14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will officially retire Windows XP on April 8, 2014, so users who are still running the 11-year-old OS should start the transition to a newer platform as soon as possible.
Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, said in a blog post that Windows XP is very likely to become an easy target for hackers in less than 9 months, as Microsoft will no longer provide security patches for it.
“It is time to implement a migration plan to a newer operating system; after all, Windows XP loses its support in April of next year. It will then stop receiving security updates and will quickly deteriorate into an easy target for even inexperienced attackers,” he wrote.
Windows XP is still powering nearly 37 percent of computers worldwide, but Microsoft hopes to cut down its market share to approximately 10 percent by April 2014.