14 DAY TRIAL // The imminent EOS for Windows XP is pushing business and authorities worldwide to negotiations with Microsoft for extended support, as many have not yet completed the transition to a newer OS that could provide enhanced security and stability.
The British Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is very close to finalizing talks with the software giant on a potential deal that would guarantee patches and security updates for one more year, CRN is reporting, so the public sector has been advised to delay any potential deals with Redmond-based company.
Basically, CCS’ agreement would cover the public sector as well, but more details would be provided next week when the two parts are expected to make the agreement official.
The same source published a letter sent by the Cabinet Office to local councils, informing that negotiations with Microsoft are very likely to come to a conclusion very soon, so any other talks on extended support for Windows XP should be put on hold until more information emerges.
“We are writing to advise you that the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is currently finalising details of a Crown agreement with Microsoft that will provide all eligible public sector organisations with a further one-year support for these products to help with their migration plans,” the letter reads.
“If you are currently planning or negotiating an agreement for extended support for these products we recommend that you do not make any commitments at this time.”
No financial terms have been disclosed, but the deal could be made for anywhere between $40 million (€29 million) and $100 million (€73 million), as Microsoft is going to provide extended Windows XP support for 12 more months, until all computers are being migrated to another operating system.
Windows XP will be officially retired on April 8, so users who are still running it have less than 10 days to deploy another operating system in order to remain protected and stay away from any potential attack. Without security patches and updates, any found vulnerability would allow an attack to break into Windows XP computers with ease, despite security apps, such as anti-virus products and firewalls, running on the machine.
Security vendors will continue to provide support for Windows XP, which means that their apps will still work on this OS version, but Microsoft warns that the operating system itself would become vulnerable to attacks, so no third-party app could block incoming attacks.