Windows XP retirement: reminder, Java support has also now ended

We may yet be accused of “going on” about the recent retirement of XP, but we feel justified in doing so as any systems you have that are still running XP will become more vulnerable over time.

Last week we saw a reminder that Oracle will not be issuing an update to Java on XP on the 15th July when it releases its regular update.

When we asked SophosLabs what they thought about Java on XP and the change in support status, they said that Java had been hard work even for supported operating systems – and so with no support for Java on XP there was no prospect of it getting any better.

If you are still running XP you should ideally have a plan to get off it as soon as you can. If you know you will be stuck with it for a while, then have a serious think about reducing the risk that these systems present.

Apart from upgrading to a supported OS, our advice is to remove Java and remove or restrict web access for systems running XP.

Also, keep a close eye on any updates (or rather lack of them) coming from companies that provide you with software that runs on your XP systems – and if they dry up, have a serious think about removing them.

We are continuing to support XP for the time being, but are actively encouraging customers to upgrade to fully supported operating systems.

Information about dates for platform support can be found in our product retirement tables.