Windows XP was hit with its first major threat since Microsoft stopped providing security updates earlier this week. The security flaw was present on Internet Explorer and gave any potential hackers the opportunity to take control of the user’s computer. You simply had to follow a bad link before you were targeted, which could easily occur in a domestic environment and equally pose a threat to online businesses.

For people who use the updated version of Windows, the issue could simply be resolved by having automatic security updates turned on. However, we all expected Windows XP users to suffer greatly from the bug, so much so that it could finally drive the last remaining users away from the operating system.

However, the patch released by Microsoft isn’t the only step they’ve taken to get rid of the problematic bug. Interestingly, they’ve also dealt with the issue in Windows XP users, meaning that people who still rely on the aging operating system can live to fight another day.

The patch was released yesterday, so anyone who hasn’t got hold of it yet can head directly to Microsoft support. Alternatively, you may have already had automatic security updates turned on, in which case you don’t have to worry.

Dustin Childs of Microsoft Trustworthy Computing was quoted on cnet as saying “We have made the decision to issue a security update for Windows XP”, although he did stress that Microsoft doesn’t support Windows XP anymore and they still encourage people to switch to a newer operating system as soon as possible.