This year saw the end of Windows XP (and Office 2003) support. It saw really slow adoption of Windows 8 in businesses of all sizes. Windows 10 was announced (and what happened to Windows 9?). Next year will see the end of Microsoft support for Windows Server 2003…and Windows 10 will become available for purchase.
So, there’s a few different Windows Panes to cover this month – and hopefully, some advice to help…
END OF XP…
Windows XP just won’t go away. Even though Microsoft’s support for Windows XP ended earlier this spring, estimates are that roughly 10% of all Windows computers are still running XP. With the end of support, Microsoft hasn’t been providing security updates for XP.
Most of our clients are all the way migrated off XP, but there’s still a few – and every week, we run across another business still using Windows XP. This has been a particularly bad year for computer threats – and there’s nothing to suggest that 2015 will be any safer. In that light, one of the more dangerous things you can do is hold onto outdated, unsupported software.
Conversely, one of the best things you can do to keep your systems safe is to run on a vendor-supported operating system, which today would be Windows 7 or 8.
WHAT’S NEXT?
A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced its next version of Windows. It will be called “Windows 10” and on surface, it looks to be a good update and visually and functionally a hybrid of Windows 8 and Windows 7.
Windows 8 did not get a warm welcome when released. There were many reasons for that that we won’t repeat here now. We counseled clients to hold off and continue adopting Windows 7. The different user interface in Windows 8, just by itself, made adopting Windows 8 something of a challenge. Windows 10 brings back a more familiar and more popular Windows XP / Windows 7 desktop.
We have installed the Windows 10 “Technical Preview” on a computer here (my carry laptop, actually) and will have more to say about Windows 10 in the coming weeks. For now, the take-aways are that we were able to easily upgrade a Windows 8.1 PC, that the Preview seems stable, and we’re happy to have our Start button back. When Windows 10 is available some time later next year we anticipate advising clients to move directly from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
WINDOWS SERVER
Next summer, Microsoft will end support for Windows Server 2003, creating many of the same support and security issues for that platform as have been experience with Windows XP. If you still have a Windows Server 2003 server in your business, NOW is the time to be planning for and executing a replacement.
TIME CHANGE
Most computer-based clocks adjust for Daylight Savings Time now… but this is a reminder that Daylight Savings Time ends on November 2. Remember to adjust your clocks accordingly, as well as to check the batteries and function of your smoke and CO detectors.
