press release, stating:
“AVAST will continue to support Windows XP users by creating protection modules and detections to cover vulnerabilities and other security problems for at least the next three years. Our latest version, avast! Free Antivirus 2014, works well with older machines running Windows XP because of its light footprint, speed, and negligible resource consumption, making it a perfect choice even for older machines running Windows XP. AVAST protects more XP users than anyone else.”But the antivirus vendor is not stopping here. AVAST believes that since Windows XP remains one of the most used operating systems in the world, users will continue relying on this particular OS for many more years. However, the company wants these users to switch from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome. This is to ensure that vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s web browser does not make their PCs easier to hack:
“Something that can help those users be more secure is switching their browser. XP users often also use Internet Explorer, which can be a severe security risk. Right now, IE 8 is the latest version that will run on Windows XP, meaning that it’s 3 generations old and no longer receives critical updates.”With Google having announced that its plans of continuing to support Windows XP beyond retirement, chances are that Chrome usage might shoot up amongst the remaining user base in the coming months.]]>
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Very interesting. Obviously, this makes sense for Avast since XP has more virus threats than Apple or newer Windows OS would have, but you have to wonder if this upsets Microsoft give their strong “retire from XP” campaign.
That last paragraph is important. Chrome may help itself gain more users thanks to that. As usual, seems like Google is thinking long-term. Unfortunately for Microsoft, there’s nothing they can do if they want to push users away from XP.
This is a double-edged sword for Microsoft. As Ted and Emily pointed out, Chrome will benefit from this as well as Avast, but you have to wonder what this will do to customer loyalty as well as if it stalls users from upgrading their OS.