Windows XP SP2 Expires Today
Today, the 13th of July 2010, two things will happen. First up, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft will roll out 4 security bulletins to plug 5 security holes that plague the Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office productivity suite. Microsoft will do this as part of the Patch Tuesday program.
The second thing that will happen today is this: The Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2) operating system will expire. Today will be the last time that XP SP2 receives security updates from Microsoft. To stay safe and protected you need those security updates. It is thus imperative that you do something about XP SP2’s expiration.
There are two things you can do. You can either get Service Pack 3, or you can switch to a newer version of Windows. The latest version is Windows 7, which is quite good and quite popular. How popular is it? According to Microsoft, more than 150 million Windows 7 licenses have been sold; 7 copies of Windows 7 have been sold every second ever since the operating system was rolled out to the public.
What happens if you decide to stick with Windows XP SP2? An explanation is provided by Graham Cluley, Senior Technology Consultant with Sophos, company that specializes in providing antivirus, anti-spam, spyware removal software, network and internet security, data protection, and computer security solutions:
“The service pack will no longer be supported by Microsoft after Tuesday meaning that users will no longer receive any security patches - regardless of how critical any discovered vulnerability may be. Furthermore, it's not just Windows XP SP2 that Microsoft won't be updating - but your installations for Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Outlook Express and other Windows XP SP2 components also won't receive security patches if you're running that version of the operating system,” said Graham Cluley.
Microsoft advises its customers to use Windows Update to get XP Service Pack 3 manually, or to turn on the Automatic Updates feature in Windows XP if they want to get it automatically.
A special site has been purposely created by Microsoft to provide information on Windows versions that are reaching the end of their lifecycle. Visit the site here.
The second thing that will happen today is this: The Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2) operating system will expire. Today will be the last time that XP SP2 receives security updates from Microsoft. To stay safe and protected you need those security updates. It is thus imperative that you do something about XP SP2’s expiration.
There are two things you can do. You can either get Service Pack 3, or you can switch to a newer version of Windows. The latest version is Windows 7, which is quite good and quite popular. How popular is it? According to Microsoft, more than 150 million Windows 7 licenses have been sold; 7 copies of Windows 7 have been sold every second ever since the operating system was rolled out to the public.
What happens if you decide to stick with Windows XP SP2? An explanation is provided by Graham Cluley, Senior Technology Consultant with Sophos, company that specializes in providing antivirus, anti-spam, spyware removal software, network and internet security, data protection, and computer security solutions:
“The service pack will no longer be supported by Microsoft after Tuesday meaning that users will no longer receive any security patches - regardless of how critical any discovered vulnerability may be. Furthermore, it's not just Windows XP SP2 that Microsoft won't be updating - but your installations for Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Outlook Express and other Windows XP SP2 components also won't receive security patches if you're running that version of the operating system,” said Graham Cluley.
Microsoft advises its customers to use Windows Update to get XP Service Pack 3 manually, or to turn on the Automatic Updates feature in Windows XP if they want to get it automatically.
A special site has been purposely created by Microsoft to provide information on Windows versions that are reaching the end of their lifecycle. Visit the site here.
