I’ve written a number of times now that tomorrow will bring the last ever patch for Windows XP. Then it is only a question of how long the hackers will wait to start attacking Windows XP systems. My guess is the first flaws will be exploited before the week is over, though it may be a while longer before the big hacks arrive.

As Windows XP is exiting, the first major update to Windows 8.1 will be arriving. Overall, I like Windows 8.1. Of course that’s after I completely neutered the silly start screen and made it a desktop operating system like we’ve had for years. Microsoft is finally realizing the error of their ways and slowly restoring the features they took away. Windows 8.1 (with the new update) will automatically boot to desktop mode unless a touch screen is detected.

Sometimes it seems as if users don’t understand the importance of Windows to the software they run on top of it. They complain of software crashing when often the problem is much deeper than the software. For example, I hear complaints constantly about CorelDRAW (pick your least favorite version) crashing while my last crash was so long ago that I don’t even know when it was. If my goal was to get it to crash, I’m sure it wouldn’t take me long.

I just take good care of Windows and avoid doing things that CorelDRAW just wasn’t designed to do. What is that? It isn’t good at long documents, files filled with bitmaps at insanely high resolutions or designing Web pages. I’ve written about all of these things, but the users who have the problems don’t want to hear those types of projects can be problematic.

Take a few minutes today to make a list of things you can do to help Windows run better on your system. If you are running Windows XP, there should only be one item on the list and that is an immediate upgrade. You don’t have to cross all items off your list immediately, but make an effort to cross things off as quickly as you can. Then look at the software you use and determine which software is best for each type of project. You might have to consider new software. You might need to do some projects using different software than you are using now. When this is all sorted out, you’ll be a lot more productive and I’m guessing you’ll crash a lot less!