Given that many of the breaches appear in Internet Explorer and third-party Microsoft software, you are probably safe to run Windows XP, even without an anti-virus or firewall (as I do), by doing just that, run Windows XP and avoid using Internet Explorer and third-party Microsoft software. I believe the core XP OS is pretty safe at this point and is able to last a good decade more without sounding dated.

How could it be dated by the way when you know that even Microsoft is betting their money on mobile operating systems ? Even Windows 8 is terribly dated compared to modern mobile OSes.