Windows XP – end of life
Windows XP was first launched in 2001 and Microsoft have now withdrawn support for XP as of 8th April. There is a useful page giving full details:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/end-support-help
It does recommend upgrading to Windows 8.1 but you may find that your machine is not capable of running Windows 8 in which case you may prefer to try Windows 7 or even invest in some new kit! Provided you are eligible to register with Dreamspark, you can download either Windows 7 or 8 from there. Details on Dreamspark can be found here:
https://computing.help.inf.ed.ac.uk/self-managed-windows
As Microsoft will no longer be providing updates to protect your machine, this means that it will become more vulnerable to new security risks and viruses which are not being fixed for XP. If you have a Windows XP machine within Informatics which currently has firewall holes opened, we will need to close these holes to reduce the risks to other users. Our self-managed and personal machines policy also states that:
“Users must ensure that the software and systems on their machines are kept fully patched and appropriately configured against security vulnerabilities. If they use a system which is prone to viruses, they must ensure that they have adequate and current protection installed.”
The full page can be found at:
https://computing.help.inf.ed.ac.uk/self-managed-policy
