Did you know that the vast majority of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) run Windows XP? Since we just see the ATM’s top level interface from the banks, we don’t think about the Operating System that these machines are running. It has generally not been an issue until recently.
Microsoft is in the process of trying to ween the world’s computers off of Windows XP. As stable and (mostly) reliable as XP has been, Microsoft wants the world to move beyond XP into the newer Windows Systems. To do this, they have been announcing (and extending) the end of life deadlines for various levels of Windows XP support. This includes announcing cutoff dates for Windows Updates and support for the XP version of Security Essentials. The problem with this plan is that there are still a very large number of enterprise based and “mom & pop” based systems that work perfectly fine under Windows XP. A forced move to newer Operating Systems will often require re-engineering of a large number of specialized software packages to ensure proper compatibility with the newer versions of Windows.
For more information, check out this article about the ATM Deadline & Windows XP.