Windows Vista has just 30 days to live

From PC World: In a month’s time, Microsoft will put Windows Vista to rest once and for all. If you’re one of the few people still using it, you have just a few weeks to find another option before time runs out.

After April 11, 2017, Microsoft will no longer support Windows Vista: no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content updates, Microsoft says. (Mainstream Vista support expired in 2012.) Like it did for Windows XP, Microsoft has moved on to better things after a decade of supporting Vista.

As Microsoft notes, however, running an older operating system means taking risks—and those risks will become far worse after the deadline. Vista’s Internet Explorer 9 has long since expired, and the lack of any further updates means that any existing vulnerabilities will never be patched—ever. Even if you have Microsoft’s Security Essentials installed—Vista’s own antivirus program—you’ll only receive new signatures for a limited time.

The good news is that only a handful of computer users will have to make the switch. According to NetMarketshare, the desktop share of Windows Vista was just under 2 percent two years ago, in March, 2015. Today, it’s at 0.78 percent—about half of Windows 8’s 1.65 percent, according to the firm. (A certain percentage of Windows users simply don’t care, however; Windows XP’s market share stands above 8 percent, and support for that operating system expired in April, 2014.)

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