Microsoft is leaving Windows to rot (even where there is a large userbase [1]), so we should too. Sometimes in my job people who are mentally dependent on Windows (fearful of change) try to cling onto Microsoft APIs [2], Windows applications, server protocols etc. without quite realising that they only make their life more difficult, especially if they try to rely on GNU/Linux for the rest (especially on the desktop, not just the server). The right thing to do right now is to find alternatives to Windows which are based on GNU/Linux [3], protecting freedom [4] and dodging incarceration that proprietary software so gleefully promotes [5].
Some people said that 2014 would be the year of GNU/Linux on the desktop and based on what I see at work this is actually very probable. ⬆
Windows XP is 13 years old and Microsoft has no obligation to continue supporting it -- but failing to support it means that many of the most vulnerable or cash-strapped customers could end up playing host to an avalanche of malware or security exploits.
If you were hoping to eventually be able to run Windows applications within Google's Chrome OS environment via Wine, the possibilities of that working out well are very slim.
Microsoft will soon no longer support Windows XP so current XP users will need to migrate to a newer version of Windows or possibly Linux. If they don't migrate, they run the risk of serious security problems once Microsoft stops issuing updates for Windows XP.
We need to protect the freedoms in which Linux was born and grew up.
The OS is the core of your computing experience. There's no point trying to run a fully legal setup if the base of it is illegal. Windows and Mac OS are the most known operating systems, however they aren't free.