Redmond is turning to another measure to convince users to upgrade

Mar 5, 2014 13:59 GMT  ·  By

Starting March 8, all Windows XP computers will start showing upgrade notifications that would encourage users to migrate to a new Windows version, be it Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

In addition, according to a report by ZDNet, Microsoft is also tweaking Security Essentials to display upgrade notifications when running on Windows XP, just to make sure that everyone is aware that OS support is coming to an end.

“Support for this operating system is ending. When this occurs Microsoft Security Essentials Prerelease will no longer be supported and your PC might be unprotected. To make sure your PC stays protected, click the link below to see our end-of-support guidance for operating system,” the displayed notification included in Security Essential reads.

The notification is accompanied by an end-of-support link that gets users to Microsoft’s Windows XP support page that provides information regarding the upgrade process to another OS version.

Windows XP is still holding a 29 percent market share on the desktop, despite Microsoft’s efforts to move users to a newer platform. Support will come to an end on April 8, which means that no other security updates and patches would be delivered to users running XP after this date, so upgrading is a must for all those running the ancient platform.