Support for Windows XP has ended; how should small business who still use it respond?

As the saying goes, ‘all good things must come to end’. Thus, not long ago, Microsoft pulled the plug on one of its most successful products of the past two decades by ending official support for Windows XP.

Many people have moved beyond Windows XP and use one of the many other iterations of Windows or one of its competitors such as Apple or Ubuntu. But not everyone is so up-to-date, and some small businesses are facing an interesting choice as the Windows XP era draws to a close.

Windows XP, launched in 2001 as the successor to the poorly-received Windows 2000 and Windows ME products, soon became quite popular. Regular users found it to be quite easy to use and versatile, and it would eventually become the number one operating system in the world for much of the decade.

Alas, the reign of Windows XP couldn’t last as newer operating systems were developed to take advantage of newer hardware. Microsoft finally gave Windows XP the axe in April 2014, ending official software support for the beloved operating system.

Of course, it’s not as if Microsoft somehow triggered every computer using Windows XP to suddenly fail. Those computers running the operating system will continue to run as they did before. What the end of support means is that there will no longer be any updates or security measures released for Windows XP. Likewise, Microsoft will no longer be able to help customers who have questions about the product.

What this means is that Windows XP users will be far more vulnerable to security intrusions and risk damage and loss to their systems. Users will also far further behind as fewer programs are designed to run on XP.

Given the fact that Windows XP has been around for over 13 years, and Microsoft wants to make money by selling its newest operating systems, this move makes sense. However, the big problem, according to the BBC, is that a full third of all computers in the world still run Windows XP. Many of those computers belong to small businesses.

The end of Windows XP support presents small businesses with a big dilemma: spend the time and the money upgrading to a new operating system, or gamble with the increased security risks that continue to use Windows XP will bring. For many businesses, neither of the two choices are good.

However, I feel that the choice should be obvious. I have to admit, I am currently writing this blog on a computer that runs Windows XP. But this is a personal computer I use for travel, not a business computer. Businesses have no business running such outdated software.

Lately, I’ve been on a bit of a crusade pushing for businesses, especially small businesses and wholesalers, to jump on the technology bandwagon and keep up with the times. Any business owner who looks at today’s world and thinks that they can continue to operate using 13-year-old software is delusional.

We live in a mobile, touch-screen, socially-connected world where people, especially young people, use cutting edge devices and apps for just about everything. Old technology doesn’t cut it any more. If you want your business to continue to exist five years from now, you need to embrace the trends. And that means dumping your decade-old operating system.

The post Take Advantage of the End of Windows XP appeared first on TheBiggestClearance.com BLOG.