Microsoft To Drop Windows XP, Exchange 2003, & Office 2003 Support

It’s time to move on to Windows 7 or 8 and bid farewell to Windows XP. After 12 years of service and support, Microsoft Windows XP and Exchange Server 2003/Office 2003 are being phased out by the computing giant.

On April 8, 2014, Microsoft will no longer offer technical support and automatic updates for the Windows XP Operating System (OS), Exchange Server 2003, and Office 2003. Microsoft recommends that businesses begin the migration from Windows XP to Windows 7 or 8 now! Microsoft posted the support details on their website and they have been prepping their partners and re-sellers for the upcoming End of Life (EOL) support change since last year. There is still much to do and as of June 2013, Windows XP still held 37% share of business desktop operating systems.

I recommend upgrading to Windows 7 now and then waiting to upgrade to Windows 8 at a later date, or as it best suits your business needs. Don’t get me wrong, Windows 8 is a great advancement of the Windows desktop operating system, but it brings a lot of new changes to the user interface which makes it difficult for users of Windows XP to get accustomed to quickly. The nice thing about Windows 7 is that it is a pleasant change from previous Windows version and it is not drastically different than XP. As a best practice, businesses should wait at least 1 -2 years before installing newly released OS anyway.  Who wants Vista to happen to them?

After April 8th, computers running XP will be vulnerable to security attacks by hackers and cybercriminals poised and waiting for this support termination. New viruses will seek out XP users and a lack of updates will leave holes in the operating system that will greatly affect information security eventually rendering desktop systems (or businesses) inoperable.

The OS transition may take longer for some businesses and some users may not be able to fully migrate depending on their needed internal system requirements.

For instance, if a company relies on specialized 3rd party software tools that are not compatible with Windows 7 or Windows 8 yet, I recommend design solutions that will allow businesses to gradually transition while waiting until the 3rd party software updates its integration capabilities. Also, some PCs associated with manufacturing line machines may not be able to be upgraded because the Windows XP OS is tightly integrated by a 3rd party vendor and thus could cause those intelligent machines and equipment to stop functioning. Since these machines are not usually tied to the network infrastructure with Internet access, this is typically a low risk item.

Are you still running Office 2003 and Exchange 2003?  If so, I highly encourage you to upgrade to the 2010 or 2013 versions because Microsoft’s extended support and hot-fixes for these products are also ending on April 8th.

Also, there are many businesses still running Windows Server 2003.  If you are one, you can take a short sigh of relief.  Microsoft’s extended support for Windows Server 2003 will expire next year on July 14, 2015, so there is still time to plan for those upcoming server migrations.

First and foremost, you must plan to protect your business infrastructure from security breaches and use design solutions to ensure your network is protected during the transition phase. A network review and a proper planning will ensure that your business network is protected and prepare the company at-large for the system changes. Are you ready?

For more information, call 301.682.5100, 877.SWIFT.S.I (877.794.3874), or email to discuss this with Swift IT.

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