Windows XP still prevalent in NHS

Windows 10
Windows 10 is the latest version of Microsoft's flagship OS

All of the 35 NHS trusts in the UK are using Windows XP with only 14% currently using desktop virtualisation to tackle the issue of Windows XP migration, a FOI request from Citrix has found

The government purchased an extension of Windows XP support until April 8th 2015 for a whopping £5.5 million but while three quarters of trusts mentioned in the report were planning to migrate their last device in March 2015, one in seven didn't know when they would transition their last devices.

"Like the rest of the public sector, the NHS is under tremendous pressure to do more with less. The IT department is no exception," Jason Tooley, UK country manager at Citrix stated.

Windows XP is still very popular despite being 13 years old; it accounts for nearly one in every four desktop OS on the planet and is Microsoft's second most popular operating system behind Windows 7.

Ironically, Windows XP is likely to be used either in corporate environments (banks, POS, public sector) or on very old household PCs. The operating system reached its end-of-life beginning of April 2014.

Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.