14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will officially stop providing support for Windows Sever 2003 next year, on July 14, and since so many computers across the world are still running it, it's pretty clear that help for partners and security organizations across the world is needed as fast as possible to keep users on the safe side.
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team is the first to lend a hand to Microsoft, and with a warning released today, the organization reminds users that support for Windows Server 2003 is coming to an end in approximately 8 months.
“Why so soon?” some might ask. The reason is as simple as it could be: companies and enterprises running Windows Server 2003 on their computers need more than just a few months to upgrade to a newer release, not only because such a process usually involves data migration, but also because it comes down to critical infrastructure and server software.
Stating the obvious
The security warning issued by the US CERT doesn't bring too many new things to users running Windows Server 2003, especially because those who deployed this particular OS version on their computers aren't expected to be end users with little experience.
Instead, the US CERT states the obvious and explains that, without security patches, Windows Server 2003 will become vulnerable to attacks, thus increasing the risk of losing data stored locally.
“Computers running the Windows Server 2003 operating system will continue to work after support ends. However, using unsupported software may increase the risks of viruses and other security threats. Negative consequences could include loss of confidentiality, integrity, and or availability of data, system resources and business assets,” the advisory warns
A new Windows XP moment
Even though fewer users actually run Windows Server 2003 on their computers, Microsoft is very likely to experience another Windows XP moment in July next year, when support for its old server platform comes to an end.
Windows XP support came to an end on April 8 this year, and at that point, more than 25 percent of the world's desktop computers were still running the unsupported operating system despite all warnings issues by Microsoft and its partners.
Windows XP continues to be one of the most used operating systems worldwide, but its market share is dropping at a decent pace right now, and things are likely to improve in the future, when users will have more OSes to choose from, including the brand new Windows 10.
