US Internal Revenue Service to pay Microsoft ‘millions’ for an extra year of security patches

2 min. read

Published onApril 13, 2014

published onApril 13, 2014

Share this article

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

April 8th marked the day Microsoft stopped providing support for Windows XP, a popular operating system from the Redmond giant which made its debut back in 2001.It turns out that the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), usually the people who take your money, arenow paying Microsoftmillions of dollars for an extra year of security patches – they missed the April8thend of support deadline.

The IRS apparently has approximately 110,000 Windows powered computers, and only 47% of those computers have been upgraded to Windows 7. The rest of the devices still run Windows XP. Unfortunately, due to the budget, the migration was unfinished. John Koskinen, IRS commissioner, defended the unfinished migration, stating that the IRS had $300 million worth of IT improvements on hold because of budget issues – including the Windows XP to Windows 7 migration.

“Windows XP will no longer be serviced, so we are very concerned if we don’t complete that work we’re going to have an unstable environment in terms of security,” Koskinen said, stressing that the migration is necessary and shall continue. The IRS will muster up $30 million out of its enforcement budget to finish the migration, paying Microsoft $11.6 million for “Custom Support” for critical security patches. The IRS will also spend $18.4 million to purchase new PCs to replace the older computers running Windows XP.

The IRS hopes to complete this migration by the end of the year. Don’t worry, according to the IRS, your tax filings are not handled by Windows XP systems.“None of our filing season systems or other major business operating systems for taxpayers use Windows XP,” an IRS spokesperson said Friday. “The IRS emphasizes the situation involving Windows will have no impact on taxpayers, including people filing their tax returns in advance of the April 15 deadline.”

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

User forum

0 messages

Sort by:LatestOldestMost Votes

Comment*

Name*

Email*

Commenting as.Not you?

Save information for future comments

Comment

Radu Tyrsina

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount#

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier#

US Internal Revenue Service to pay Microsoft ‘millions’ for an extra year of security patches#

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

US Internal Revenue Service to pay Microsoft ‘millions’ for an extra year of security patches