14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is retiring Windows XP today, finally cutting off support for the extremely popular operating system. While continuing to use XP is a security risk from now on, those that cannot part ways with it should be aware of the safest browsers they can use to browse the Internet.
Internet Explorer
Firstly, Internet Explorer is out of the question. The most common versions of Microsoft’s browser used by XP fans are 7 and 8. Since the browser is already up to version 11, they are somewhat obsolete and present security risks by themselves.
To make things worse, Microsoft will no longer update these versions, which means you’re vulnerable to malware and exploits by using these programs.
Latter versions of Internet Explorer should work just fine as long as Microsoft rolls out updates for them. If you do want to stick with Internet Explorer, however, make sure to update to one of the latest versions of the browser.
Google Chrome
Back in October, Google made a big announcement for all XP fans. The company said that it would continue to provide Chrome support for users of one of Microsoft’s most popular operating system.
“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 wrote at the time, giving all fans some good news.
The company has been criticized following the announcement, with people saying that it was putting Chrome users at risk by basically encouraging them to use an unsupported operating system.
Google defended itself, saying that it had to offer some support during the transition process, which was better than cutting users off all of a sudden. To this extent, Chrome on XP will be automatically updated with the latest security fixes to protect users against malware and phishing attacks.
Mozilla Firefox
Fans of Mozilla Firefox have no reason to panic now that Windows XP is no longer supported by Microsoft. The company announced late last year that it had no plans to cut off Windows XP users.
“We have no plans to discontinue support for our XP users,” the company told Neowin at the time. While Google has provided an end-date for its Chrome support, Mozilla has made no official announcements thus far on this issue.
The browser will not work on versions with Service Pack 1 and 2, as it hasn’t for a while now, but it will work just fine with Service Pack 3 installed.
Opera
Opera will follow in the footsteps of its fellow browsers and has confirmed that it has no intention to stop support for XP versions after April 8. “Opera is used by millions of Windows XP users, and we will keep supporting Windows XP as long as it is popular among our users,” the company told PC Pro.
This being said, remember to choose Chrome, Firefox or Opera as your default Internet browser to add some protection to your browsing habits following Microsoft’s shutting down support for XP.
