Is it true that all good things must end? When it comes to enterprise technology, innovation never really ends. Today’s breakthroughs are tomorrow’s obsolescence.
Technology evolves.
Think about the applications, platforms, and processes that powered your business over the years. Many of them are gone, but did their replacements kill them off entirely? Or did they improve upon the same fundamental concepts underlying the old systems?
Right this moment, Microsoft is poised to end support for Windows XP. But perhaps XP’s demise just represents another stage in the evolution of technology. Maybe it isn’t “dying” at all.
Not long ago, we published an infographic chronicling the history of terminal emulation. From the dumb terminals of the 70s to Windows 95, it’s easy to declare obsolete technologies dead. But they didn’t really die. They progressed:
• Lotus 1-2-3 gave way to MS Excel
• WordPerfect handed the reins to Microsoft Word
• DOS handed supremacy to Windows
• Common security gaps closed thanks to affordable anti-virus protection
• Separation between enterprise and consumer tech yielded to BYOD
So, to what operating system should Windows XP give way? We generally recommend the eminently stable Windows 7, but you’ve certainly got options nowadays. What’s important is that you evolve with the times.
For the sake of evolutionary inspiration, we’ll leave you with the infographic:
