The Dutch government has agreed to sign a multimillion Euro deal with Microsoft to extend support for its Windows XP OS until next January.
Just days after the U.K. government agreed to pay more than £5.6 million ($9.2 million) to Microsoft to extend support for the dying Windows XP by one year, the Dutch government too has signed a multimillion Euro deal. According to a Dutch website Webwereld(via Dutch News), the deal will offer extended Windows XP support to around 34,000 to 40,000 systems used by Dutch national government civil servants until next January.
Microsoft is ending support for its 13-year-old desktop OS Tuesday April 8, when all systems running Windows XP will be exposed to malware, virus, and cyber attacks. The software giant will no longer provide security updates to Windows XP and any related software such as Office 2003. Microsoft has repeatedly warned its users to upgrade to a later version of the OS to stay protected and up to date with latest security patches.
While single-PC users will have less trouble going through the upgrade, major businesses such as government organizations and some insurance companies find it extremely difficult to go through a makeover. Microsoft originally announced the end-of-support for XP a year ago, and since then has reminded consumers and businesses to schedule an upgrade.
Most consumers protested Microsoft's decision, but the software giant is simply following the tradition to cut older operating systems in favor of giving better support to new ones. Even so, Microsoft has offered an alternative to users who choose to stay with the same OS and still be able to get security updates. Customers will have to pay hefty prices to get dedicated support from Microsoft, $200 for first year, $400 for second and $800 for a third year.
For some government bodies, the alternate route is more feasible than upgrading instantly. The Dutch government's deal with Microsoft only covers three out of five councils in Netherlands and there is no word on whether these organizations will get the custom support from the software giant, Dutch News reports.
The Dutch government has an upgrade scheduled for next year and the extended support is only till next January when all XP systems will be migrated to a newer version.
