Oops! Did Microsoft err in issuing post-XP patch?

Microsoft this week issued a patch for an earlier version of its Internet Explorer browser running on its now-outdated Windows XP platform. But not all are on board with the idea.

 

The software giant's move could stall efforts to wean users - especially in business - away from XP, according to Peter Bright, a software writer and the Microsoft editor for tech site Ars Technica.

 

"The job of migrating away from Windows XP just got a whole lot harder. I'm sure there are IT people around the world who are now having to argue with their purse-string-controlling bosses about this very issue. IT people who have had to impress on their superiors that they need the budget to upgrade from Windows XP because Microsoft won't ship patches for it any longer. Microsoft has made these IT people into liars," Bright wrote.

 

He added employers who wanted to "stick with Windows XP because Microsoft would blink are now vindicated."

 

Last April 8, Microsoft cut off support for XP, which had been running on PCs since 2001. This meant Microsoft would no longer issue security updates for the OS.

 

Bright said the patch issued this week for XP may mean "no meaningful difference" to XP's security.

 

"After all, if Microsoft can blink once, who's to say it won't do so again? The next Patch Tuesday patch for Internet Explorer is almost certainly going to include flaws that affect Internet Explorer on Windows XP: the nature of software means that most flaws in Internet Explorer 7 (supported for the remainder of Windows Vista's life cycle) and Internet Explorer 8 (tied to Windows 7's life cycle) will also be flaws in Internet Explorer 7 and 8 when run on Windows XP. Many of them will also hit Internet Explorer 6," he said.

 

Bright said Microsoft's move "undermines efforts by IT staff to ditch the ancient operating system, and undermines Microsoft's assertion that Windows XP isn't supported, while doing nothing to meaningfully improve the security of Windows XP users."

 

"The upside? It buys those users at best a few extra days of improved security. It's hard to say how that was possibly worth it," he said. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News