Only 29 percent of the respondents said they were planning an upgrade

Jul 13, 2014 11:47 GMT  ·  By

Windows XP was officially retired from the market in April this year, but users and companies alike are still running it these days due to a number of reasons, including the high cost of an upgrade.

A new research conducted in the United Kingdom by Vanson Bourne and commissioned by security company Bit9 + Carbon Black reveals that 74 percent of the computers owned by firms in the country are still powered by Windows XP despite the April 8 deadline.

Keep in mind that the respondents to this survey were IT admins, which should obviously have a solid computer knowledge and be well aware of the fact that running old and outdated software on a computer is extremely risky.

That doesn't seem to be a problem for many, however, as only 29 percent of them said that an upgrade could start soon, with the rest explaining that staying on Windows XP for now is the only good choice.

“Visibility is critical for effective security, yet these results show that far too many organizations don’t know what’s happening on their endpoints,” said Ben Johnson, chief evangelist for Bit9 + Carbon Black. “You can’t stop advanced threats and targeted attacks if you can’t see what’s happening. Prevention, detection and response are built on the ability to see all activity on every endpoint and server.”

Microsoft itself warned with pretty much every occasion that staying on Windows XP is not the best thing these days because cybercriminals would try to exploit vulnerabilities in the operating system to reach your data.

The company warned that switching to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 is the best way to be secure, emphasizing that third-party anti-virus software won't help much because it all comes down to OS vulnerabilities.

“While it's true that you can keep using your PC with Windows XP after support ends, we don’t recommend it. For starters, it’ll become five times more vulnerable to security risks and viruses, which means you could get hacked and have your personal information stolen,” Microsoft said.

“Over time, the security and performance of your PC will just continue to degrade so things will only get worse.”

As far as consumers are concerned, stats show that 25 percent of the desktop users worldwide are running Windows XP right now, while Windows 7 continues to lead the market with a surprising 50+ percent market share in almost every country across the globe.