Reuters TIME is finally running out for the 500m or so people around the world who still rely on Windows XP to perform their daily computing chores. In less than a year, Microsoft will leave them�your correspondent included�to fend for themselves. There will be no more security patches, bug fixes and free (or even paid) online assistance, as the firm ends its extended support for this operating system four years after it ceased offering mainstream support for the product. From April 8th next year, anyone who continues to use Windows XP will be at the mercy of hackers who find fresh ways to exploit vulnerabilities in the 12-year-old operating system and applications that run on it. Windows XP (for �eXPerience�) was launched in 2001. It went on to became the most popular operating system ever, with more than 800m users. Though it hails from three generations ago (having been officially replaced by Windows Vista in 2007, Windows 7 in 2009 and Windows 8 in 2012), i...