I have listed the following link about Heartbleed at the top due to it having a need to be disseminated as wide as possible.
http://blog.malwarebytes.org/online-security/2014/04/be-still-my-bleeding-heart-qa-on-the-heartbleed-bug/
Windows XP has been around for a loooong time and its interactive functionality will be missed.
I still have computers running older operating systems version (Windows 98 and Windows 2000 Pro) however those were not meant for the same audience as XP.
XP became the most widely used operating system for access to the Internet. It was in service for 14 years - pretty much the length of time that most people using the internet have actually used the internet. Sure Window 98 and others had ways to use the internet, but those were tacked on and used additional software that was not packed into the operating system from the get go.
The 2 major variants of XP were Home and PRO. The major usable difference being that the PRO version could be accessed remotely with a static / public IP address directly without additional software. In other words you did not have to use software applications as: GoToMeeting, GoToMyPC, LogMeIn or TeamViewer to name a few to be able to access the computer running PRO remotely.
XP would also run on PC's configured very minimally as far as processor power and memory storage especially when compared to what can be had on the open market these days.
If your PC is capable of upgrading to one of the later Windows version (Vista/7/8) then that would be the more painless route. HOWEVER do realize that if Microsoft can drop support of XP then eventually they will drop support of sub-sequent versions of the Windows Operating System as well.(Vista/7/8/9/10/11 etc... ) And by the way for those running Apple Products Mac - Apple also dropped support of their version that is only 5 years old - and did not generate any fanfare to inform users it was going to happen unlike Microsoft who has been pushing information out for the past year that XP was to have a drop dead date of support on 8 April 2014.
Do not fret-- unless you have proprietary software that needs an actual Windows (XP/Vista/7/8) Operating System there is a low cost alternative out there that can do almost all of what XP did and will extend the usable life of that old XP PC. Of course the main proprietary software is Microsoft Office so you would also need a substitute Office Suite (Libre office is included in Linux Mint).
Linux... do not cringe...
Linux has been around for awhile. There are many versions of Linux out there on the market. There are some that are more supported so they have service capabilities and a way to charge for support on their proprietary version. And there are others that are voluntarily (even though they will always accept donations) supported. One of the most favored is Linux Mint http://www.linuxmint.com/ . I have installed this on a few PC's and found that there are 4 basic Desktop variations to the latest iteration (16 - PETRA) there versions are Cinnamon, Mate, KDE, and XCFE. http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php . I personally have found XCFE to be more to what I have become accustomed to in similarity to XP.
With the installation of a couple pieces of software on the Server side and one on the Client side, Linux can be controlled remotely by other Linux PC's as well as other Windows PC's in a seamless arrangement. The only problem occurs when the Linux server machine is used where a Windows Proprietary Operating System is needed to be used (IE: talking to another computer type device that has a special program built that runs on Windows and will not run on Linux).
I will leave you with this and will come back to discuss more in a later blog.
For those of the TL DR (Too Long Didn't Read) crowd:
XP is dead but can be replaced by newer or by Linux. Office will not work on Linux, but there is a replacement included with Linux Mint. Remote Desktop can be worked with Linux.
Enjoy!!!
