Duck Dynasty and Windows XP. One of them needs to go and it’s not the beards.

They are both very popular and loved by millions.  The difference – Duck Dynasty gives great straight up advice that is useful and promotes a better world.  Windows XP leaves you and your customers at risk for data loss, identity thief and lots of heartache.

First let me say I too, love Windows XP.  I still have a virtual machine running Windows XP for some of those programs that just don’t work on newer operating systems due to the manufacturer not keeping them up to date or going out of business, however, it should not be used for any computer with sensitive data.

Why?  Let’s look at it like this.  Windows XP was released toward the end of 2001, in computer years this is centuries ago, and is the most popular version of Windows.  The problem with this is hackers have had 12+ years to find ways to get data off computers running Windows XP and it is a favored OS by hackers, due to Microsoft not releasing any more service packs and soon no longer releasing any more security fixes.  In all honestly, I feel Microsoft will extend the release of security patches a bit longer, but not forever.

Let’s make this a bit more personal.  You want and expect your identity to be kept safe and secure by any company you are doing business with.  Would you rather they protect it with 12 year old software that has not been updated in roughly 4 years (service pack 3 was around 2008) or would you want them to use more current, up to date software which is being actively developed and patched?

Hackers love Windows XP too.  They love it for the same reason duck hunters like a shotgun (also known as a scatter gun).  One bullet, lots of shots, better chance of hitting something.  One virus program, lots of Windows XP users, better chance of getting in to steal some data.

As much as we love Windows XP, let’s at least treat our customers as we would want to be treated and upgrade to Windows 8.  Windows 8 is a great OS despite all the bad press.  It is a bit of a learning curve especially if you are migrating from XP, however, it is worth the move for you and your customers peace of mind.  I would recommend, you verify your hardware and business critical programs work with Windows 8.  There may also be some other changes needed if you are still clinging to old hardware and software.