14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is struggling to convince users to dump Windows XP by April 8, 2014, but many customers are still choosing to buy the 11-year-old operating system.
Jon Bach, president of Puget Systems, a Kent, Wash.-based system builder, told CRN that up to 10 of the customers his company has every month go for Windows XP, despite all of Microsoft’s efforts to move everyone to a modern OS.
The Redmond-based tech giant, on the other hand, emphasizes that sticking to Windows XP beyond the retirement date leads to major security risks, especially because hackers would most likely attempt to exploit unpatched PCs.
At the same time, the company hopes that Windows XP users moving to a newer platform will choose Windows 8, as it still needs to boost the operating system’s market share as soon as possible.
According to third-party stats, Windows 8 is currently powering approximately 5 percent of computers worldwide.