14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will discontinue Windows Vista on April 11, and this is undoubtedly a critical moment not only for the company itself but also for its users, as systems that continue running the operating system will no longer receive security patches and fixes.
This means they remain exposed to attacks targeting unpatched vulnerabilities, and this should become a common thing given the fact that most vulnerabilities exist in the majority of Windows versions.
But as far as Windows Vista is concerned, new statistics provided by NetMarketShare indicate that the world is finally ready to give up on what's arguably Redmond's biggest flop in history. Only 0.72 percent of users are running Vista at this point, and with about 10 days left to upgrade, there's a good chance that more of them would jump ship as well as soon as possible.
Windows Vista has never been a successful product and that makes Microsoft's job substantially easier, with only a few users to actually be impacted by the end of support.
Just upgrade and you're fine
Unlike the retirement of Windows XP, when nearly 25 percent of systems were still powered by Windows XP, giving up on Windows Vista should be a smooth transition, though there's no doubt additional security measures need to be put in place on PCs that are yet to upgrade before the April 11 target date.
Windows Vista users who, for some reason or another, can't upgrade in the coming weeks are recommended to start planning the move to a newer operating system as soon as possible, as the number of attacks aimed at their systems is likely to grow.
Microsoft will also offer custom support to companies willing to pay for updates and security patches until the upgrade is complete, but for home users transitioning to a new operating system is the only way to go.
Without an Internet connection, a Windows Vista system is less exposed to attacks, though there's no doubt that sooner or later giving up on this old platform and switching to Windows 10 is the right long-term investment.