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"Microsoft stopped selling Windows XP in 2008 and, as of Tuesday, finally stopped supporting the 13-year-old operating system. It\u2019s gone, buried, but most certainly not dead. And that means we\u2019re about to enter a very, very scary place.\nIn case you\u2019re wondering, Windows XP will not, at midnight tonight, stop working. The incredibly popular OS will still do everything it did yesterday and just as well. However, there will never be another security update for Windows XP. And while the free Microsoft Security Essentials will still function, eventually those malware signature updates will run out, too.\nSee also: Windows XP Isn't Safe to Use Anymore. Here's What to Do Next.\nThose of you running Windows 7 or 8 are reading this wondering, \u201CSo what? Who cares?\u201D Here's why you should.\nAs late as June 2013, Windows XP still held onto more than 30% of the world\u2019s computers. It\u2019s on 95% of American ATMs. \nThat\u2019s right, most of the places where you get your money are teetering on the edge of a security cliff. There is a bit of hope here; some percentage of U.S. ATMs are running Windows XP embedded, which still has a few years of support left, but even if just 40 to 50% are running pure Windows XP, there's trouble ahead.\nA breach in the digital hull\nIsn\u2019t the Internet a grand thing? Our global village is in constant communication and contact with everyone else. We can share 24/7. It makes the world feel smaller, warmer \u2014  and infinitely more dangerous. Thanks to those always-open pipes, your pristine connection to the Internet has a chance of being compromised because someone else isn\u2019t being careful. \nWindows XP systems will not be banished from the global village because they\u2019re out of date. For now, that\u2019s not a problem, but soon the Internet will feel like a crowded theater where one third of the patrons are carrying a highly infectious disease.\nCome to think of it, it already feels that way.\nHave you considered how many people you email each day are running antiquated operating systems? Remember all those netbooks companies sold in 2010? They were so successful that it prompted Microsoft to finally block OEMs from being able to bundle Windows XP with new systems (retail availability ended years before). A good number of those netbooks are still running. They really can\u2019t handle much more than Windows XP (though Microsoft has long insisted they can run Windows 7) and the bargain hunters who bought these tiny, lightweight systems aren\u2019t likely to shell out the necessary $70 bucks to upgrade anyway.\nDo not assume, by the way, that everyone running Windows XP is a tech neophyte or luddite. A quick glance at Mashable\u2019s digitally-savvy audience shows that 4% are still running Windows XP. Not a huge number, but 4% too many by my count.\nBig business problems\nThe fact that ATMs are still running Windows XP is terrifying, but it\u2019s only the most highly-publicized instance of XP\u2019s incredible tenacity. How many auto mechnaics, dry cleaners, diners, doctor and dentist offices, and sub-50-employee small businesses have you walked into that are still running Windows XP? \nMore than you\u2019d want to admit, I\u2019m sure.\nThey all have their reasons for not switching. Windows XP just works. The interim operating system, Windows Vista was considered by some an unmitigated disaster and worth avoiding. By the time Windows 7 came along, there were just too many Windows XP systems in house and too much corporate knowledge baked into the OS and the often vertical software that runs on it to switch. \nPlus, no one wanted to fix what wasn\u2019t broken. Perhaps Microsoft should have sent out some kind of digital dirty bomb that sabotaged all those XP systems. Not something that worked instantly, mind you, but a bug that slowly, but surely made it impossible to keep using the OS.\nIn a way, that\u2019s what Microsoft is doing now. Without support and protection, the Windows XP systems will face a relentless stream of cyberattacks that will eventually make all of them unusable, but not before it makes them all vulnerable to attack and breach and doubly dangerous to Internet citizens.\nWhich is why I am so scared.\nThis devolution of the Windows XP ecosystem will be a slow-motion fail with potentially catastrophic results. System infections will happen in homes, businesses and ATMs at an unprecedented pace. Even as the world of Windows XP users and customers shrinks, the threat will grow. Many people may point the finger of blame at Microsoft.\nAnd when that happens, as I am certain it will, what will Microsoft do? Will it backtrack? Will it make deals with individual countries, states, businesses and school districts to continue offering some kind of support and updates for Windows XP? Or will it hold firm and try to ride out the storm?\nI suspect mostly the latter, but the company could end up coming out the other side bloodied and bruised. Will those recalcitrant Windows XP users upgrade, forgive and move on? Will they switch platforms? Maybe they\u2019ll drop  desktops and laptops altogether and help accelerate the shift to a Post-PC world.\nWouldn\u2019t that be an ironic legacy for Windows XP.\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/04/08/windows-xp-buried-and-undead/>