41% of Consumers Still Use Outdated Windows Versions

Despite the availability of newer operating systems, 41% of consumers continue to use outdated releases of Windows, such as Windows XP and Windows 7. According to researchers from Kaspersky Lab, 40% of small businesses and 48% of medium-sized businesses still rely on these operating systems, putting their own security at risk.

In most cases, the end of an operating system’s lifecycle means the vendor stops releasing updates, including critical cybersecurity patches. Security researchers or cybercriminals may discover previously unknown vulnerabilities in these systems, and users will remain unprotected due to the lack of patches.

Researchers note that one in four users still uses outdated systems, including Windows XP and Vista. Specifically, 2% of users and 1% of small businesses use Windows XP—a system that has not been supported for over 10 years. For Windows Vista, the figures are 0.3% and 0.2% respectively, even though its support ended seven years ago.

Support for Windows 7 ends in January 2020, yet more than a third (38%) of consumers and small businesses, as well as 47% of small and medium-sized organizations, still use this operating system.

The reasons for this lag vary and may include installed software that does not work on the latest OS versions, budget constraints, or simply user habits. Experts recommend that users upgrade to supported operating systems to ensure their own cybersecurity.