Killing Windows XP Wastes Billions

There was him and this other guy he was talking to who still have XP, and he was, like, "I'd pay that."

The other guy was, like, "I can't even afford a chromebook. How am I going to afford a subscription. I wouldn't."

Then the OP was, like, type-type-type-type... "At least half..."

I think you're half right. I'd bet most XP users are using XP because it's the OS their computer came with. I do agree with you that most of them would not pay even $1/month for continued support.

A large percentage of the users still on XP are in China. Most of those are pirated. A company in China is offering some sort of paid patching/security updates with a deal with Microsoft.

LOL. But there are, regrettably, a lot of DDR1 P4's still out there, guzzling power.

I've upgraded XP machines with 2GB of RAM, and they were able to run 7 just fine.

To be fair, the author probably hasn't used a PC in years.

The Register has a piece at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/12/windows_xp_atms/ , where they report this:

"NCR – which supplies 60 per cent of the UK’s cash points – believes 95 per cent of Britain’s ATMs are today still running Windows XP with less than a month to go.

NCR told The Reg it has been working with Microsoft for nearly three years through workshops and sales camps to persuade banks to upgrade their ATMs."

Then they go into costs, etc., including "Microsoft is charging users who want extended support for custom agreements $200 per PC in the first year of a contract, $400 in year two and $800 for year three."

So it seems that Microsoft is selling support, just not to the public in general, and rather more expensive than John Dvorak suggested.