The one-year countdown to the end of support for Windows XP began ticking down yesterday. If you’re still using the ancient, legacy version of Windows, it’s time to consider your next move.

To be clear, your PC will not burst into flames next year—at least, if it does, it won’t have anything to do with the expiration of Windows XP support. When XP support ends, Microsoft will no longer invest any resources to maintain or update it. Windows XP will still continue to work just as well as it has for the past decade.

In that case, why should you be concerned? Two words: Patch Tuesday.

When support for Windows XP ends, Microsoft will cease developing security patches for the venerable OS. As old and great as the OS is, new vulnerabilities impact Windows XP on a regular basis—including many critical flaws that could allow an attacker to take over or cripple a PC running it.

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