In an very unusual way Microsoft India issues a press release saying “Staying on Windows XP to cost three times more than migrating to Windows 8 “. Yup, if you are Windows XP user and don’t plan to upgrade to the latest Windows 8 OS or at-least Windows 7, then it may cost you $300 for support.
Microsoft recently conducted a study with the help of research firm IDC which found out that companies are prone to spend three times more if they don’t plan to migrate from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8. An estimate suggests that the cost of upgrading will be US$ 95 and the cost of non-migrating which will be US$ 300 per user followed by almost a double the cost in the subsequent year if they choose for custom support.
Microsoft plans to end support for Windows XP on April, 08, 2014 as it is three generations behind the current product technology. This will costs users almost double the earlier cost of $300 in the subsequent year, if they opt for a custom support contract to stay on Windows XP post April 2014. Microsoft also warns XP users of possible security and data breach threats and productivity loss.
“Approx 50-60% installed PC base in the enterprises are still running Windows XP. This is an alarming situation as non-migration puts businesses at risk of security breaches and could potentially create a big dent to the company’s brand image. It takes money to save money! Migration to newer and better technologies eventually gives high return on investment and saves a lot of money in the long run.” said Amrish Goyal, Director, Windows Business Group Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd.
If you are not upgrading from Windows XP, then it will cost you-
- Security and Compliance Risks – Unsupported and unpatched environments are vulnerable to risks to both IT infrastructure and the business operations.
- Lack of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and Hardware Manufacturers support.
- Increased cost of support of end-user devices
- Business disruption due to non-compliant platform/software
Microsoft sight example of India’s top telecom operator Bharti Airtel, as they have saved around Rs 2,000 per PC by upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7. Read the complete report here.
Are you ready to upgrade? let us know your view.