Highlighting the seriousness of the Navy’s software predicament, IT World notes:
An unclassified Navy document says the Microsoft applications affect “critical command and control systems” on ships and land-based legacy systems. Affected systems are connected to NIPRnet, the U.S. government’s IP network for non-classified information, and SIPRnet, the network for classified information.
Not to worry, though, the Navy doesn’t plan on running antiquated software for years on end. The duration of the contract will, if all things go well, last for about a year. During this time, the Navy will attempt to “migrate from its existing reliance on the expiring product versions to newer product versions approved for use in Ashore and Afloat networks, and will provide hotfixes to minimize risks while ensuring support and sustainability of deployed capabilities.”
Translation? The Navy will get busy upgrading its systems over the next few months.
Interestingly enough, the fact that the US Navy is still reliant on Windows XP shouldn’t come as much of a shock. Indeed, they are not alone in this regard. These days, a surprising number of work environments still remain beholden to Windows XP because the process of upgrading to a more modern OS without interrupting important workflows remains cost prohibitive.
Speaking to this point, just a few months ago, we reported that Windows XP, astonishingly, still has more users than Windows 8.
Reference: http://bgr.com/2015/06/24/windows-xp-support-us-navy-millions/