Microsoft to provide Windows XP anti-malware support until 2015

Microsoft has reportedly announced that it would stop supporting Windows XP this April but would continue to provide anti-malware support till 2015.

The software maker revealed in a blog post that Windows XP would no longer be an official supported operating system on April 8, 2014 and in order to help organizations complete their migrations, the company would provide anti-malware support through July 14, 2015.

According to Cnet, the company said that its research showed that the effectiveness of anti-malware solutions on out-of-support operating systems is limited and running a well-protected solution starts with using modern software and hardware designed to help protect against today's threat landscape.

Clearly, Microsoft is asking consumers to switch to an upgraded operating system, the aggressively promoted Windows 8 and its tweaked 8.1 version that is yet to receive favour from traditional desktop users who have been put off by the complex tablet-like user interface.