I got an update notice a few days ago saying Windows no longer supports XP.

Does this mean they gave me just a few days to arrange payment for a new computer?

Hell, I'm going turkey hunting & bass fishing next week . . .

WinXP has been EOS (end of sales) for a long time already, now at EOL (end of life) it simply means that Microsoft won't be issuing patches and updates, nor will they provide technical support or sell new copies. Existing machines will continue to work just as they did before. As long as you haven't lost your license keys, you can even reinstall and download all the patches and updates that were released over it's lifespan as they are not being taken down.

Implications to you in the capacity your home machine is used is probably minimal, if any at all. So if it works for you, there's no reason to upgrade solely based on the EOL announcement.

While Microsoft has dropped support for the machines and is raising the virus/attack/malware panic flags, the reality is that most of those things are being taken care of by your 3rd party firewall, anti-virus and anti-malware programs, which are still being updated as they use the same databases as the versions of those programs that run on the newest OSes. Programs like Avast, AVG, Norton, Malware Bytes, etc. are still going to protect your system

Home and business computers that are on protected networks really aren't at any more risk than they were before. I have seen machines that have had their updates turned off for years and they are running just fine.

Machines that sit exposed on the internet might be in for a bumpy ride though.

I spent yesterday getting an office upgraded/protected. They are still running legacy software so I had to keep the server on a hardened XP machine, though I did upgrade all of the clients to W7.

There is a lot to like about Win 7/8 or even OSX and Linux. Even though your XP machine won't suddenly stop working, this is definitely the death knell. As cacman said, companies now have an excuse to simply stop supporting it.

TG- in my experience, the average user still on XP isn't paying much attention to their antivirus situation either.

Do you guys recommend installing Norton (it's free w/Comcast) if we have XP's MS Security Essentials on one of our boxes?

Or leave as is without updates until we replace all 5 pc's the next year? The others already have Norton. Also not sure which operating system to adopt. Is 8.1 the best option?

Thanks.

8, 8.1 are fine. The interface is a little different but doesn't take that long to get used to. Not like you have much of a choice in OSes anyway.

8.1 is alot to get used to and IMO more of a tablet os, Win7 is my OS of choice. Now you can make win8 look like win7 but ehh

I agree, but I meant that at least more modern OSes have more built in protection and will continue to be patched.

BS, antivirus opinions are going to be all over the map, but I have had good luck with webroot (previously known as prevx), especially their business product that allows remote management. It has saved me a ton of time supporting computer users. Lightweight and does not download definitions.

Sooooo, options are Win 8.0 (preferably) & to stay "as is" for the next year or so (with antirvirus MS Security) or weigh "bloated" free Norton vs the two aforementioned above?

When are they going to invent a less cumbersome operating system- something where patches & gizmos are unnecessary?

Sometimes I think that computers (software) are made complicated by design. We don't fully comprehend what we've invented.

LMAO!!! The cries of a future Mac owner!

ATM's don't have users actively installing toolbars and games with PUPs and they sit behind several layers of protection. You can't catch anything if you wear a condom all the time and also never stick it in anything.

preach!

This is a big point of contention in the PCI compliance world, as one of the requirements is a supported version of software. This means that the OS need to have active patching and security notifications for any issues found on a regular basis. Most of the Banks could pay millions to extend the support of XP to stay in compliance. Most major retail POS systems are also run off of a subversion of XP as well, and this would mean that more breaches could be easier if there are exploits identified.

Just going to be a choice for a lot of companies to either spend the money to update their software, or pay for the support.

LOL- Do you know my very first computer was a Mac then Mac+... wife (huh- I thought engineers preferred Macs?) and society browbeat me into the pc world and I've hated life ever since. The stories I could tell about compatibility issues especially peripherals such as a Macs laser printer & pc's.#-o

Son is pestering for a Mac now. How easy (and expensive) would it be to transition a small network from pc to Macs?

Perhaps you shouldn't tell me.

I have a mixed network of PCs and a couple older Macs, with shares off of windows servers and have a couple linux servers, with Virtual network devices for my lab.

My question, and it's naive, is the upgrade to W7 or 8 free? Is the switch to the google chrome OS free ?

My computer is running really slow,and even videos off FB are really jumpy.

I'm not happy about any of this . . .