behemoth #3
Windows XPのサポートが終了するにあたり、日本の1300万台のパソコンはコンピューターウイルス等に犯される危険性がある、と専門家が予測しました。記事はThe Japan Timesからになります。
behemothは以前Othello先輩が詳述されておりますので（cf. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20120529/1338259693）今回は復習となります。behemothには「[しばしば(the) B-] ビヒモス （聖書ヨブ記に出てくるカバと思われる巨獣）」『Wisdom英和辞典(第三版)』(三省堂)という定義もございますがここでは「巨大で強力なもの」（ibid）に相当します。つまり「巨大企業」ないしは「大企業」と解釈できるかと思います。(Shou-VR*)
Windows XP phaseout to put 13 million PCs at risk in Japan: experts
More than 13 million personal computers in Japan will be exposed to higher risk of virus and other attacks starting in mid-April, experts warn.
These computers are still running the Windows XP operating system, which Microsoft Corp. will stop supporting entirely on April 9.
An estimated 7.23 million Windows XP-based PCs are still in use by companies, accounting for 20 percent of all PCs in Japan. Migration to newer operating systems, such as Windows 8.1, has been slow, especially at small and midsize firms, because managers are either unaware of the problem or want to avoid the cost of updating.
Included in the corporate category, according to a survey by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry last October, are town, city and prefectural governments, which have around 2 million PCs in use, 722,166 of them on Windows XP. About 37 percent of them, or 266,231 machines, won’t be upgraded by the April deadline.
Local governments have been slow to update old machines because much of their administrative work, including the handling of residential and taxation data, depends on Windows XP software.
If a company or local government shifts to a newer OS, it must also ensure that its spreadsheets, calculating and other software will successfully make the transition, which takes several months.
Microsoft Japan Co. will conduct seminars to help smaller firms make the migration through early April, aided by more than 10 regional chambers of commerce and industry. It is also offering incentives, such as by deferring payment for new PCs until after April or paying the interest on installment plans.
The software behemoth’s sales agents are also stepping up preparations for terminating Windows XP. Hardware seller and system integrator Otsuka Corp., for example, has bulked up on new machines in expectation of a sharp increase in demand.
