Firms consider options as Windows XP support deadline nears

No more security updates for XP SP2 after 13 July

Microsoft is urging customers still using Windows XP to ensure they have deployed the Service Pack 3 (SP3) update to the platform as the cut-off date for support of older versions of the venerable operating system approaches.

Although first released back in 2001, Windows XP is still the most widely deployed operating system on the market, representing over 62 per cent of computers connected to the internet, according to May 2010 figures from Net Applications.

However, support for XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) is due to end on 13 July. After this date, computers running Windows XP SP2 will not receive any further updates, even if serious security flaws are uncovered, Microsoft has warned.

Customers are being advised to upgrade their systems to SP3, the most recent XP update, which Microsoft has pledged to support with security updates until April 2014.

The alternative is to migrate off from XP entirely, which analysts such as Gartner are advising organisations should do by the end of 2012 at the latest.

Realistically, this gives businesses the choice of migrating to either Windows 7, or to Vista SP2, as support for the original Vista release version is also due to expire on 13 July, and Vista SP1 in July 2011.

Few customers are expected to choose Windows Vista at this point rather than Windows 7. In fact, most businesses will have decided some time ago what action to take.

Julie-Ann Muir, Windows product manager for Microsoft UK, said that Microsoft has been totally open about its lifecycle policy, but the firm wanted to ensure even at this late stage that customers are aware of what their options are.

"Customers that are on Service Pack 2 should be making a decision around whether they go with Service Pack 3, do they look at Windows 7, or do they do nothing and choose to stay exactly where they are," she said.

For firms that decide to do nothing, they can negotiate a services agreement with Microsoft to obtain ongoing support for SP2, Muir added, but this is likely to be an option that only a few large enterprises will be prepared to pay for.

According to a May 2010 report by IT security firm Qualys, a surprising number of companies are still using SP2.

"We see a large number of machines in enterprise networks still running under Windows XP SP2….only half of all Windows XP installations have upgraded to SP3 since its release," wrote chief technical officer Wolfgang Kandek.

The mystery is why companies are still running XP SP2 on PCs, when SP3 has been available since the middle of 2008, and Microsoft has made no secret of its policy of retiring service packs 24 months after the release of any successor.

"It's fair to say that companies don’t like change, because this can cost, so they make their moves very carefully and plan well in advance," explained Ian Moulster, Windows product manager for technical users in the UK.

Butler Group analyst Roy Illsley broadly agreed, but said that some customers may have run into compatibility issues with SP3, or else found no overriding reason to deploy it.

"IT departments will implement all security fixes as a rule, but a minority, those who really know what they're doing, analyse an update and decide that the problem addressed by it doesn't affect them," he said.