Microsoft stops patching Windows XP security bugs

It would be a worldwide overhaul day for in-house IT engineers on Tuesday. Companies, governments and individual users are all forced to change their computer operating systems. On April 8, the US Microsoft will stop patching newly found security holes in Windows XP code that hackers could exploit to slip into computers, which means that future security bugs in windows XP will not be fixed.

WINDOWS XP, no stranger to computer users.

The almost 13-year-old operating system will lose Microsoft's bug fixing support, which means that after Tuesday, users will face high security danger if they continue to use windows XP.

XP system entered market in 2001, and became the second best selling operating system after Win7.

Microsoft announced the plan to shutdown XP support three years ago. But till now, 30 percent of the computers in the world are still sporting XP, which makes the transition period long and slow.

Facing the four-times higher risk of being hacked, upgrading to Win7 or Win8. And it means a boom in sales by Microsoft users...with anger.

"There are many using windows XP in their computers. If Windows XP stops upgrading, they'll be force to buy Window7. They'll get angry." a XP user in UK said.

"It means profit. You need to buy new operating system, new laptop it's lucrative business. And there will be windows 8, 9, 10 soon. Upgrading is creating business in the name of security. To some extent, hackers helped generating the profit." Isaiah Locke, Former US Army IT Support said.

Hackers might already know of new ways to break into XP-powered computers but be waiting until after Tuesday to attack because Microsoft will no longer step in to thwart them. But Microsoft says on Monday that it has signed a deal with the Dutch government to continue providing Windows XP support for 12 more months, until the local computers are all upgraded to a newer Windows version.

And in China, many local security and auti-virus software companies see a good opportunity to provide their own support solutions on fixing Windows XP loopholes, taking advantage from the 300 million user base.