14 DAY TRIAL // If you’re one of the 29 percent of the desktop computers that are still running Windows XP right now, chances are that you’ve already abandoned Internet Explorer and moved to another browser, most likely Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
Statistics provided by security company Avast for its existing Windows XP user database show that 45.6 percent of customers still running this particular OS version have replaced Internet Explorer, which is the default browser in the operating system, with Google Chrome.
At the same time, 28.5 percent of the AVAST users switched to Firefox, while only 2.7 percent of them are relying on Opera to browse the Internet.
Unsurprisingly, Google is one of the companies which decided to extend Windows XP support beyond April 8, so in case you’re running Chrome right now, you can still use it until at least April 2015. Google announced in October 2013 that support for Chrome had been extended for one year, which means that patches and regular updates for the browser would be provided until at least April 2015.
“Like all technologies that come to their end-of-life, the XP operating system and most of its desktop applications will no longer receive updates and security patches. Since unpatched browser bugs are often used by malware to infect computers, we’re extending support for Chrome on Windows XP, and will continue to provide regular updates and security patches until at least April 2015,” Google said.
Basically, the search giant says that extended support for Windows XP will be provided especially because users need help to complete the migration to a newer operating and without application working on their computers, it’s basically impossible to do this.
“Our goal is to support Chrome for XP users during this transition process. Most importantly, Chrome on XP will still be automatically updated with the latest security fixes to protect against malware and phishing attacks,” Google said, while also pointing out that this decision is expected to come in handy not only to consumers, but also to organizations and businesses still running Windows XP 13 years after launch.
And still, people aren’t quite afraid of Windows XP’s end of support, with statistics showing that 29 percent of the desktop users worldwide are still running it right now. That’s a bit worrying for Microsoft, as the company initially planned to cut XP’s share to 13 percent by April 8, but now it’s fairly clear that such a goal is impossible.