If you’re still using Windows XP and haven’t upgraded to Service Pack 3 yet, you really should. Microsoft have ended support for versions of XP still on SP2 or older, so you won’t be getting any more security patches. The latest set of patches issued yesterday, including for the heavily exploited Help & Support Centre bug will be the last for pre-SP3 XP installs.
Support for XP SP3 (or XP x64 SP2) extends to at least April 2014. Current estimates are that roughly 50% of Windows XP installs are still on SP2 or older.
If you’re running Windows XP, and aren’t sure if you have SP3 or not:
Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
If Service Pack 3 is listed in the System section, SP3 is already installed on your computer and you don’t need to do anything more.
If not, then you need to follow the instructions here and make sure you will still get security patches.
If you’re running windows 2000, you’re out of luck as the support cycle is now definitely over. Time to upgrade if you connect that PC to the internet!
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Despite all the naysayers, an OS being both used and supported for 13 years is pretty impressive.
Not surprised about Windows 2000 being dropped, though.