Tech company Apple recently announced that it had let go of its support for its QuickTime multimedia player for Windows. Under normal circumstances, this news isn’t a major cause for alarm, because every software application must inevitably go through the end-of-life stage of its life cycle. But the fact that Apple discontinued its support without even fixing known critical vulnerabilities means Windows users of QuickTime are at risk. It’s time to uninstall, and you should do the same to other outdated software you have in your computer. Here’s why.
Uninstall Outdated Software as Soon as Developers Abandon Support
Some people are adamant about sticking with their old software, because it still works just fine. They claim newer versions of the same software has very few new features to improve the experience. To them, new doesn’t necessarily mean better. It’s one of the reasons why Windows XP remained as the dominant operating system for some time even though newer versions of Windows became available.
But because old software has non-existent support from developers, performance issues and bugs are left unfixed. Worse, cybercriminals may find security lapses or vulnerabilities in the software that they could use to gain control of the computer. Lack of updates and fixes simply means the software becomes less secure over time.
How to Uninstall
If you have an outdated software, you can uninstall it via the usual method. Open Start, type “uninstall a program” in the search box, and select Uninstall A Program (or Change Or Remove A Program) in the results. Find the software in the list in the Programs and Features window, right-click it, and select Uninstall.
Find Alternative Software
Now that you’re lacking software for a particular purpose, you need to find an alternative that can fill in and provide the same functionality. In the case of Quicktime, a recommended substitute is VLC by VideoLAN. It’s a free, open-source multimedia player that can play Quicktime movies without fail. It can play other media file formats too, so you can think of it as the Swiss Army knife of multimedia players.
If other programs in your computer depend on a software application you’ve uninstalled, consult the developers for steps you must take to keep your other programs functional without the uninstalled software. Adobe, for instance, is currently working on a solution that allows its products to function without the need for QuickTime.