SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's the end of an era, so to speak. Or at least, the end of an era of updates.

Although support for Microsoft's Windows XP operating software ended Tuesday, some devices in municipal and territorial governments still use it. - Daniel Campbell/NNSL photo

After providing technical and security support for Windows XP software for the last 12 years, Microsoft pulled the plug on the program Tuesday, leaving some city and territorial government users that still run the software to fend for themselves.

On its website, Microsoft said that while computers using Windows XP will still work, the company will no longer be providing automatic updates. This means users will begin to find newer hardware and software incompatible with Windows XP in the future.

The lack of support also means Windows XP users will no longer receive updates that protect their machines against malware, viruses and other security risks.

Dale Crouch, president of Tamarack Computers at YK Centre, said this basically means Microsoft won't be correcting any future errors with the software.

"As time goes on, Windows XP may become a more difficult operating system to run," Crouch said.

In an e-mail to Yellowknifer, Carl Bird, director of corporate services with the city, said there are a "handful" of devices which still use Windows XP, but confirmed they will be switched out by the end of the month.

"We are replacing laptops and workstations, not software. We have been migrating to Windows 7 with all the new hardware purchases over the past year," Bird wrote.

When asked if the city had any worries about malware affecting the machines in the meantime, Bird said there should be "no impact" on the city.

Crouch said computers can become more vulnerable to the lack of updates the longer they continue to run Windows XP.

"I can't say there's zero risk, but I think that risk increases as time goes by."

But Crouch said each workstation needs to be looked at individually, since computers connected to the Internet will be more vulnerable to the lack of updates than systems that are isolated.

The GNWT still has a few machines running Windows XP as well, but it is taking a different approach to the support shutdown.

Laurie Gault, director of the Technology Service Centre with the GNWT, said her department has been planning for the change for the last two years.

A "minority" of computers at the GNWT offices still require Windows XP to run some applications, Gault said, so they've made an agreement with Microsoft to offer customer support after the Tuesday deadline.

Most GNWT computers have already been updated with Windows 7.

Gault said once those applications are compatible with Windows 7, those machines will be updated. In the meantime, Gault said they don't expect any software-related disruptions.

Support for operating systems comes and goes, Couch said -- it's part of a process to embrace new technology that old software can't support.

"It's not the first time we've lost support for an operating system," he said.