Here is hoping that we do not hear nearly as much about Windows XP after April 8, 2014 as we are leading into the looming retirement of the ancient operating system.
Because really, no one can afford a large breach of security or a hacking incident after Microsoft pulls off the plug of the second most popular OS in the world. The technology giant keeps on remaining the XP user base at every opportunity that it is time to upgrade to a newer version of Windows.
But while the campaign is running strong, and there have been encouraging signs recently of users and businesses adopting a newer operating system, not everyone is joining the party, sadly.
The Japanese government, for instance, seems to have no choice but to stick with Windows XP after support ends. The reason, you ask? Insufficient funds needed to upgrade — whether this goes for the hardware or the licensing costs of Windows 7 or Windows 8.
According to this poignant little report, a survey conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun of 1,789 local institutions revealed that more than 200,000 computers will continue to be powered by Windows XP after the retirement date.
No less than 28 percent of the respondents cited the lack of funds as the primary reason.
Speaking in terms of overall computers that are operated by the Japanese government, Windows XP is currently installed on more than 1.765 million PCs. And while it sees the transition to a newer platform as absolutely critical for the security of locally stored data, upgrading the remaining PCs is no easy feat.
The costly process is estimated to require an additional investment of $2.4 billion.
Still, at the end of the day, 200,000 is a substantial number, and maybe Microsoft can work something out in this regard, and put up, say, another special Windows 8 promotion aimed at XP users?
All Comments
Microsoft needs to work out some type of deal to get some of the these groups to go ahead and transition. As long as Windows is the only cost preventing the upgrade, they should offer governments and large groups big upgrade discounts.
Oh totally!
The hardware will cost way more than windows so they should get Sony to give them a deal.
Nice one! 😀 Though Sony giving them a deal will still be expensive than buying hardware from other (affordable) PC makers. Sony likes to stay deluxe.
I got it MS gives them a deal on surface 2
Now, that’s more like it!