With Windows XP moving to the extended support phase of
its lifecycle next week, businesses need to plan to upgrade before
full support for the ageing operating system ends.
Users have until 14 April 2014 to migrate from Windows XP.
But between now and then Microsoft will support the operating
system through its Extended Support programme. This means it will
continue to provide security patches and critical updates, but
users will have to pay for any additional support on a per incident
basis.
Many businesses are putting off upgrading to Windows Vista as
they see Windows XP as a more stable platform.
Ben Booth, global chief technology officer at Ipsos, says, "In
the current economic situation businesses will want to reduce costs
as far as possible, so if they do not have an ongoing financial
commitment to Microsoft (eg, through Enterprise Agreement) then I
expect they will carry on with XP." Booth predicts that many
companies will skip Vista and move directly to Windows 7, which is
expected in September.
Users are now faced with a race against the clock before XP
support ends, warns Steve Kleynhans, vice-president for client
computing at Gartner. Assuming Windows 7 does indeed ship in
September 2009 and companies spend up to 18 months testing the new
operating system before deploying, they will start rolling out
Windows 7 only in 2011. "It could take three years for a large
business to roll out Windows 7, which does not give businesses much
time before XP support ends."
Kleynhans urges businesses to download the beta release of
Windows 7 now and start testing on a small scale within the IT
department. "Set up a small lab, test your applications and let
your IT staff use it."
The release candidate software for Windows 7, which represents
the final code that Microsoft will ship, is due out next month.
"You can even start testing now with Windows Vista, because the
software compatibility issues will be the same."
Microsoft offers a full 10 years of support on all products,
which seems generous. But this only works well if companies upgrade
without skipping versions, says Jon Collins, managing director of
analyst Freeform Dynamics. Since many businesses are skipping
Vista, Collins says that Microsoft's policy on support does not
offer businesses as many advantages.
The clock is ticking. Windows XP is a stable operating system
and many businesses are very happy with. But in five years' time it
will no longer be supported by Microsoft. CIOs and IT directors
need to plan to migrate from Windows XP now.
Overcoming software compatibility issues
Microsoft has introduced a virtual machine platform called the
Microsoft Enterprise Desktop, which it says allows users to run
older applications on future versions of Windows in a virtual
Windows XP machine. Lawrence Painell, Windows product manager at
Microsoft, says people will be able to access applications running
on the virtual machine in the same way as they access native
Windows 7 software, which reduces support and training issues.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust has used the tool to
support XP applications as part of a Windows Vista roll-out across
5000 desktops.