Microsoft has pledged to continue updating Windows XP's antivirus protection after the OS hits end of life in April.
The ageing OS will no longer be officially supported by Microsoft from 8 April, despite hundreds of millions of people still running XP.
Many analysts have predicted – or had hoped – Microsoft would backpedal on the end-of-support date to buy users more time to upgrade, and now the software giant is offering limited security help.
"To help organisations complete their migrations, Microsoft will continue to provide updates to our anti-malware signatures and engine for Windows XP users through 14 July, 2015," the company says in a blog post.
"This does not affect the end-of-support date of Windows XP, or the supportability of Windows XP for other Microsoft products, which deliver and apply those signatures," Microsoft adds.
For consumers, the extension applies to Microsoft Security Essentials, the company's free antivirus software. For enterprises, it includes System Center Endpoint Protection, Forefront Client Security, Forefront Endpoint Protection and Windows Intune.
Despite extending the security support, Microsoft warned that antivirus software wasn't enough to protect anyone using XP once it's no longer supported.
"Our research shows that the effectiveness of anti-malware solutions on out-of-support operating systems is limited," Microsoft says. "Running a well-protected solution starts with using modern software and hardware designed to help protect against today’s threat landscape."
-1.jpg&w=100&c=1&s=0)
.png&w=100&c=1&s=0)
