Windows XP users get no love anymore (update: seems they do after all)
Windows XP. Oh how we loved thee. But yes, it’s time to finally move on. I mean I get it, really. The vast majority of people started getting into computers and the Internet in the 2000s – and guess which operating system was popular back then. But you do realise that it was released in 2001, right? 13 years ago. Which is ancient history in computer standards. For those of you who are older, that’s like using MSDOS 3.30 right about when Windows 98 was released. Oh wait, some of you did
Anyway, the big news of the week, and yes, this means this was a slow week, was that there was a big vulnerability found concerning all versions of Internet Explorer, from six to eleven. Which is hardly surprising after all these years. Of course Microsoft is already on it, and a patch is expected to arrive in the following days/weeks for all supported operating systems. You saw what I did there, didn’t you… Yes, Windows XP and its users are not considered supported anymore; so no patch for you guys and gals! Before you start mouthing off Microsoft (and hey, I am all about that) bear in mind that this is actually one of the situations where it’s not Microsoft’s fault. So please. Upgrade your Windows version already, or try another operating system altogether, like a Linux distribution. But let XP die because frankly, this won’t be the last time a major vulnerability will be found.
Update: Well, it seems Good Guy Microsoft won’t let you Windows XP users hanging, and it will patch the vulnerability for the aging OS as well, even though it’s past its support phase. So you’re in the clear… for now.
RIP Windows XP. Thanks for the memories.