Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will still make millions of dollars from Windows XP, the more than a decade old version of its Windows operating system despite the fact that it stopped selling the software in 2010 and recently ceased supporting it.
According to Fiberlink, a mobile device management company, Windows XP is still used in approximately 44% of businesses. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) ended the support for the software on April 8, 2014 after issuing its final security update.
Michael Silver and Stephen Kleynhan, analysts at information technology research and advisory firm Gartner estimated that around 10% to 15% of all enterprise PCs will still run the Windows XP.
Microsoft offers custom support
Some of the largest companies still using the software secured a custom support contract from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to continue to provide security updates and fixes for their PCs. Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) custom support contract had been capped at $200,000 for some time and its clients were allowed to pay quarterly.
In a recent interview with Computerworld, Silver noted that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) changed its custom support pricing into a per device model of $200. The software giant and reinstated its floor and ceiling price of $200,000 and $500,000, respectively.
According to Silver, the custom support for Windows XP is “certainly not pretty.” The quotation for the Windows XP custom support ranges from $600,000 to $5 million for the first year.
Microsoft secures huge custom support contracts
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) already secure huge amount of custom support contracts, particularly from the British government, which entered a £5.548 million agreement to provide security updates for PCs powered by Windows XP, Office 2003, and Exchanges 2003.
The software giant also obtained a multi-million contract from the Dutch government to provide support for more than 300,000 computers. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States entered a $500,000 agreement to receive security updates for its approximately 58,000 Windows XP computers.
Different banks worldwide also obtained custom support contracts from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) for their ATM machines powered by Windows XP, according to Reuters.
Via: BI
