Microsoft has warned that one in every six personal computers in Hong Kong faces potential security risks because they still run on Windows XP, the company's 12-year-old operating system.
The software giant, along with other industry experts, said yesterday that Windows XP was neither capable of defending against sophisticated cyberattacks nor adequately providing privacy and productivity.
Alan Chan, the national technology officer at Microsoft Hong Kong, said there were about 90 days left before Windows XP, which was released in October 2001, is officially retired worldwide on April 8, following a few extensions made by the company. Many other computer hardware and software companies will end support on the same date.
But data from Web analytics firm StatCounter show that Windows XP is still running on 16 per cent of the personal computers in Hong Kong.
Microsoft estimates that about 1.53 million personal computers run Windows XP out of a total of 9.32 million calculated by research firm IDC.
"Clearly, there's a lack of urgency in some organisations in Hong Kong to make migration to a newer operating system - either Windows 7 or Windows 8 - a priority," Chan said. "We are really worried that these organisations are cutting it too close to the end of service date."