Microsoft releases a patch for XP after dropping support

Last month, Microsoft supposedly ended support for its wildly popular Windows XP operating system. Yet, just this week, it released a patch to close a security hole in versions of Internet Explorer compatible with XP. Microsoft described the patch as an “exception” to its decision to cease supporting the operating system.

Admittedly, Microsoft had good reason to make such an exception. On April 28^th, the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) issued a statement urging organisations to either mitigate a newly discovered flaw or “consider employing an alternate browser.” Microsoft simply could not allow such a comment to pass and allow its users to switch to Firefox or Chrome.

Despite the claim that the decision to release this patch was an exception, it is hard to imagine that Microsoft will not release such patches in the future. In the event a future security flaw is discovered that leads to a recommendation for users to cease using the XP operating system altogether, Microsoft undoubtedly would respond as it did this week.

According to NetMarketShare statics, nearly 30 percent of Windows machines still use XP,  more than double Windows 8 usage. It is no small wonder given the fact the Windows 8 is a difficult operating system to use – even by technology savvy individuals.

Microsoft is addressing the lack of adoption of Windows 8 by releasing an update later this year that will re-introduce the sorely missed Start Button. Based on a demonstration given at its annual developers conference in early April, the revamped Start Button looks promising. It combines ease of use found in earlier versions of the Windows operating system with dynamic tiles, by far the best feature of Windows 8.

I am already looking forward to the release of the improved Windows 8 operating system. Perhaps then I will finally be able to shut down my machine.