After reading through this topic, it would appear that some folks have come to the erroneous conclusion that when their ISP or their anti-virus supplier says, "We'll continue to support Windows XP," they mean they will be providing updates for Windows XP. No, that is not what they mean. Your ISP really means that they will not discontinue service to XP machines. Your anti-virus company means they will still provide you with new virus definitions for your anti-virus software.
Your ISP will continue to provide service to you until your computer starts spewing out spam, or engaging in other malicious activity, and then they will likely discontinue your service until you have remedied the situation. Your anti-virus company will continue to provide virus definitions for your anti-virus software until that software becomes obsolete, at which time they will have a new software which may or may not be compatible with Windows XP. Sooner or later, you will find that you will be unable to locate an anti-virus or any other software that is compatible with Windows XP.
Microsoft is the only company that makes updates for their various Windows operating systems... no one else. There are security vulnerabilities in every version of every operating system out there, be it Windows, Apple, Linux, Android, whatever. I'm sure they all do their best to make their operating systems as bullet proof as possible, but there are many malicious people out there who make their living by picking through code, finding vulnerabilities, and then creating a way to exploit those vulnerabilities. In the meantime, the developers of those various operating systems do their level best to counter those exploits by patching/closing the vulnerabilities. This is a huge, costly, ongoing and vitally necessary undertaking.
On the second Tuesday of each and every month, and sometimes more often, Microsoft releases updates to patch vulnerabilities in its supported operating systems. The Windows XP operating system was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and released for retail sale on October 25, 2001, and it's been receiving security patches and updates on the second Tuesday of each month during each month of its existence. XP has had a good long run, and now it's coming to an end. You can choose to move on or you can choose to continue running an operating system that because it is no longer supported will have unpatched security vulnerabilities that will be open to exploitation by malicious entities that don't know you, have no personal ax to grind with you, they just want to make a whole lot of money, and they do that by invading and taking control of vulnerable computers, stripping them of salable information, turning them into zombie machines, using them for DDOS attacks, etc. Nothing personal, it's just business, and a very lucrative business at that.
If you continue to go online with a Windows XP operating system after April 8th, that's your choice. However, you should be aware that there is no piece of software, be it anti-virus or anti-malware, that can protect your computer from having a known unpatched vulnerability exploited. That's not the software's job, so don't expect it to do it. It's also not the job of your ISP, so don't expect them to do it.
You should also be aware that once your XP computer is infected, and it will be infected, if you have other computers in your home that are sharing the same internet connection, they will become infected as well.
The following articles may help you determine the best option for your computer:
http://www.malwareremoval.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=62384#.UzdvE6Is0aQ
http://www.malwareremoval.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=62503#.UzdutaIs0aQ
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