Countdown to End of Support for Windows XP

Likely wont be able to buy copies of Windows 7 after version 8 is released.

Microsoft retires Vista from mainstream support this week, but security updates continue through mid-April 2017

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9225979/Update_Microsoft_retires_Vista_from_mainstream_support_this_week?taxonomyId=125

I'd like to play Devil's Advocate here.

My perspective obviously will differ from that of those involved in removing malware, and from that of MS, which has a vested interest in selling new operating systems. I continue to use (and prefer) XP/sp3, and hope to use it as long as possible, for as long as my old hardware holds out, even though I appreciate the security advantages of using Win 7/IE9, which I will continue to use on my newer systems.

Nonetheless, I object to disposing of a perfectly good PC merely because its OS is now no longer supported by MS. I am loath to try to upgrade a 7 year old XP to Win 7, if it is even possible.

1) How much risk will I incur by using XP when its support lapses in 2014? How much of a target will an obsolete XP be in 2014 to the malware writers? Will my other multi-layered security programs fail to protect me? And if they should, will my backup system images no longer restore me to a healthy state? Will the use of XP suddenly become untenable?

2) How much risk of loss of my personal data and files when they are already duplicated in Win 7? (None, I should think).

3) How vulnerable will I suddenly become to identity theft? Will my Sandboxie browser stop wortking to protect me?

I appreciate these questions are probably unanswerable 2 year in advance (a long time in computer terms). But I want to be sure before I throw out the (viable) XP "baby with the bathwater", as long as it still works well.

I agree with you, Joe. I think the vendors assume that everyone knows it is not a good idea to attempt to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 on hardware that was built to run XP 7 or 8 years ago. I do think that the malware writers will continue to target XP into 2014 because of the number of XP systems still out there. I can't speak for the security software vendors, but they will probably gradually discontinue supporting XP simply because it is not worth it for them to put resources into supporting an obsolete operating system.

"for as long as my old hardware holds out..."   Agreed, it does not make sense to purchase and apply the newest operating systems to "ancient" hardware... nor does it make sense to trash a system that's still working.   As many of you know, I kept my Millenium system operational till about a year (or two?) ago, and never incurred a malware issue.  

As has been often asserted here, the first and foremost defense against malware is the person typing-away at the keyboard --- the user --- who can determine whether he/she wants to risk visiting the more dangerous sites (such as pornography, P2P file-sharing, and sites offering "cracked" software):  if you don't "run out into the middle of the street with your eyes closed", you've conquered half the battle.   The other thing is to know to remain calm, and how to react when/if you find yourself presented with an intimidating popup message warning of problems on your system:   do NOT allow it to proceed.   In fact, it's often not safe to click anywhere on that popup message, even to say "No" --- as sometimes, even that negative "acknowledgement" will allow the malware through :emotion-12:.   Rather, you need to externally shut-down that popup e.g. through task manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del).   [There are other key sequences that some say are preferable, but I don't recall them offhand].

I know that Avast anti-virus supported WinME for many years after Microsoft --- and other third-party anti-virus program --- abandoned it.   I would hope that Avast [and perhaps others] would do the same for WinXP.   I would likely suspect that many of my security programs [as mentioned in my signature] will still be functional --- albeit not necessarily optimally --- at that time.   So unless I go out of my way to try risky behavior, I believe I should be okay then --- certainly, no more at-risk than I was in keeping my Millenium around as long as I did.

Of course, given that my main XP system (laptop) will be about 8 years old in 2014 (if the hardware survives till then), I would expect that I will have purchased a newer system by then... on which I will have access to the newer, more-secure operating systems and browsers.