Although it’s not a surprise, Microsoft has announced that it will terminate support for Windows XP installations that have not installed Service Pack 3. The support for XP computer running Service Pack 2 will end July 13, 2010. The loss of support means that there will be no more driver updates, security patches, bug fixes and other modifications. Users who still run Windows XP must install Service Pack 3 to maintain support.

Unsupported OS Can Be Tricky

Running an unsupported OS can be tricky, since users won’t be able to get patches and revisions. Although development on the XP OS ended long ago, Microsoft was still providing maintenance releases that closed holes and kept the system as up-to-date as possible.

According to Microsoft, Service Pack 3 can be applied only to computers running the 32-bit version of Windows XP. Prior to installing Service Pack 3, the computer must also have Service Pack 2 and Service Pack 1(a) installed. These service packs are still available from the Microsoft Web site.

If you’re not sure whether your computer is a 32-bit or 64-bit system, you can find out by taking the following steps.
Go to Start > Run
Enter sysdm.cpl and click OK.
This will open a dialog box that will provide additional information about your system. Within the dialog box, select the General tab. If your system is a 32- bit system, you’ll see the words “Windows XP Professional Version XXXX under System. XXXX will be a date, expressed as a year.
If your system is a 64-bit system, you’ll see a slightly different set of words under System: “Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Version XXXX.” Again XXXX represents a year.

Service Pack 3 isn’t used with 64-bit systems, so it’s important to know whether you need the service pack or not. Do not install Service Pack 3 if you have a 64-bit system. Microsoft has provided a different method for patching and updating 64-bit versions of the XP operating system.
The installed user base for Windows XP is still quite large, however more users are adopting Windows 7. Importantly, many of the new adopters are Microsoft’s corporate customers, most of whom have been working with XP for nearly 10 years. In the coming year, Microsoft will likely examine its plan to drop support for Windows XP altogether.

Photo Credit: Nick Perla, via Flickr