In response to the news that Statista has today released a graph that shows that little has changed after Microsoft pulled the plug on Windows XP, as only a few users have actually decided to upgrade to a different operating system, below care comments by Tripwire and Lieberman Software.
Tim Erlin, director of security and risk at Tripwire says: “The users who remain on Windows XP are clearly putting their data at risk by doing so, despite the very clear warnings from both Microsoft and the information security industry. This data shouldn’t surprise anyone because the users who were still on XP by the time the End of Support deadline passed were already those who either can’t or can’t be bothered to upgrade. The XP holdouts have already demonstrated their ability to stick with the aging platform, so we can likely expect this population to dwindle only through hardware failure, lack of software compatibility and compromise.”
Whilst Phil Lieberman, CEO of Lieberman Software Corporation writes: “The rapid transition from XP to Windows 7 was a forgone conclusion until Microsoft released Windows 8 and discontinued easy and pervasive access to Windows 7. The reluctance to restore backward compatibility in Windows 8 for the Start Menu has dramatically inhibited the migration from Windows XP. Unfortunately for all parties, consumers now find themselves stuck to an obsolete operating system with the possibility of pain from security threats, or the certainty of pain and confusion that will come from a migration to Windows 8 and its incompatible user interface. Therefore, Windows XP users are at great risk running their existing systems and an upgrade to Windows 8 or 7 would dramatically improve security, but the user interface barrier to entry is inhibiting this migration. If Microsoft had never released the Metro interface in Windows 8, most users would have completed the migration from XP users by this point, but that is not today’s reality.
Microsoft discontinuing universal access to OEMs for Windows 7 and hardware vendors only offering Windows 8 machines has created a perfect hell for most consumers (and businesses alike) that makes sticking with XP the best choice for many consumers and businesses alike, even if it is security mess. It is inconceivable why the Windows 8 team has chosen to remove option of fully compatible Start Menu functionality, even in the face of this XP logjam, but that’s reality. Just imagine how all of the PC vendors feel stuck with warehouses full of Win8 machines they can’t sell as easily as previous PC generations. Maybe the new management at Microsoft will fix this soon.”