Want to Keep my XP desktop

But that stat may be skewed. I ran XP as my main use operating system for about 5-6 years and only once had a malware infection, a search hijack that used a java exploit.

Truth be told, if one does not need java one could use XP indefinitely & safely, or at least until HTML 5 browsers stop XP support.

The only danger in continuing to use XP is when accessing the WWW via a browser, especially Internet Explorer. But if the system is optimized, has a decent antivirus and a better browser (Chrome or Firefox), XP is not that risky to use.

Criminals will not be spending energy and time targeting XP, there's no money in that for them. The money for them is with newest systems which a majority use.

 

They make their money with malware, ransomware, spyware, etc. For example, those fake antivirus malware prompt to purchase in order to remove detected infections. The intent is to gain real credit card info and sell the info.

They play the percentages. The target is always the most available users. More people use newer operating systems so they try to exploit those. They target market share leaders. XP does not have the market share now that it had 5 or 10 years ago. The leader is currently Windows 7 (approx 50%), followed by XP (approx 30%) and then Windows 8 (approx 10%). Win 8 & 8.1 is growing rapidly ans Win 7 will hold its ground because these are the only MS operating systems being sold by OEMs today, except occasional refurbished XP systems. XP is fading.

Very few criminals are trying to crack your system so as to gain remote access to it. Your info is not much use to them. What's useful to them are credit card numbers, bank account info, usernames, passwords, Web site logins if have a Web site. This info is gained via malicious Web sites (phishing), malware keyloggers, backdoor trojans. The target is always $.

The majority of this type of crime occurs because of browser (IE) and browser plugins' insecurity (java, flash, etc), but always after the user does something such as click on a malicious link in email, visits a malicious Web site when using search engines, etc. Education in how to search and in what not to do when online will thwart 99.99% of risk of infection.

Sure, one can get infected via ads on pages that use x-site scripting exploits, but reputable sites don't use ad services that contain malicious ads. Newer browsers have fixed these vulnerabilities. Criminals will discover more ways to exploit the browsers, thus update your browsers. The real vulnerability is not the operating system, it's the browser. And the key to successful cyber crime is the uneducated user.

And a properly setup XP installation is as secure as any new operating system. In fact, I can setup XP so that it's more secure than newer versions of Windows because newer versions contain changes that must be continually patched as new security holes are discovered. The criminals are spending their time trying to find ways to exploit the newer systems, they already know the weaknesses of XP and we can guard against that.

MS is pushing users to stop using XP and get a newer operating system. Not because they are concerned about your safety or welfare, but because they want to sell their software.

To answer your question again: When's the last time you heard somebody mention that their Windows 98 or Windows 2000 computer was compromised!

 

Agreed.

I still say that XP itself can be as secure as any newer version of Windows provided one does not use Internet Explorer (version 8 is the max for XP). It can be hardened further with Group Policies.

Also, I wonder where MS gets the stats. Perhaps reported by MSE.

 

The vast majority of infections in XP occur via the Web browser. Sure, XP has holes and modern malware can exploit those holes, but somehow, that malware must get onto the XP system in the first place. On XP, that usually occurs via Internet Explorer 6, 7 or 8 and/or using java (java, not javascript) exploits, or via email messages with links to malicious sites or attached malware.

It is possible, on XP using IE8 to visit a malicious Web site and become infected with no additional user interaction with the page. The user need not click on anything, the XP security holes can be exploited directly via IE and malware can get installed.

However, despite the risks, the user had to have made the choice to go to the malicious site. Safe browsing habits and simple education in how to use search engines in combination with up-to-date decent security software can prevent 99.99% of infections in any operating system.

Note: these are my views on XP for the home user. For business users I do not recommend keeping XP unless the computer does not have Internet access.