Some Microsoft engineer was definitely having some fun with this one: Last week, Microsoft quietly a released a desktop gadget to remind customers and businesses of one important fact: Windows XP falls out of support in 2014, and would you please consider purchasing an updated OS?
Getting it is pretty simple: after validating your copy of Windows, you can download and install the gadget from Microsoft?s website. After installation, there will be a blue box on your desktop, quietly counting down the days until Windows XP stops being patched.
The End of Support gadget
The gadget, expanded
I understand that Microsoft is eager to get its users to stop using Windows XP (and they?re still moving away pretty quickly, with over 350 million licenses sold since the OS went on sale in October 2009), but this seems like a bit much even if the countdown does still have almost three years to go.
Still, I suppose for slow-moving businesses and other IT shops, it?s a useful reminder of the fact that XP support isn?t guaranteed forever, even though it seemed like it would be for most of the last decade. If you haven?t started thinking about your Windows 7 strategy yet, it?s definitely time to start! Test your programs. Test your methods for loading and securing your computers. It?s time to start moving.
And consumers! Continue buying Windows 7, and if you?re still on Windows XP, consider moving away. Don?t be swayed by those spammers you see in the comments sections of most Windows sites, linking to those Wikipedia pages full of ?removed features? in Windows Vista and Windows 7 ? XP is an outdated OS that is increasingly difficult to recommend to home and corporate users alike, and within a couple of years Internet Explorer 9 won?t be the only program you can?t use anymore.
Like the fuker aint got enough money tut tut tut!!!!!!
