Windows XP’s days are numbered and Microsoft is taking action to get users moved

Support for Windows XP is set to expire on April 8th, though Microsoft will continue to update Security Essentials for the operating system for an additional year. However, users should certainly not consider this license to keep using the aging platform — it still won’t be safe. 

Now Microsoft is making a final push to get customers out of what will soon be a dangerous environment. To do this, today the company made a pair of announcements aimed at keeping users safe.

First of all, the company will begin warning customers about the impending end-of-support. “On March 8th, 2014, Windows XP customers using the Home or Professional editions who have elected to receive updates via Windows Update will receive an official notification on their desktop screen via Windows Update informing them that support for Windows XP will end on April 8th, 2014”, states Brandon LeBlanc. Hopefully those still using the OS have at least enabled Windows Update.

The company went further, also releasing a tool to facilitate an easier move from Windows XP to a modern version of the operating system. PC Mover Express will copy files and settings, allowing both to be installed on a new computer, or at least a clean install of Windows. “This tool will copy your files, music, videos, email and user profiles and settings from your old PC to your new device, transferring across your home or work network, and even enables Windows XP users to customize exactly what they want to bring over to their new device”, LeBlanc explains. You can grab this by visiting WindowsXP.com, and there are versions for English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish and, later this month, Korean, Chinese, Russian and Brazilian Portuguese will be added.

For those not sure about the operating system they are running, a site titled AmIRunningXp has been set up, though hopefully that won’t be necessary for the vast majority of users out there.