windows-xp-still-running-a-third-of-business-public-sector-pcs-in-some-eastern-european-countries

http://www.zdnet.com/article/window...ector-pcs-in-some-eastern-european-countries/



Windows XP still running on a third of business, public sector PCs in some Eastern European countries
A year and a half after Microsoft stopped supporting it, Windows XP is still heavily used by both small and mid-sized companies across Eastern Europe, as well as by the public sector, an analysis conducted by security company Bitdefender shows.

Ukraine leads the nostalgic group. Windows XP runs on 41.2 percent of business and public computers that use Bitdefender's antivirus software. Hungary follows with 37.5 percent, while Romania ranks third with 34 percent.

Special Feature
Windows XP and the Future of the Desktop

Microsoft support for Windows XP officially ended on April 8, 2014. There will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, and no free or paid support options for XP. Here are resources from ZDNet and TechRepublic to help you navigate the transition.

Next in line are Poland (24.05 percent) and the Republic of Moldova (18.7 percent). Other countries such as Slovakia (10.61 percent), Bulgaria (six percent), and the Czech Republic (4.7 percent) are finding it easier to upgrade to a more recent version of the OS.

"Some might choose to continue using Windows XP because of legacy issues with proprietary applications and systems," Liviu Arsene, senior e-threat analyst at Bitdefender, told ZDNet. "Internal software that hasn't been updated most likely isn't compatible with Windows 7 or 8.1."

He adds that Windows XP vulnerabilities that have been discovered but haven't been patched are the easiest way of attacking a computer. "Migrating to a more recent version won't just add features, it will also increase security," Arsene said.

He estimates that Windows XP's market share will continue to drop both globally and in Eastern Europe, as the "security implications will no longer be negligible".

"It all boils down to how much your personal and sensitive files are worth to you, and whether or not anyone would have anything to gain by accessing and selling them."

Windows XP in Romania
Several small Romanian companies in accounting, insurance, and construction contacted by ZDNet admitted they still use the retired OS.

Application compatibility remains a reason for some to continue using the old OS, while other factors mentioned were emotional attachment to the software that delivered as expected, hardware and software upgrade costs, and lower productivity during the transition cycle.

Bitdefender published a similar study last year in July. Back then, Windows XP's market share was 23 percent higher than today. In the business and public sector as a whole, it accounted for 57 percent of machines, but in the public sector alone, the figure was much larger: the OS was present on 70 percent of systems.

NGOs and population
Non-governmental organizations in Romania seem to be better at upgrading: the large majority of them use Windows 7 and 8.1, Elena Coman, programs director for Techsoup, a not-for-profit organisation that provides tech services to the voluntary sector, told ZDNet.

"Microsoft is TechSoup's first partner in Romania and has been donating software since 2009," Coman said. "The [total] market value of their donations exceeds $3m. It's by far the largest contribution made by a technology company to the local NGO sector."

The latest StatCounter data, which takes business clients and consumers as a whole, estimates that Windows XP was installed on 14.5 percent of Romanian PCs at the end of this August, compared to 24.9 percent a year ago.

Microsoft's data
A Microsoft spokesperson in Romania told ZDNet that their market share estimations for Windows XP are "significantly lower" than Bitdefender's numbers. However, the company declined to share their data or to comment further.

Bitdefender is a major security vendor in Romania, with a large consumer and enterprise install base.

The company counts both legitimate and pirate OS copies, and software piracy across Eastern Europe is estimated at 62 percent, according to the latest BSA global software survey.

 

Hey Pacav, I really enjoy many of the fascinating links that you share with us, but could you please start leaving more than just a link? Maybe include copying the first few and/or summary paragraphs from the article to give us a gist of the article's content? Then we can still go read the entire article if we wish. Just a thought, and I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for sharing!

 

Otherwise in the future once the articles have been removed/moved, the information is lost and we just have a bunch of dead links with no retained knowledge. All this extra work to share something has the added bonus that we know it's something you're passionate about or something very interesting you're sharing - else you'd not bother spending time doing it

-EDIT-

Plus we can discuss things better here if there is something you want to point out from the article - else we don't know why you thought it was worth sharing in the first place.

 

Point taken but sometimes the heading is enough to point out the topic.

 

I am still of the opinion that a LOT of people who will be forced out of using XP will opt for Linux with WINE because that is actually more compatible with old software than Windows 8/10 are.

 

I agree. As i said in another post "as long as people can do their work they don't care what operating system they use".

If most of the users have a word processor, a spreadsheet and a powerpoint/presentation software package they are happy.

 

Thanks, pacav!

I think this is one of the main benefits of including more than just the link.

 

LastXP went from v1.0 to v22, only v9 onwards went public and only v12 and above were online. I spent over 11 years modding and mainly because the time it took to install Win XP SP2 was over 1 1/2 hours, so I found you could slipstream it directly into the initial install, then more and more was improved, added until I released my final Win XP mod called SOX (Secure Open XP) which had Internet explorer removed, security tightened and the usual tweaks we use here at LastOS.

If you're a mod tester/user then you may know of WPI, the ssWPI was actually made before Kels WPI tool by approx 8 months. SetupS and the menu sorting methods were developed by many people and refined by those of us left at LastOS.org, TheFreezerBox is the guy to talk to about XP as he still uses it daily and is the main coder for SetupS. Trouba has been updating apps for longer than anyone and would have easily passed my efforts since I slowed down in 2013. Our releases are so stable and simple due to C0dez3ro's constant reporting of the bugs he'd find (he found MANY). Alas many of the LastOS team have moved on and only rarely visit us. We used to offer all the tools required to build on the mod's we'd release, I created 5 different versions of builder made in different Programming Languages, but I was never very good at making up help files and only advanced users were able to use any of them.

Anyway to answer your question there is many XP mods made by Team LastOS, but you would have to ask one of the other team members (via PM) to upload/share it with you as I have long lost my old OS mods with the major HDD crash of 2013. I'd recommend using LastXP v22 with the newer apps found on the App Repository here.

As an added bonus I also released compilations called Mega Games Packs, there was 10 DVD's and 22 CD's of them that used ssWPI to install semi-portable games and also used ssWPI as a launcher - this was also lost in my HDD crash and you would have to seek them out elsewhere if possible.