Security company issues new figures on Windows XP usage

Mar 17, 2014 09:48 GMT  ·  By

Windows XP should move to a newer operating system in the next 20 days if they want to remain secure after end of support arrives, and new statistics provided by security company AVAST come to reveal some of the risks taken by those who decide to stay with this particular platform.

The company that makes the popular avast! Free Anti-virus said in a press release today that according to its own figures, Windows XP users are 6 times more likely to get attacked than Windows 7 users.

Of course, these figures are only some estimates based on past data, but there’s no doubt that an operating system still receiving updates and security patches from the parent manufacturer is a much better choice than a discontinued version.

“Our telemetry data shows that XP users are 6 times more likely to get attacked than Windows 7 users and once Microsoft stops issuing patches, this can worsen,” Avast said.

What’s more, AVAST said, 21.5 percent of the users still on Windows XP are currently running Internet Explorer, while 45.6 percent have already made the switch to Google Chrome. Firefox is installed on 28.5 percent of computers powered by Windows XP.

“In addition to Windows XP itself being a security risk, Internet Explorer on Windows XP poses an even larger threat. The latest version of the browser available on Windows XP is version 8, making it outdated and lacking a number of security improvements available in its later versions,” the security company pointed out.

“Of our existing Windows XP user database, 21.5% run Internet Explorer, leaving themselves open to easy attacks. Google Chrome is a good alternative and is fully compatible with Windows XP, updating itself automatically.”

Microsoft has basically the same view over Windows XP, although the software giant doesn’t want users to replace Internet Explorer with Google Chrome and stick to this platform, but migrate to Windows 8.1 completely and even upgrade their hardware configurations.

That’s actually one of the main problems for Windows XP users, as upgrading their computers involves pricey investments that some cannot afford right now. As a result, many might actually stick to Windows XP for a few more years, not necessarily until they have the money to move to another operating system, but also until the software giant comes up with a more appealing product than the existing Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 platform which generated so much confusion among beginners.