Microsoft risks security reputation ruin by retiring XP

Re:Microsoft risks security reputation ruin by retiring XP by Shish2k on Sunday March 09, 2014 @01:01PM (#7368956)

> I just saw one yesterday at the hardware store I went to. When will they upgrade?

When the cost of staying is greater than the cost of moving. For many embedded scenarios, the cost of staying is generally small (just occasional maintenance) and the cost of moving is huge (probably a whole new set of hardware).

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Re:Microsoft risks security reputation ruin by retiring XP by pixl97 on Sunday March 09, 2014 @01:19PM (#7369033)

Pretty much this.

One of my clients has a set of 7 or so touchscreen POS systems at a restaurant. They are all older XP embedded machines and the software they run has no upgrade path to a newer OS. It will take somewhere around $20k to put in new computers and do the initial inventory setup.

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Re:Microsoft risks security reputation ruin by retiring XP by jessaustin on Sunday March 09, 2014 @01:31PM (#7369092)

Whether this work is done now or not, if the restaurant stays in business it must be done eventually. ISTM that embedded-MS-that-is-never-upgraded is only one possible model for this sort of system. Have your clients expressed an interest in acquiring something more maintainable?

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Re:Microsoft risks security reputation ruin by retiring XP by pixl97 on Sunday March 09, 2014 @01:52PM (#7369184)

Yes, they know very well that they have to replace the system at some point. But it doesn't make sense for them to do this at this point. They have plenty of spare parts for the system at this time. The system has a very small attack surface from outside threats. And the current system is very stable and low maintenance.

They do have a good idea of what they would go to if they needed to upgrade tomorrow. It's just currently a no sale, supporting a new system will cost more at this time then the old system.

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Re:Microsoft risks security reputation ruin by retiring XP by jessaustin on Sunday March 09, 2014 @02:09PM (#7369259)

...what they would go to if they needed to upgrade tomorrow.

Can you say if that system would be any more maintainable than the current one, especially e.g. 7-8 years after installation? Do these restaurants update e.g. prices or sales tax rates without outside help? Could they radically change their menu if they needed to do so? Are there forests of sticky notes sprouting from the sides of the machines reminding users how to make the system do what they want? How long does it take for new waitstaff to use the POS without supervision?

Is the current setup PCI-compliant, and will it still be a couple of months from now?

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Re:Microsoft risks security reputation ruin by retiring XP by pixl97 on Sunday March 09, 2014 @04:11PM (#7369794)

You seem to think their current system is hard to use or in any way broken. No, it works very well, it is easy to use, it is easy to train on, easy to change menu's and taxability. It is very extensible. Management has around a decade experience with it.

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