Thirteen years after the official release of Windows XP, Microsoft is stopping providing security updates and technical support for the popular operating system.
However, statistics show that Windows XP is still installed on 28 percent of computers worldwide, which proves that many users are not yet ready to abandon their beloved operating system. Security researcher Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, believes that XP will not disappear completely until 2015 or 2016.
Kandek explains in a blog post that Windows XP continues to hold a significant market share in several countries, including France, Germany, the US and Great Britain.
"How long will Windows XP survive? Certainly until 2015 and maybe longer, given that companies and governments will buy extended support from Microsoft and there will also be operational hurdles in some organizations," the researcher explains.
Furthermore, the majority of antivirus and firewall software developers for Windows XP will continue to support this version of the operating system for at least two more years, so users will remain safe until 2015 or beyond.
