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I am hoping someone can explain in simple terms, what it really means that windows XP will be end of life?

It looks like SP2 is already not being patched, but maybe SP3 is going to be patched up until 4/18/2014?

So I assume that means there will be windows update patches available until that date?

What happens after that, no patches at all?

That means the potential for hacks, virus, etc. are greatly increased?

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This Microsoft Table and the revelant article to crossmatch with Extended Support,Mainstream support etc. In windows XP terms it means upgrade where possible.

It looks like SP2 is already not being patched, but maybe SP3 is going to be patched up until 4/18/2014?

That's not the case for Service Packs and I quote from the link

Support ends 24 months after the next service pack releases or at the end of the product's support lifecycle, whichever comes first. For more information, please see the service pack policy at http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#ServicePackSupport .

Windows XP is now on the Extended Support. Basically no warranty-claims,charging for incidents,etc.

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I think you misread the table, only XP sp3 is in extended support, everything pre sp3 is EOL – Jim B Jan 13 at 5:56
I think my main concern is the statement "Without Microsoft support, you will no longer receive security updates that can help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software that can steal your personal information" – Scott Szretter Jan 13 at 12:46
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Simply put EOL means no patches no support. From http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-gb&C2=1173 "Support ends 24 months after the next service pack releases or at the end of the product's support lifecycle, whichever comes first. For more information, please see the service pack policy..."

For service packs:

"Security updates released with bulletins from the Microsoft Security Response Center will be reviewed and built for the supported service packs only. Daylight Savings Time and Time Zone updates are built for fully supported service packs only."

XP SP2 is EOL

XP SP3 has a supported end date of 4/21/2010 that is when mainstream support ended. XP is in the extended support phase, so only security fixes will be available until 2014 (if I read the chart correctly). As always it's best to get information like this from the vendor.

As far as impact, it's a cost to upgrade so businesses need to evaluate whether or not to upgrade. Many companies have realized that newer machines come with win 7 licenses so there is no upgrade price.

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The end of security updates is where things get severe. – SpacemanSpiff Jan 12 at 17:25
it's already severe as the security updates only affect systems that are not insecure by design. I still don't understand why there are so many XP systems out there, I can get skipping vista, but win7? – Jim B Jan 12 at 17:30
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There just happens to be a bad economy at the moment, and some people are holding onto those 4-5 year old machines hoping to squeeze another 2-3 years out of them. – Zoredache Jan 12 at 18:14
"I still don't understand why there are so many XP systems out there" Because it still works fine. Why pay $$ and take the time to upgrade when XP works and Win7 doesn't really add much? – Ward Jan 13 at 5:09
@ward-because unless you are using a 4-5 year old machine, you already bought win7. I can certainly see zoredache's point. – Jim B Jan 13 at 5:54
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