14 DAY TRIAL // Everybody knows that Windows XP will officially go dark on April 8, 2014, but only a few users actually decided to do something about it, so the number of upgrades to newer OSes remains low at this point.
AVAST Software has conducted a researcher on 164 education institutions to find out whether they are ready to move from Windows XP to Windows 7 or 8 before the retirement takes place.
It turns out that not everybody is prepared for this moment and Windows XP is likely to cause a major technology crisis in 2014 when it would be retired.
“Educational institutions of all sizes around the world are going to have to foot the bill of upgrading not only their operating system but also their hardware,” Avast explained.
“Schools that don’t upgrade to a new operating system by the April 2014 cut-off could be at risk. The withdrawal of support means that there will be no updates such as security patches, driver refreshes, or bug fixes — all of which are essential for networked personal computers, where protection of children and information is especially important.”
The security vendor behind the famous freeware anti-virus product avast! has also launched the so-called Free of Education program that provides anti-virus protection at no cost to schools in the United States.
The company estimates that each school which makes the switch to its software could save more than $14,000 (€10,500) per year, while also staying away from malware, regardless of the operating system they are using.
The cost of moving from Windows XP to a newer operating system is said to be around $200 (€150) per computer, but many education institutions also need more money for purchasing new hardware or systems to cope with the requirements of newer platforms, be they Windows 7 or Windows 8.