Tech – Metro | Putin’s computer still runs Windows XP and ‘hasn’t been updated in 5 years’

Putin in his Kremlin office with a Windows XP computer running in the background (Kremlin.ru)

Russia is often accused of cyber espionage by the international community – but perhaps the country isn't as technically advanced as we though.

Some new pictures have emerged showing President Vladimir Putin working away in his office in the Kremlin. And it's pretty obvious that the computer on his desk is still running on Windows XP.

Yep, the leader of Russia is still relying on an operating system that came out in 2001 and hasn't been issued an update from Microsoft in five years.

The telltale Windows XP blue taskbar and bulbous icons can be seen on Putin's desktop – clearly visible in the background of pictures published by Russian website Open Media.

According to Open Media, Windows XP (which was developed and built in the late 90s) is the last Microsoft system that was approved to be used for official Russian government computers. Putin has previously called the internet a CIA project and Russian spooks are famously jittery about using American software.

Putin still uses Windows XP and this is what his desktop looks like pic.twitter.com/RP3KUg4r5P

— bonzi⛄️ (@bonzitube) December 21, 2019

Russia is planning to move away from the global internet in the coming decades and set up its own national network. The country wants to replace standard software made by the likes of Apple and Microsoft with Russian alternatives.

Putin has also signed a law that requires all smartphones, TVs and computers sold in the country to come with pre-installed Russian software.

Even though Windows XP hasn't been updated in 5 years, the President of Russia still uses it (Kremlin.ru)

Last year, Russia brought in the Digital Economy National Program which aims to protect the country's online infrastructure even if other countries were able to cut it off.

And Russian site Izvestia has reported that Russian officials want at least 95% of all internet traffic within the country to be routed locally by 2020. It's basically the Russian version of the Great Firewall of China.

Naturally, there are some that aren't too sure about this plan. According to Reuters, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs reckons it poses more of a risk to the functioning of the Russian internet segment than alleged threats from foreign countries.

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