This is a lot of hype. Microsoft automatically applies patches as holes or weaknesses are discovered that hackers have been exploiting. BUT that doesn't mean there's going to be a problem they day after they stop offering automatic patches. Most of these hacks are convoluted anyway, requiring a specific series of circumstances, i.e., if you are watching a video, and your memory spikes crashing your video player and you hit a certain kind of infected web site immediately after your memory overload but before rebooting your system, then your computer is vulnerable to hacking the next time you download an Excel file (or something like that - this is an example only).
The point is, it's probably a good idea to upgrade your OS and or system if you are running XP because over time you could expose yourself to risks, but nothing is going to happen the day the support expires.
We put Zorin8 on one of the old XP machines that the kids use...so far it’s pretty nice, so much so that I’m thinking of dual booting it on my Windows7 PC. I wonder how many folks are going to explore an alternate OS because of this?
If it wasn’t for the end of XP support, I’d have never given Linux much thought.