In this IDC white paper, Al Gillen, Program Vice President for IDC’s System Software Research team, provides an overview of the IDC White Paper Mitigating Risk: Why Sticking with Windows XP is a Bad Idea. This white paper covers the business and operational benefits associated with a move to Windows 7 and why remaining with Windows XP is no longer a good business decision. Costs tend to soar when older products are used beyond their intended lifecycle, and IDC research has clearly confirmed that trend.