Money apparently talks when it comes to dealing with Microsoft and Windows XP.
The UK government has bought a one-year $9 million extension from Microsoft for continued support of the operating system pass its April 8 cut-off date. The contract states Microsoft will provide support for important security updates for Windows XP, Office 2003 and Exchange 2003.
Sarah Hurrell, commercial director for IT and Telecoms at Crown Commercial Service, said the extension will save the government around £20m or $33 million that would have had to have been spent if the different government organizations had to pay for the fixes separately.
"This allows us to have continuity for eligible public sector organizations as they migrate to other operating systems," she said.
Microsoft has said such deals don't let other Windows XP users off the hook. As of April 8 the company will not longer support the 12-year-old operating system with security patches and updates. The company has incessantly stated that XP users will be open to all types of problems if they refuse to upgrade.
However, simply upgrading is not a easy procedure. Many of the computers running XP are not powerful enough to handle Windows 8.1. So instead of just replacing the software at a modest cost an entirely new computer needs to be purchased.
There is also a lot of industry buzz that the main reason Microsoft wishes to abandon XP is due to the low acceptance level of Windows 8.1. It is radically different from Windows 7 and earlier operating systems that have confused consumers and thus limited its appeal. Windows 8.1 was designed from the ground up to work with mobile computing devices, such as tablet and touch screen computers.
Microsoft has tried to mitigate the damage by upgrading the original OS to make it easier for users to get back to their old-familiar desktop avoiding the 8.1 tile screen feature.
In related news Microsoft has developed a feature that lets its OS software recognize when it is being used by a desktop or laptop and automatically opening the desktop screen. This update will be pushed out on April 8.
