Microsofts Ends Support for Windows XP SP2 and 2000

Microsoft has announced that users running its Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows 2000 operating systems will not receive security updates after 13 July.

The company has advised users to upgrade to the latest Microsoft software if they want to keep receiving updates for their computers.

Microsoft said that Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 users would be allowed to access Microsoft online Knowledge Base articles, FAQs and troubleshooting tools, but paid support and security updates would not be available.

Microsoft is offering free advice to Windows 2000 users who want to upgrade to Windows 7. Server users are being advised to upgrade to Windows Server 2003, 2008, or 2008 R2.

Windows XP Service Pack 2 users have the option of downloading the Service Pack 3 software package from Microsoft's support site if they want to continue receiving security updates. Microsoft is also advising users to migrate to Windows 7, a move which is being carried out by many businesses.