Anti-virus software maker AVAST claims 23.6 percent of its users still have Windows XP installed on their PC and called Microsoft's decision to cut off support on April 8th a "big mistake". In a blog post, AVAST claims that the elimination of patches for XP "will create severe security issues". It says that 23.6 percent of its 211 million customers are still using XP on their PCs and seemed to suggest that many of them could not afford to upgrade to a more recent version of Windows. AVAST stated, "Abandoning Windows XP is a big mistake, especially since Microsoft has not been very successful in transitioning XP users to newer systems." The company also claims that the security problems connected to the end of support for XP will extend beyond just the computers that have the OS installed on their hard drives. The blog says:

XP users more susceptible to attacks than Windows 7 users

The abandonment by Microsoft will not only affect Windows XP users, but will create a big security problem for the whole ecosystem. Tens of millions of PCs running XP connected to the Internet, unpatched and without security updates, are just waiting to be exploited. The vulnerable OS will be an easy target for hackers and be seen as a gateway to infect other non-XP operating systems. Our telemetry data shows that XP users are 6 times more likely to get attacked than Windows 7 users and once Microsoft stops issuing patches, this can worsen.

The next Target-like attack is brewing

Home users are not the only ones who will be affected by the Windows XP support cutoff, according to reports*, 95% of ATMs in the world still run on Windows XP. These ATMs along with businesses still using Windows XP on their PCs need to be updated, or at the very least seek alternative protection. Medical offices that store confidential patient information and stores that keep customer details, such as credit card numbers, on their computers running Windows XP could easily be attacked. The Target data breach last year was conducted through a trojan that attacked the shops' point of sales system. If businesses don't keep their systems safe, we will, unfortunately, see more of data breaches like this. The news of the XP support cutoff was published a year ago, which means that IT professionals should be well aware of the change and the consequences it will have. For those who haven't taken action yet, the time is now.

The problem for Microsoft is that XP is still very useful for most applications. Kiosks which only one run program, really don't need a modern day UI for instance. Many offices still use XP because it just works. Most people/places that are using XP are using it because there is no real advantage in usability for them compared to 7 or 8. Most of these places will still use XP regardless if it is still supported or not. Look at Windows 98 / 2000 (not ME) all those were examples of OS's that were used way past their prime or support date, but eventually people still upgraded. In fact I remember back around 2001/2002 my public school brought in all new HP computers which were supposed to run XP, but they loaded Windows 98 on them. They were running 98 until about 2005 or so. Does that make sense?