14 DAY TRIAL // Windows XP will be retired on April 8, 2014, but Microsoft hopes that only 13 percent of the users will stick to the ancient system after end-of-support is reached.
Security researcher Graham Cluley warns that sticking to Windows XP is risky not only for the users doing it, but also for everyone else, as the vulnerable computers could be turned into larger botnets used to launch attacks across the web.
“Anyone connecting a Windows XP computer to the internet after Microsoft drops its support in April 2014 is not only putting themselves at risk, but also endangering all of us on the Internet -- as their computers may be hijacked into botnets and used to spread malware and spam attacks,” Cluley was quoted as saying by InformationWeek.
At this point, 30 percent of the users worldwide are still running Windows XP, but Microsoft is launching update warnings with every single occasion.
It remains to be seen how many users actually find Windows 8 or 8.1 good enough to dump the old Windows XP and move to a completely new OS.