'We hope the Service Pack will be a catalyst for IT managers to look at Windows XP again,' Mr Cullinan said.

In the simplest terms, Windows XP is based on the Windows 2000 core, but offers a better-looking interface.

The updates for Windows XP, Windows 8 and Windows Server 2003 — which were retired from support in April 2014, June 2016, and July 2015, respectively — made it two months running that Microsoft has delivered fixes for bugs in obsolete software.

In September, security company Bitdefender said Windows XP was still heavily used by small and mid-sized companies, as well as public sector institutions across Eastern Europe.

For Pakistanis still enjoying their Windows XP experience, the company expiration of the product leaves you with only two options to en sure a continued safe and smooth computing experience: upgrade to a later version of Windows, or take the extra steps necessary to harden your current operating system with Microsoft's support no longer available.

Security experts say they believe hackers will study that data and "reverse engineer" the May Patch Tuesday software updates to identify ways to attack computers running Windows XP, along with Office 2003, which will no longer receive patches from Microsoft.

Muscat: Beginning Wednesday, April 9, computer users running their machines on Windows XP platform will be left to fend for themselves as Microsoft ended its support Tuesday, after 12 years.

The software giant has been warning users about its plans of withdrawing Windows XP support since September.

India, April 7 -- Microsoft will end support for Windows XP next week, on 8 April 2014.

Dubai: Windows XP's and Office 2003's sunny days are going to be over on April 8, 2014, as Microsoft is retiring all its support and vital security patches to critical vulnerabilities for the hugely popular operating system.

THE National Informatics Centre ( NIC) has informed government bodies across the country that it will not support websites and e- governance platforms running on Windows XP after March 31, following Microsoft Corporation's decision to pull the plug on the operating system.

Shiraz HasanThe world has suddenly woken up to realize that Microsoft won't update its popular Windows XP operating system after April 8.