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After April 8th, 2014, Microsoft will end support, including automatic security patches, for its 13-year-old Windows XP operating system. This may sound like an inconvenience primarily for government agencies and aging uncles, but another major set of Windows XP users are the automated teller machines and credit card sales systems that handle billions of dollars of transactions daily.
While major retailers and banks are likely to be well prepared for the end of XP, financial systems based on the software are also in the hands of a far-reaching hodgepodge of independent ATM operators and small businesses. Despite ample warning, industry analysts and insiders agree that high cost and inconvenience will keep plenty of these smaller players running outdated software for many months to come — with serious implications for the security of their systems....