I am a big proponent of Microsoft in general and I have been for a long time, but I have had a feeling in the pit of my stomach for months now that propaganda surrounding Microsoft’s ending of support for XP has been blown out of proportion and not just by Microsoft. The issue of moving off XP has been presented to the public as a “sky is falling” kind of crisis but I believe that SOME of the fear-mongering has been as likely a sales pitch as much as it has been real issue that needed to be addressed.

This article begins by acknowledging that since Microsoft officially ended support for XP, the world has NOT imploded. However, the writer continues by touting the Microsoft Corporate line: “The simple reality is that the risk to Windows XP systems — as well as the risk XP systems pose to the rest of the internet — will only continue to grow with each passing week.”

Wow! Really? So, now we are told to believe that anyone still using XP isn’t just putting themselves at risk, they are putting the ENTIRE Internet at risk!?

Let’s get a little more realistically: It is my belief that XP will move into a decline naturally not because Microsoft said so, but rather as software publishers are able to help people to make the change-over by releasing new versions easing the transition from the old O/S to the new and/or as people find features in the new systems that make the old comfortable environments less comfortable. For example, most of the remaining people still using Windows 98 switched to XP when they could no longer find an Internet Browser that would display the new websites that were being published on the Internet, not because Microsoft quit supporting the O/S.

Common sense tells me that the “risk[s] XP systems pose to the rest of the internet” will decrease in a orderly fashion as the number of people remaining on XP declines in the same way the number of people who used Windows 98 declined in the years following Microsoft ending support for that venerable operating system. Now, would it shock you to learn that Windows 98 is still around? There are history buffs who still have some 98 machines and there is a very small number of people out there who use 98 machines to run specific tasks and nothing else. In fact, I have a virtual installation of Windows For Workgroups 3.11 that I still pull up from time to time just for fun.

I know of Commodore 64 fans who still have operating 64’s running on networks and I personally have a working CPM computer from 1983. Windows XP will gradually take it’s place as one of the best & most dependable operating systems in history and no one will have to force anyone to make the change, it will happen just as soon as the computers are obsolete for the users who use them. As I have said millions of times, “Obsolescence is in the eyes of the user, NOT the software publisher or hardware manufacturer.”

But Microsoft knows one very important thing: People will not make a change without a compelling reason to do so. Cue the “sky is falling” routine. Instant compelling reason to change.

In terms of any increasing risk associated with those using Windows XP: There are situations that do require higher security when processing medical information, or ACH bank transactions or other critical functions, but need I remind everyone that just last week we were notified that the SSL security that we have been depending on for years now was affected by the HeartBleed bug and no matter what operating system (including Macs!) you used to access secure Internet sites, there are now questions as to whether any of that was really secure!

Plus, there’s one bit of common sense that everyone in the industry seems to be choosing to ignore and it is this: If everyone is herded to a new operating system, exactly where do you think the hackers are going to go? Might it be in their best interest to focus most of their attention where the potential number of victims is the highest? Is it too much to assume that hackers use economic theory when they try to determine where the biggest return might be achieved even if they don’t realize it?

The assumption being made by everyone is that newer systems MUST be more secure and I’m sure that they probably are, but the declining number of people on XP will reduce the number hackers focusing on XP and until the Anti-Virus Software publishers quit supporting XP, there will continue to be large numbers of people who will resist the change. While I believe that ultimately upgrading is important and every business should be working on building a plan to upgrade, I do not believe that the world will implode next week or next month or next Christmas just because some people are still using Windows XP.

In my opinion, this was not and is not a real crisis, but I worry that too many people are being frightened into making a decision as opposed to making a decision based on a logical plan that meets their needs, goals and dreams. Yes, even if the decision to upgrade is the correct decision to make either way, I would rather have customers who are excited about the benefits of making a change as opposed to clients who have been frightened into upgrading for reasons they don’t completely understand.

But, hey, just for the record, if you’d like to discuss creating a plan for you or your company to make the switch from Windows XP, let me know. I figure if Microsoft can use this situation as a marketing tool, then surely I can do the same thing.

The difference in our approaches is simple: I promise I will make no claims that the sky falling or the world is ending when we talk.