Is the XP paranoia simply the 2014 millenium bug?
No it is not.
You must dump XP. End of story. Very few people have a reason to stay with it, those who do tend to be from the business community and will tell tales of embedded systems etc. .... none of that applies to home users. If all you do is typical homey stuff (browse internet, look at photos, write emails etc.).... then there is no reason you cannot dump XP.
Its not a case of "if", but "when" something will happen. That is absolutely guaranteed. The threats are very real supported by much technical evidence.... and no, anti-
whatever software will do
nothing to protect you.
Its your choice... either you heed sound advice, or you learn the hard way.
Let's keep XP off this thread please, there's a whole hamster wheel thread only a few listings away from this one should you wish to join the "clinger-on" vs "don't be so stupid" debate .....although there is technically no "debate" to be had on this one, hence the hamster wheel !