April 9, 2014, is the real red-letter day in
the history of Windows XP. On that day, any zero-day exploit released into the
wild will run rampant on Windows XP systems while Microsoft watches and says
"I told you so." When companies beg for a fix, Microsoft will hold
one document in each hand: the life-cycle information for Windows XP with a
Post-it note that says "You had four years to move to Windows 7," and
a contract for custom support.
As Windows XP comes to the end of
its life, applications in enterprise desktop and virtualization environments
everywhere will feel the effects. Luckily, there are a couple things you can do
if your applications depend on XP: You can use a very old Windows Server
platform or jump on the virtualization bandwagon. Microsoft isn't the only
company ditching XP. Not only can Microsoft wash its hands of Windows XP
support, but so can all the companies that made software for XP.
Assuming those companies stopped
actively developing for the OS years ago, they are likely still supporting the
applications that run on it. After Windows XP end of life on April 8, 2014,
they'll have no reason to continue. The implications of this reality run far
and wide. Line-of-business software is surely affected, as are any of the
random applications you are using. What really is cause for concern for desktop
and virtualization administrators, though, is that security software vendors
will likely stop patching, updating and supporting their software.
Why would companies such as
McAfee, Symantec, Kaspersky or Trend Micro bother maintaining a product for an
OS that is, for all intents and purposes, dead? Those applications might still
run, and it could be that their definition files will be updated with the
latest viruses for a time, but do you think those companies will pay attention
to viruses targeted toward XP after it's gone? Probably not.
What about activation servers?
There is one other question that
has yet to be answered, and that is in regards to Microsoft’s activation
servers. What happens to the part of the system that activates Windows XP? Does
it go offline? Is it somehow protected and only available to people that have
paid for custom support? Existing machines will no doubt work just fine, but
what about rebuilds or new machines?Of course, Microsoft could simply
validate all existing keys and let anyone that wants to use XP use it. There’s
no precedent for this because XP was the first Microsoft OS that required
activation. We may just have to wait and see.The bottom line is that running Windows
XP in your organization on anything other than a desktop with no network
connection, floppy drive, USB ports, or CD drive is an outright liability,
bordering on irresponsible. Yes, there are situations that will require it, but
if you determine that your organization can't afford to get off Windows XP on
the basis of cost alone, you are wrong.
Alternatives for application
support
Windows Server 2003 R2 is
essentially Windows XP Server, and while the Windows XP end of life date is
April 8, 2014, the end of life for Server 2003 R2 comes 15 months after that:
July 14, 2015. Since they are roughly the same OS, based on the same kernel,
it's likely that anything you require XP for will work on Server 2003 R2 -- and
that will buy you more than a year to figure things out.
There are two ways to keep apps
running with this approach.
The first is to move those
troublesome applications into the data center and use Remote Desktop Services
(RDS) to deliver the application. This, of course, requires that the application
is capable of running on a terminal server. In fact, this is also a viable
means of preserving some of those oddball applications in your RDS
environments.
If the application just won't
work or has to run on its own system, you have the option of installing Server
2003 R2 on the physical computer. This solution is costly, because you need to
purchase server licenses for each of these machines -- but it could cost
significantly less than a Custom Support Agreement. Granted, it only buys you
15 months, but you can consider that to be additional motivation to switch
platforms.
The bottom line is that you're
running out of both time and options when it comes to removing Windows XP from
your company. If you feel more
comfortable using physical desktops, go for it. Use VDI if you can (those extra
management features will help in the long run); use application virtualization
and user environment virtualization, too (it will make it easier to migrate
OSes in the future). But, whatever you do, make sure the OS is gone by the time
of Windows XP end of life next year.
