A number of local municipality offices in Japan are not able to upgrade their personal computers which are running on the Windows XP operating system of Microsoft. Japanese municipalities cite budget shortages as the reason behind not upgrading to a new operating system before the US-based firm ends support for its Windows XP on April 9, 2014.
The Windows XP computers are set to be disconnected from the internet and one of the local government officials said that it is not really possible to say that damage can be avoided completely. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications back in November 2013 announced in a survey report that about 266,200 computers which are owned by Japanese local governments – or about 13 percent – will not receive the necessary upgrade.
Japanese ministry has requested from the offices not to use those PCs until they are upgraded. The survey was conducted in March 2014 by Osaka Shinkin Bank on the country’s small, as well as mid-sized companies. It was found that 46 percent of 1,200 responding companies were using Microsoft’s Windows XP PCs, while 53.5 percent of users confirmed that they would continue to use them.
An official from the regional lender in Osaka said that the companies might not realize the importance of ending the support for the OS. International Data Corp. – the market research company – has predicted that about 6.6 percent of PCs at those companies and about 8.7 percent used by individuals will still be running on Window XP in June 2014.
Photo Credits: Independent UK
