Microsoft kicks off 'two year' XP countdown

Microsoft has reminded firms still running Windows XP that it will end support for the operating system on April 8, 2014, just under two years from today. 

The warning was targeted at organisations that may struggle to move off the platform before that date if they wait.  

“If you still have some PCs running Windows XP and Office 2003 in your organisation, now would be a good time to start migrating them to Windows 7 and Office 2010,” Microsoft announced on its Windows blog. 

“It is in a company’s – and its employees’ – best interest to take advantage of the modern Windows and Office software that is designed with these needs in mind,” a Microsoft spokesperson wrote. 

“We don’t recommend waiting.”

Support for Office 2003 will also end at the same time.

The company has made similar announcements in the past marking its 1000 day countdown last July. 

Gartner predicted last year a supply shortage of IT professionals skilled in Windows migrations. 

iTnews recently addressed one of the many possible sticking points for organisations attempting to migrate off XP: Internet Explorer 6 and old applications tied to that browser, which only XP supports. This is usually a problem for larger enterprises.