14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will stop providing updates and security patches for Windows XP as of April 8 this year, which means that quite a lot of computers out there could become vulnerable and exposed to attacks overnight.
While it’s pretty clear that Windows XP’s user base is large enough to represent an important threat for the tech world if a vulnerability is found after April 8, a new research conducted by security company SPAMfighter shows that some of the users do not really care about the approaching Windows XP end of support.
The research, which includes 1,740 replies from users in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Denmark, revealed that 64.94 percent of the Windows P users are planning to stay with their current operating system and keep using the PC.
18.46 percent of the users haven’t decided yet, while 6.86 percent of them are willing to upgrade to Windows 7. Only 2.71 percent of the users are considering Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 as viable options.
“If data is cross-tabbed for gender, we can see that 68% of men plan to keep their XP computer, while only 54% of women plan to do the same. And while 30% of women are still undecided, only 15% of men are,” SPAMfighter explained in the results of the study.
As far as the biggest concern for Windows XP users after April 8, 44.58 percent of the respondents said that the lack of Windows updates is a bit worrying, while 28.32 of them said that virus and malware is a major concern.
“Arguably there will be a large number of Windows XP computers in use after April 9 — probably a much larger number than Microsoft anticipated. We don’t think it’s fair to blame them though. They have been supporting an OS for 13 years, and at some point you have got to put it to sleep. The latest news here is that Microsoft will start sending popup notifications to encourage Windows XP users to upgrade,” the security company mentioned in the results posted today.