Microsoft on Friday took the unprecedented step of issuing patches for long-demoted versions of Windows, including Windows XP, to immunize PCs from fast-spreading ransomware that has crippled machines worldwide.
To stymie "WannaCrypt" attacks -- which encrypted files on thousands of PCs used by the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS), causing chaos in many hospitals -- Microsoft published patches for Windows XP, Windows 8 and Windows Server 2003. All had been retired from support: Windows XP in April 2014, Windows 8 in June 2016, Windows Server in July 2015.
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