One year from today, Windows XP and Office 2003 will reach end of support—the countdown is on, and there are fewer than 300 workdays until April 8, 2014.
If you have enterprise customers with computing environments still running Windows XP and Office 2003, we have put together some essential information and resources that can help you have a meaningful conversation with them about planning their move to the modern desktop well ahead of next April.
Customers that don’t complete a migration to current Windows and Office versions will put their businesses at risk. After April 8, 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide hot fixes, product updates, or security patches for Windows XP and Office 2003. This could affect customers’ internal network security and regulatory compliance, and potentially expose valuable customer, partner, employee, and organizational information.
Read more about end of support for Windows XP on the Windows for Your Business blog.
New on the Microsoft News Center: Dawn of Windows 8 Brings New Device Opportunities as Sun Sets on XP.
Resources for your customers
Use these online resources to encourage your customers to take advantage of modern desktop technologies like Windows 8 and Microsoft Office 365, which can increase efficiencies and productivity as well as offer enterprise-level security and compliance.
These materials can be linked to from your own website, included in an email marketing campaign, or even printed out and packaged up with materials explaining your company’s solutions and services as leave-behinds for your customers.
- IDC white paper: Why Sticking with Windows XP is a Bad Idea
- Windows 8 Enterprise 90-day evaluation and end-user tutorials
- Information about Windows 8 devices from Microsoft and OEM partners
- Downloadable data sheet about Microsoft cloud offerings
- Case study about Office 365
Resources for you
Sales and marketing
- Windows 8 Value for Enterprise Scenarios, Part 1
- Windows 8 Value for Enterprise Scenarios, Part 2
- Windows 8 Delivering the CXO Pitch
- How to Introduce the New Office to Enterprise IT Decision Makers
- New Office Pitch Perfect: Having the Customer Conversation
- Office 365 Solution Selling Materials
- Productivity Campaign
Technical
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More partner resources for Windows 8 and the new Office are listed in our online guides.
Working with SMB customers? Take a look at the partner-ready and customer-ready materials in the Get2Modern campaign.