Anti Malware Signatures for Windows XP until July 14, 2015 does NOT indicate an extension of support for XP.

Many partners have reached out for clarification around the recent news released by Microsoft last week stating we will continue to release antivirus and malware signatures through July 14, 2015. These alone will not be enough to protect your customers still on XP. Please note we are not extending End of Life Support for XP. The date for EOL still stands at April 8, 2014. Microsoft continues to emphasize the importance of getting your customers off of XP by April 8, 2014. 

Our research shows that the effectiveness of antimalware solutions on out-of-support operating systems is limited. Running a well protected solution starts with using modern software and hardware designed to help protect against today’s threat landscape. SMB customers should definitely still migrate from Windows XP before April 8, 2014.

For your reference here is the link to the official blog: https://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2014/01/15/microsoft-antimalware-support-for-windows-xp.aspx

To help your customers move away from XP to a modern, secure and productive platform please attend the upcoming Countdown2Modern webinars. Information on how to register as well as many other resources related to the Countdown2Modern campaign can be found at: https://readytogo.microsoft.com/en-us/Pages/timeforchange/default.aspx

Kathleen Molosky, PST