Microsoft Will End XP SP2 Support Soon

Windows XP has had an extraordinarily long lifespan as far as desktop operating systems go, although it’s not because it was a technological wonder. It’s durability — nine years and counting — is attributable to Windows Vista being late and then not very good.

As a result, Microsoft dragged out support for the OS a lot longer than it would have liked. But now there’s a new, well-received operating system on the market and your excuses to not upgrade have just gone down. For those of you dawdling, Microsoft is helping to make your mind up for you: it is ending support for Windows XP Service Pack 2. No worries, Service Pack 3 is out there, but would that take as long to deploy as Windows 7? Datamation takes a look.

Microsoft has been warning IT managers for months that it will end support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) on July 13. That should be no problem, since there’s still Service Pack 3, which is still under support, on which to fall back.

According to a study just released by Toronto-based systems integrator and reseller Softchoice, however, 77 percent of all IT organizations still need to deal with PCs running SP2. Some 10 percent of the machines in those organizations still run XP SP2.

Read the full story at Datamation:


Microsoft Warns PC Managers XP SP2 Support Expires Soon