Microsoft extends malware support for XP

Microsoft, bowing to user pressure, has decided to extend the support process for its antimalware software into 2015.

Support for the OS itself ends – April 8, 2014, the date they had announced would be the end of support for Microsoft Security Essentials, Forefront Client Security, Forefront Endpoint Protection, System Center Endpoint Protection, and Windows Intune running on Windows XP.

Microsoft's Malware Protection Center group said, in a blog post, that customers have just 14 more months to upgrade. "To help organizations complete their migrations, Microsoft will continue to provide updates to our antimalware signatures and engine for Windows XP users through July 14, 2015," the post went on to say.

Estimate put XP usage at around one third of the world's PCs.