Microsoft to India Inc: Move on from Win XP

 With 28 working days to go before Microsoft Corporation formally ends support for its Windows XP operating system, the company said on Tuesday that only 16 per cent of PCs in large Indian enterprises still use Windows XP.

More than 80 per cent of PCs in large enterprises in India have successfully moved away from Windows XP, Microsoft said, adding that this has reduced the risk to their operations.

“We want every PC in India to move away from Windows XP before support ends on April 8, 2014. Our customers use Windows operating system to run critical processes which help them at work and in their lives. Therefore it is important that they use a version of Windows that gives them the best possible security and capability,” said Karan Bajwa, Managing Director, Microsoft Corporation India.

He said that Indian companies have shown significant momentum in adopting the company’s Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems. “In the last eight months, there has been largescale migration from Windows XP to Windows 7/8. However, there are still about 16 per cent of large enterprise computers that are active on Windows XP which pose a significant security risk to their organisations,” Bajwa said, claiming that with support for the operating system coming to an end, Windows XP computers would be a lot more vulnerable to security threats.

“This is a genuine threat to Indian businesses and it is worrying to see that many organizations in critical industries, for example banking, aren’t moving quickly enough,” Bajwa said.

He quoted a biannual Security Intelligence Report published by Microsoft in the second half of 2013 which says that machines running Windows XP are six times more likely to be infected by malware than machines running Windows 8.

Microsoft also says that in addition to concerns over security, companies that do not upgrade will face increased IT and maintenance costs.

“Continued reliance on Windows XP will also impact customer service and bottomline profitability,” Bajwa said, as delays in customer service due to security breaches will increase risking reputation and customer relationships.

Microsoft extended its support period for Windows XP because the installed base (PCIB) for Windows XP was very high in the Indian market and the company wanted to give its customers more time for swift migration. It has also been providing customer support to customers who are unable to complete migration.