Though many consumers and government institutions are rushing to migrate from Windows XP as the April 8 cutoff date for Microsoft support fast approaches, five of the UK’s largest banks are joining a growing number of institutions that will pay Microsoft to continue updating Windows XP after the company suspends support for the aging OS next month.
To stop hackers who would love the chance to get every ATM in the world to make it rain, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and Santander UK are either negotiating for or have already purchased extended support deals with Microsoft. According to CNN Money, U.S. banks have been making similar deals with Microsoft, including JPMorgan, which has arranged for a one-year extension for XP support for its systems.
Using Windows XP may become a major security risk once Microsoft kills support. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin last week, stating that running Windows XP after support ends could leave those machines vulnerable to attacks from hackers.
Despite years of advance notice, both private and public institutions are scrambling to migrate from XP. Banks aren’t the only entities that aren’t prepared for April 8. The U.S. government will not complete its migrations from XP before support is ended. In fact, 95 percent of the world’s ATMs run software built on top of Windows XP. According to Reuters, about one third of them will be upgraded to newer software, including Windows 7, before the April 8 deadline.
A Microsoft spokesman told Reuters that the cost of extending Windows XP support for ATMs will vary from company to company based “on both the specific needs of the customer and what support they already have in place, so it’s different for every customer.”
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.