Windows XP was released 16 years ago, on 25th of October, 2001. It is now considered to be an outdated operating system. Microsoft stopped supporting this system three years ago, because potential hardware capabilities could no longer be realized on Windows XP due to technical limitations. The lifecycle support for Windows 2003 and Windows Vista also ended.
End of support means that Microsoft no longer provides security updates that can help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
That is why Forex trading platform developer MetaQuotes announced that:
The MetaTrader 4/5 platforms and all their components will no longer support Windows XP/Windows 2003/Windows Vista after 01 October 2017
Older versions of MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 will continue to work on these systems, but will not be able to receive updates after 01 October 2017. Also, installers will not run on these operating systems.
The minimum required operating system version for running MetaTrader 4/5 will be Windows 7. However, MetaQuotes strongly recommends using the 64-bit versions of Windows 10.