It's actually not as bad as you think. IE updates are now being released as critical so they're being included in OS updates.
That means that most IE users will be upgrading to the latest IE of whatever OS they're using. So when Window XP is officially abandoned (scheduled for spring 2014), it won't be long until most IE users are on the latest version.
Third party support businesses stand to make a pretty profit off of Microsoft ditching support for XP. I'm afraid XP will live on for quite some time after it's officially unsupported.
The medical field is perhaps one of the largest supporters of these ancient systems. I can't tell you how many times I've heard my medical friends say they use EMR and documentation software that ONLY works in IE6. You think those underfunded nursing homes and second rate hospitals are going to spend thousands updating their systems?
So, they better make arrangements to get Chrome or Firefox installed along side of IE6. The reality is that IE6 support is not going to happen. It's not worth the extra cost of development.
You are assuming that most people will abandon XP when it is officially abandoned, I'm not sure that lack of official support will convince users to embark on a disruptive upgrade to Windows 8.
I know my company would never support a browser that wasn't even supported by its maker, and I'm sure a lot of companies wouldn't either.
If you have "customers" you'll probably drop IE8 support quickly in 2014. If you just have "visitors", and if those visitors are international, it might take longer.
Windows XP users maybe aren't the best clients of your product or the clients who will pay for it. Nobody with ancient stuff can pretend to have the whole tech advancements.
Windows XP users aren't able to install many, many things nowadays, what make you think they will be shocked to know they're really can see the majority of the websites well.
The other day i was demoing a friend my old macbook (2002) and all the major websites were simply, broken. We didn't have any "omg look". It's normal to experiment this before they enter your website.
Back when I worked for a company selling expensive software and services to large companies and government agencies, I quickly learnt that there is zero correlation between how much a department is willing to spend on hardware and how much they are willing to spend on software running on those computers. Signing off on a $20000 software license while refusing to replace an ancient 19" lcd screens is perfectly normal as hardware and software normally come from two different budgets and procured entirely differently.
I said maybe. Maybe they're not. Maybe they're just not fit to use a "revolutionary product" that requieres dozens of lines of JS that requieres modern browsers or worst anything else.
And thus MS snatches defeat from the jaws of victory once more.
Locking browser upgrades to OS upgrades without huge a technical justification. With XP maybe there was a case that it was too hard to support all the changes needed but Vista to Windows 7/8? This was a business decision not a technical one.
There is 0 technical justification, just some exec decision. Thanks to that and crappy XP security (by design , there is no other word), you have these huge botnets that will be here for years.
Companies need to understand that XP , and IE on XP is a threat to their business, their data and using Microsoft products will damage them sooner or later, and i'm not even talking about MSFT racketeering ,sorry license policy.
That means that most IE users will be upgrading to the latest IE of whatever OS they're using. So when Window XP is officially abandoned (scheduled for spring 2014), it won't be long until most IE users are on the latest version.