Table 1 Windows lifecycle
Operation system version
Year of availability
End of service year
Windows 10
2015
2025
Windows 8
2012
2023
Windows 7
2009
2020
Windows Vista
2006
2017
Windows XP
2000
2014
Windows 98
1998
2006
Source: Prepared by author based on data provided on web resources
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet,
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsforbusiness/end-of-xp-support,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5164450.stm
Figure 2. Life cycles of Windows versions during the 2009-2018 years
Source: Prepared by author based on data provided by http://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-
share/desktop/ukraine/#monthly-200901-201808
Clearly, each consumer individually determines the need for update and each
iteration of updating requires certain financial costs, that is why the organization should
be ready for such changes not only technically but also financially. In the context of
public sector of Ukraine, the budgeting is always acute problem, so adopting the
optimal decisions and budget allocation remain a priority matter.
The outdated software installed on workstations often lead to problems such as
use of unlicensed software. In the situation when demand for electronic data tools is
growing, prices of licensed software are high and IT departments have insufficient
budgets, users try to replace outdated software with pirated version of modern software,
thus taking the risk of fines and incur criminal liability for violations of intellectual
property protection law. For example, according to Microsoft Ukraine the proportion
of unlicensed operating systems in government agencies was 50% in 2013. [17].
By itself, the problem of using unlicensed software in Ukraine is not new, as the
level of its use has long been one of the highest in the world (Fig. 3-4).
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