Microsoft has made a point to send out reminders to large businesses that still use Windows XP that extended support for the OS will end soon. The company has also tried to offer advice to businesses who want to make the move to Windows 7 or Windows 8.
Today, it was a third party, UK-based IT company Camwood, which sent out the latest reminder of Windows XP and its ultimate fate. In a press release, Camwood noted that just 500 days are now left before Microsoft"s official support for Windows XP will end on April 8th, 2014.
Camwood, naturally, is using this milestone to help promote its own services. However, its press release does make a point. There are estimates that as many as 50 percent of PC desktops in the enterprise market are still running Windows XP, although other numbers put that percentage as much lower.
Camwood went on to add:
Whatever the true number, there is still a huge number of companies that need to migrate. The end of XP support is a potential time bomb, and the clock is ticking. With all the potential compatibility and security issues looming from legacy systems, businesses need to understand migration is a necessary step to secure their valuable data.
It will be interesting to see what the percentage of enterprise PC users is that is still running Windows XP a year from now, and how many made the move to Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Source: Camwood press release | Image via Camwood