enterprise deployment can take 18 to 32 months from business case through full deployment.
Microsoft marketing executive Stella Chernyak wrote in a blog post that Windows XP and Office 2003 were great software releases for their time, but the technology environment has shifted. Technology continues to evolve and so do people’s needs and expectations.
"Modern users demand technologies that fit their personal workstyle and allow them to stay productive anywhere anytime, while businesses have an ever increasing need to protect data and ensure security, compliance and manageability," added Stella.
"It is in a company’s – and its employees’ – best interest to take advantage of the modern Windows and Office software that is designed with these needs in mind."
Running Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 after the end of support date may expose companies to potential risks, such as security & compliance risks where unsupported and unpatched environments are vulnerable to security risks.
This may result in an officially recognised control failure by an internal or external audit body, causing in suspension of certifications, or public notification of the organization’s inability to maintain its systems and customer information.
Launched in October 2001, Windows XP is Microsoft’s longest-lived operating system at over 12 years and 5 months by the time it retires.
