90 per cent of the UK's NHS is STILL relying on Windows XP

>Microsoft’s 15-year-old desktop operating system.

It's not, of course, a 15 year old os. Window 5 is is a /16/ year old operating system. Or Windows NT is a /23/ year old operating system. Or WinXP SP2 is as /12/ year old operating system. Any one of which makes more sense that picking the release date of a 15 year old /trademark/

It really summarizes IT in general in the UK, do on the cheap, hold back as much as you can , blame IT for things screwing up , meanwhile the bean counters, and managers, are laughing at you,

That is why many leave in the industry because of inept Managers, lack of proper spending, I will say IT in the UK is dreadful, just the very thought of companies still running XP is shocking, but there is many more places that continue to run a system that has pasted it's best before date.

IT upgrades should be done every 3 years,

They could test a few machines from various departments with Linux, if it can save money, then why not, in fact, you can run Linux on lower spec machines, this will save money on hardware upgrades, especially with the NHS with all their money struggles,this should be option they should test,

A better analysis

The correct summary of this event: NHS tells Microsoft to stop changing API's and UI's when it's not necessary.

Microsoft, of course, keeps changing what doesn't need changing because they make money from software churn. That this imposes the high cost of employees endlessly having to crawl up new learning curves is something Redmond simply neglects to mention.

There is also the cost of re-writing custom software.

Part of the theory of biological evolution says that most viable mutations are small because most organisms are already so well adapted to their environments that very little improvement is possible. Any large change will probably (n.b.) be for the worse. The same is true of mature, tried-and-tested software. Like WinXP.

Bill Gates needs to stop hoarding cash and accept that the personal computer market is now mature, so profit levels will not be what they used to be.

There's absolutely no excuse for this.

I can't believe that 90% of NHS Trusts have some app they cannot move off of Windows XP. This is sheer laziness on the part of IT staff. Yes, doing a huge migration project is a pain in the as, but now you're really in the fire. I'll bet you their backups suck as well.

With working life of experience of computers from when a gui was two red leds and a teletype..........

Most people work at a pay grade as high up as they can get by leveraging their whole brain to support a job and acquire enough skill to keep the job and have a life as well. That is fact. They do not include becoming a Microsoft jockey in their life statement.

I worked with scientific instruments in laboratories so I have forced myself to know about computers as control devices and later on as data storage and information handling enablement. At the same time I have done my utmost to avoid becoming a microsoft jockey. Doing that is a total waste of my real skills as a scientist. In fact, if I have worried about computers, it is to make them work and I can write software for that purpose. Microsoft has been a drag on everything I have ever done but. It was like a deal with the Devil to get my pay checks. They have been a major cost centre in every project I have ever worked on.

Imagine a doctor/nurse/policeman/armed services soldier and so on. What possible interest have they got in Microsoft when they can do what they need to do with a pen and paper? Their bosses may well be very interested in big data collection and analysis but again none of them want to become microsoft jockeys either. They are not being paid for that.

As for linux! It is only in the last five years that I would ever have considered using it seriously in a general work place environment.

Interestingly mobile phones may be the salvation of networked computing. Users can just use them with a web interface. The phone and the server support can then be managed by microsoft or linux jockeys and the mobile phones can be junked every three years or be fully software updated remotely. Non jockeys will be free of the microsoft curse for the first time in half a century. Their relief will be much the same as having WCs installed in their houses.