It isn’t clear at this time whether Apple simply didn’t bother testing to see whether the change-up of the communication protocol would effect XP machines, or deliberately made the move knowing that it would lock out users of the old operating system and simply doesn’t care. Either way though, it seems unlikely to be fixed as the only support response Apple has reportedly given to affected users is to advise them to contact Microsoft support, which won’t be much use since the software giant ended support for Windows XP last year — as Venturebeat points out.
Related: Fukushima power plant still operating on unsupported Windows XP
At this point, the question for those affected will be whether it’s now finally worth it for them to upgrade to a more contemporary operating system. Windows XP came out in 2001 and there have been three mainstream OS releases from Microsoft since then, with one more planned in just a few months’ time.
As further incentive to upgrade, Microsoft is even offering those with legitimate Windows 7 and 8 licenses a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it arrives, as if it wasn’t already enough that XP lacks proper support and security updates, making it a very unsafe platform for your PC if it’s connected to the Internet at all.
Do you know anyone still languishing on Windows XP? If so, perhaps the ending of iTunes support will convince them to change their ways.
