Tech Table Monday, November 18, 2013
November 18, 2013
Justin: Welcome to MPA’s Tech Table. I’m Justin.
Diana: And I’m Diana.
Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.
Diana: We promise it’ll be easy to digest. Hi.
Justin: Hello, Diana. It is Monday.
Diana: Yes.
Justin: That means mail day here.
Diana: Oh, I like mail.
Justin: Oh, I know. If you sent your questions into questions@askmpa.com, you might get them answered today. And Terrence wrote in and said, “What am I going to do now that Windows XP is going to be unsupported?”
Diana: We’ve been talking a lot about this at the office.
Justin: We have, and a lot of people have been talking about this. So, what does that even mean? Well, it means that Windows XP as an operating system, they’re going to discontinue support of it. They’re not going to issue any more dates, you know, you’re not going to have any more support for that product. So, if you’re still running Windows XP, you need to upgrade.
Diana: Yes.
Justin: And, you know, we recommend Windows 7 or even 8 if your computer has the hardware to handle it. Now, the problem here is that you might need a brand new computer just to handle it.
Diana: Right, not every computer that exists out there right now can handle Windows 7 or 8.
Justin: Right, and I think that’s something I didn’t know. For a long time, I didn’t put the pieces together that you really have to keep upgrading little things to keep the big picture running. You know, everything is upgradable. Every piece of software that you operate has upgrades that you have to apply to it, and every piece of hardware needs to be upgraded at some point, too. It’s just one of those things. You really can’t get a computer and expect it to be good and the same for five years.
Diana: Right.
Justin: It’s like your car, if you didn’t do anything to your car.
Diana: It’s maintenance.
Justin: Right. You’ve got to keep up with things. So, we’re now at the end of life for Windows XP, and that’s basically what they’re determining here. It’s why they’re not supporting it anymore. It’s an out-of-date product. So, you can upgrade to Windows 7 or 8, like we said, if your computer has the hardware to handle it.
Diana: Right, now what happens if you don’t get the update? It could mean just simply, over time your computer could start to lose features. It will have a greater risk of crashing or being infected with virus and malware. So, you know, we’re not trying to have scare tactics here but it’s just reality.
Justin: Right. It is reality. Eventually, you just need an upgrade, and I’ve got to be honest with you if you haven’t upgraded from Windows XP. We’ve had Windows XP, then we’ve had Windows Vista.
Diana: Vista, yes.
Justin: And I’m still running Vista on one of my computers and at the office they always say, “You’ve got to get that upgraded. Upgrade to Windows 7.” So, there was Vista, then Windows 7, and now Windows 8. So, there’s a lot of things that you probably should have upgraded between now and then, so now you’re coming to the end of life to the Windows XP product. So, you know, it’s time to look at upgrading, time to look at investing something in that.
Diana: And, you know, if your computer won’t upgrade to that, if it’s just too old, you may need to look at getting that new computer.
Justin: Right. But I guarantee you that that new computer is going to be cheaper than that one that you bought when you bought it with Windows XP on it because computers have gotten much less expensive.
Diana: It’s true. And you’ll be amazed how fast everything works.
Justin: Oh, yeah. It’ll be a life changer for you. It’ll be very exciting. So, think about getting a new computer or at least looking at your options to upgrade. And, you know, you can always email us your questions about this at questions@askmpa.com.
Diana: Right. That’s questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: Absolutely. Until next time.
Diana: Take care.
Justin: Tech Table is brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa, and God’s Country Radio. You can visit us online at AskMPA.com.
Diana: If you have questions or comments, please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: And thanks for listening.
Post your comment