Windows XP security has become a global issue after reports say nearly 23% respondents of a survey are on XP. This comes after the software giant, Microsoft said that it will not offer windoews xp security patches after April 8. Microsoft took a strong stand on the stiff deadline as it encouraged customers to jump on the Windows 8 bandwagon.

Nonetheless an attack on the Internet Explorer did prompt a bug fix by the folks at Redmond. While they were at it, they offered to fix the XP IE flaw as well. XP is capable of operating the IE6, IE7 and the IE8.

The first big 'No-No' is not to use the Internet Explorer as the case against IE is selfevident in the recent attack.

The new vulnerability labeled a "new IE zeroday vulnerability was discovered" in late April. Apparently, this windows XP security breach would enable hackers to attack Windows computers, place countless Windows users open to further hacks until a patch is found.

Pedro Bustamante, a security analyst at Malwarebytes, anti-malware vendor told reporters,

"The more potentially severe issue is that anyone still using XP will be completely exposed as long as they continue to use the unsupported OS," adding, "for them, there will never be a patch."

If you must use IE, then stick to Java, Flash and PDF plug ins that are independent of Internet Explorer. Most browser vulnerabilities come from these applications.

The better option would be to use Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox, both of which are stable and supported. This will allow you to operate older

Another way to minimize risk is to run Windows xp virtually on Windows 7. This enables users to run versions of IE from the Windows 7 desktop, a safer alternative to maintain Windows XP security for those users who have a 'must have' perspective on XP. A good example would be running 'legacy' applications on a more secure Windows 7 environment.

With Reports From CIO