Microsoft support for Windows XP expired a month ago, and yet hundreds of millions of users around the world are still using it. Personally, I think that is a bad idea, but it’s a free world and people are entitled to still run DOS, or use a Commodore Amiga if they choose. However, I do think that a decision to continue using Windows XP should be based on reality, and many of the comments I have seen about Windows XP in the past few months just perpetuate false assertions, and conspiracy theories.
Here are some of the most stubbornly pervasive Windows XP myths, and the reality that contradicts them:
1. Microsoft just pushes out a new OS every couple years to extort money from customers
This is one of the sillier claims, and the easiest to disprove. It is true that Microsoft releases new versions of the Windows operating system periodically. However, not only is it not “every couple years”, but Microsoft is actually significantly slower at releasing new versions than any rival platform, and Microsoft supports its operating systems much longer.
Since October of 2009 when Windows 7 was released, Apple has introduced three major versions of OS X, and no longer supports OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” which was launched in 2009. Ubuntu has released eight new versions of Ubuntu Linux since October of 2009, and it stopped officially supporting Ubuntu Linux 9.10 “Karmic Koala” in 2011 after only two years…
Visit Forbes to read the complete article: 10 (Stubbornly Pervasive) Windows XP Myths Debunked.
