Retiring Windows XP and Office 2003
Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 9:35PM 
In approximately 220 days, support for Windows XP and Office 2003 will end. Most Small and Medium business support groups will start phasing out support in October of 2013. What this means to you,
- Security Risks
- Compliance Risks
- Lack of Independent Software Vendor Support
- Lack of Hardware Vendor Support
Here is even more detail,
- Retiring Windows XP (Microsoft)
- XP's retirement will be hacker heaven
- Support ends in 2014 for Windows XP and Office 2003 (Microsoft)
If these were big enough issues, the looming issue is 41% of all Windows users still use Windows XP.
I see three possible outcomes to the Windows XP end of support.
- Nothing happens immediately, but over 3 - 6 months software starts to change and is no longer compatible with Windows XP drivers.
- In the months leading up to the retirement date prices for other Operating Systems (Windows 7, Windows 8) increase and you pay more to upgrade.
- Hackers and other folks aware of the end of support date store up viruses, malware, etc. and then set them loose on the unsupported Windows XP user base. With such a broad installation base this could be a potential nightmare.
What should you do?
In my opinion, upgrade now. Avoid the risk of lack of support, gain the benefit from improved performance, and mitigate your risk.