South Africans will no longer have Windows XP  as Microsoft South Africa has officially cut the XP wires as of yesterday. There will no longer be any updates, or free and paid support for the PC operating system.

The software which was released in 2001 and gained popularity in the business and regular realm has seen the OS being supported with free updates beyond the normal 10 year period (5 years mainstream support plus another 5 years extended support) for operating system software.

The company says that after more than 13 years, technology has progressed to such an extent that Windows XP is no longer the most practical OS choice to make for either corporate or home users.

Those users who are running Windows XP after 8 April 2014 should consider their businesses or home networks much more susceptible to viruses, malware, and hackers.

“Windows XP was a huge success for Microsoft, as a record number of users adopted this operating system for more than a decade. However, innovation and technological advancement always takes new steps, leaving behind previous innovations and the same has happened with Windows XP. The time has finally come for the OS veteran to pass the baton on to its successors, most notably Windows 8.1,” says Anthony Doherty, Windows and Surface Business Group Lead at Microsoft SA.

The risks of system failure and business disruption could also rise due to the End of Support, lack of supported software, as well as aging hardware running Windows XP.

Microsoft advices businesses as well as domestic users to upgrade their IT infrastructure and get a better and more modern platform like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. The latter provides enterprise grade security, as it is six times more secure than Windows XP, and has been designed from the ground up to meet the challenges of today’s corporate environment.