I just got called over by a panicking sales person in the office who had been reading the BBC News site. The BBC incorrectly reported that Microsoft was extending support and patching for Windows XP, beyond the end date of April 8th (also the end of support for Office 2003).

Let me repeat this:

Support for Windows XP and Office 2003 ENDS on April 8th, 2014

 

There will be no changes to this, no matter what some clueless intern in the BBC news department might have imagined up.

The story links to an announcement by Microsoft that clarifies that support for Microsoft antivirus products on Windows XP will continue through to July 14, 2015. Some people will continue to use Windows XP beyond the end of support date and Microsoft will be providing them with a minimum level of security. They’ll still be vulnerable to attack via vulnerabilities that will be patched on Windows Vista and newer, but still exist in Windows XP.

Another ZDNet blogger (some beardy dude I never heard of) was complaining that Microsoft will continue to allow people to activate Windows XP. I’m not even going to link to that click-bait article because it doesn’t deserve it. Of course activations will continue. People bought the product, still own it, and still have the legal right to use it.

Geez! There really are only two tech journalists out there: Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley.