Several OS’s Reaching End-Of-Life

Written by Alan Saturday, 27 February 2010 08:00

From the Windows Blog:

End of Support for Windows 2000, Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista RTM

Back in October 2009 we talked about upcoming dates for end of support for certain Windows XP and Windows Vista versions. Those dates are getting closer and this is the time to remind customers running these versions that there is a need to take an action.

If you or someone you know is running Windows Vista with no services packs installed (also known as Windows Vista RTM or SP0), please use Windows Update to install the latest service pack available – Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (note you’ll need to install Service Pack 1 first). We also recommend checking out our latest Windows release – Windows 7. On April 13th, 2010, Windows Vista RTM will reach the end of support.

And on July 13th, 2010, all versions of Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2 will also reach the end of support. We recommend those of you still on Windows XP SP2 to install the latest service pack available via the Microsoft Update website – Windows XP Service Pack 3 – or look at moving to Windows 7. Folks still on Windows 2000 will need to look at moving to a more current version of Windows, such as Windows 7.

For more information on the end of support for these Windows releases, see this blog post on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Blog. This post also provides guidance for businesses of all sizes. Or you can visit this page on Windows.com.

Keeping your PC up to date and as safe as possible is something that people need to think about beyond just being on the latest service pack. I want to remind everyone of the benefits of keeping Windows Update turned on. Through Windows Update, not only are you provided with the latest security updates and service packs for Windows at no cost, but also the latest updates to products such as Internet Explorer 8 and Microsoft Security Essentials.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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3 Comments

1. Pam   |  Wednesday, 24 March 2010 at 7:51 am

   Hello,
   my sincere apologies for my IT ignorance but I do not seem to be able to find an answer anywhere else, so if anyone can help, I will be very appreciative…
   I would like to upgrade an very old (but largely unused) Dell laptop with Windows 2000 professional to Windows XP x64 or a later Windows OS to run the latest version of SAS statistical package (9.2) – if/when I upgrade the RAM to the max 1024 MB, will this be possible?
   again apologies for my limited IT knowledge and thank you for your help,
   kind regards,
   Pam

   
2. Alan   |  Friday, 26 March 2010 at 6:58 pm

   Yes, it’s certainly possible. I would consider using 32 bit instead of 64 though. There are many compatability issues with 64, especially for older hardware.

   
3. Pam   |  Saturday, 27 March 2010 at 7:19 am

   Hello Alan,
   thank you very much for taking the time to reply and for your very helpful guidance.
   kind regards,
   Pam