back to article Windows XP folks: At least GOOGLE still loves you ... UNTIL 2015

In a rather shrewd move, Google has said it will provide Chrome updates for Windows XP users for at least a year after Microsoft stops supporting the elderly OS next April. "We recognize that hundreds of millions of users, including a good chunk of current Chrome users, still rely on XP," said Mark Larson, superintendent of …

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  1. Rafael L

    "Microsoft may not love you, but Google does"

    Except Microsoft is giving support for a 11 years old system, Google Chrome doesn't event exists for 8 years alone.

    1. Rafael L

      6 years*

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Except Microsoft is giving support for a 11 years old system,"

      12 years...

  2. rcorrect

    We use Chrome at work because the latest version of Internet Explorer isn't available for XP. If fact I think that is one reason Chrome has been successful given that a lot of people still haven't upgrade their Windows.

  3. Shagbag

    "Third parties may provide ongoing support for their applications, but it’s important to recognize that support will not address fixes and security patches in the core Windows kernel so new vulnerabilities can still be exploited even though applications might be updated," Microsoft told El Reg in an emailed statement.

    After 12 years they've still got bugs in the kernel? Not only that, but they try and use it as an argument against their biggest competitor. Weird.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      well said. 12 years and still not a finished product.

    2. dogged

      The linux kernel is even older and still has bugs. If it didn;t, there would be no new releases.

      1. plrndl
        Linux

        @dogged

        Linux kernel development is primarily concerned with developing features and adding ever more driver support. There will always be new releases.

      2. W. Anderson

        Gone to the "dogged"

        The commenter "dogged" has absolutely no technical knowledge or understanding of Linux, nor probably any other aspect of technology that requires intelligence and common sense.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I would imagine that if MS hadn't added any new features over the lifetime of XP, if new hardware hadn't come along and if hackers hadn't developed new techniques, they wouldn't be much, if any work on the kernel, however none of those things have come to pass.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "After 12 years they've still got bugs in the kernel"

      Linux has had far more bugs in the kernel - and still gets them after somewhat longer - we are up to about 950 vulnerability issues alone in the Linux kernel now....

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "we are up to about 950 vulnerability issues alone in the Linux kernel now"

        The whole Windows XP OS only has about 500...

    5. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. Wang N Staines

    ChromeOS upgrade

    What we need is an install to upgrade XP to ChromeOS ... come Google!!!

    :-)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: ChromeOS upgrade

      ChromeOS with android app support would be nice.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: ChromeOS upgrade

        "ChromeOS with android app support would be nice"

        That would be terrible for security - you might as well bend over and pull your cheeks apart...

        Not to mention ChromeOS is little more than a web browser...Very limited in terms of what it can do.

    2. RyokuMas
      Facepalm

      Re: ChromeOS upgrade

      ... and in 10-20 years time, we will be under the thumb of a Google monopoly, lamenting and criticising them at every step while cheering on the next up-and-coming company.

      "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: ChromeOS upgrade

        "and in 10-20 years time, we will be under the thumb of a Google monopoly, lamenting and criticising them at every step while cheering on the next up-and-coming company."

        Just like now with MS ! and you don't seem to want to change

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: ChromeOS upgrade

          The cruical point is that MS, like IBM and Bell before them have been sued by their government, resulting in a serious change of corporate attitude. I know lots of people want to think that MS are the big bad monster in IT, but really they are a completely different company to what they used to be.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Just like now with MS ! and you don't seem to want to change

          Criticising Google is NOT endorsing Microsoft. The fact that you refuse to engage with criticism and instead try and deflect it to MS indicates that you have no argument, you know as well as we do that Google are rapidly going down the shitter, ethically if not technically....

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Just like now with MS ! and you don't seem to want to change

            "Criticising Google is NOT endorsing Microsoft."

            The lesson is that monopolies are BAD, at the moment MS is the monopoly

      2. W. Anderson

        Re: ChromeOS upgrade

        Obviouly RyokuMas and those who supported his view are completely ignorant about the difference in English between prognosticating - without sany supporting fact - what "may" happen way into the future and what is "History" - as in what has actually taken place.

        There is no wondr that the international report published last week confirmed that American "adults" scored significantly below their peers in most other developed nations in Math, Reading and comprehension, as well as Problem Solving/Analytical skills. That proves that many Americans are stupid, especially in have no ability to understand basic logic much less technology.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Save XP

    End of sales for PCs with XP preinstalled was 22 October 2010, ref

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/products/lifecycle

    Seems daft to me that Microsoft are permitted to waste our tax and personal money by ending support so damn early. Any MP or MEP reading this want to persuade MS to extend support?

    1. Kay Burley ate my hamster

      Re: Save XP

      Correct you could opt for XP until 2010 but the end of life date was known by then.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Save XP

        Truish - but I don't remember seeing an expiry date in T&Cs. I would have thought 7 yrs from Oct 2010 would have been reasonable. Anyone know their business / consumer law?

    2. Ottman001

      Re: Save XP

      From what I think is an impartial point of view, XP was superseded by Vista in January 2007, more than 7 years before support for XP ends. Even if no wanted Vista, this is surely the point at which the clock started ticking for XP.

      From a consumers point of view, Vista doesn't count because, well, its Vista. Windows 7 wasn't released until October 2009. That means support will end for systems under 5 years old.

      From Microsoft's PR departments point of view, XP was released in 2001 and support will be ending after 13 years.

      More than one way to skin a cat.

  6. sabroni Silver badge

    In a rather shrewd move

    Shrewd move is fucking right! Encourage users to continue using an OS that's out of support so when the inevitable shit hits the fan and the OS is compromised they can say "wanna upgrade to Chrome OS? that never goes out of date!". (They of course won't mention the fact that they can change their ToS at any time they like and start to appropriate information you thought was yours for purposes of their own, like, I don't know, maybe using your profile picture to make money from advertisers? Just want to run the old version, the one that works the way you like? Tough shit! Yeah, shrewd.)

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    1. Ragarath

      Re: I won't be upgrading - in fact, I'm building 6 new PCs with XP x64 on them.

      Your loosing productivity by going to Windows 7? I am first going to assume you have tried it, but please explain to me how changing to Windows 7 would decrease your productivity?

      If you have applications that only work on Windows XP then, well this has been coming for many years and you were warned. If it is because you still only have an old P3 or P4 machine then it is not the OS limiting your productivity. it is your choices.

      Then there is always linux, there are plenty that will run the old hardware well (I have 7 on an old celeron laptop btw).

      From what I can see, and please correct me if I am wrong but your comment seems like that of a person not doing something just for the sake of not doing something thinking it proves anything.

      1. Roland6 Silver badge

        Re: I won't be upgrading - in fact, I'm building 6 new PCs with XP x64 on them.

        >If you have applications that only work on Windows XP

        Ahem!, Oliver explicitly mentions XP x64, a version of XP that had limited hardware support and application support if I remember rightly.

        Personally, unless I had real need to use XP x64, I would choose Windows 7 x64, particularly if building new systems. Also with XP x32, it is fine to keep it running on existing hardware and create new VM's, but to put it natively on new hardware... Obviously, I'm ignoring Win8 in the above, as not used it enough in anger yet, but I do appreciate that once you get around the UI and get a sensible desktop configuration up and running, it can largely be treated in the same way as Win7.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

          1. Ragarath

            Re: I won't be upgrading - in fact, I'm building 6 new PCs with XP x64 on them.

            You still did not reply to any points I raised. And yes I read the title, again why are you running it over 7 x64? It seems like you know enough to build your own systems so should be able to do the same to 7.

            If you leave it in a default configuration it can run slow on older hardware. Again it seems to me your not upgrading for the sake of it. And no an employer supplied notebook is not experience. I assume you are not part of the it dept from that comment and do not have access to reconfigure the build and thus have not really tried 7.

            thanks for posting your hardware. Always interesting to see what people are using. Pointless mind.

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. JDX Gold badge

    Dangerous to users

    Surely any company who offers support to their products past EOS date is implicitly making it easier for users to stay on XP, giving them false security they are still protected.

    The responsible thing to do is for all software companies to pull together in trying to get everyone OFF XP. You know, the way they did with IE6.

    1. DanDanDan

      Re: Dangerous to users

      The difference here is that IE6 was worse than bad. XP is possibly the best OS MS have ever made.

      1. JDX Gold badge

        XP is possibly the best OS MS have ever made.

        You totally fail to understand. XP is not likely to be compromised, it is GUARANTEED to be. Every time MS release a fix for Vista/7/8 attackers will be seeing if the thing being fixed is a vulnerability in XP.

        Nobody should be doing anything to prolong the usage of XP in any situation it is outwards facing.

    2. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Dangerous to users - XP patches: The new illegal download?

      Given the attention being given to the end of public support for XP, I wonder whether given the number of XP installs still being seen, we will see a sufficiently large number of companies signing up with MS for private fix arrangements. With a large number of companies and hence users receiving updates/fixes the potential for such fixes to be leaked becomes a certainty. The question is whether there will be sufficient to create a viable black market...

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

  9. The last doughnut

    Migrate away from MS altogether

    They have proved themselves untrustworthy and incompetent. Convert your old machines to xubuntu or similar and get everything you need for free, including the Chrome browser and as much privacy software as you can be bothered to install.

    1. Allonymous Coward
      Linux

      Re: Migrate away from MS altogether

      Normally I take "Linux on the desktop" comments with a large helping of sodium chloride. However as a replacement for an elderly MS desktop OS you may have a point. If most of what you want is provided by applications a decade old, then chances are they'll work with WINE.

      I run Mint on my main laptop, but have a small handful of Windows apps for which I've not found a decent Linux alternative. But because they're all simple and/or old, they run just fine under WINE.

    2. Keith 72

      Re: Migrate away from MS altogether

      I've looked in lubuntu - but I can only get it to work on newer machines, where I'm happy to keep Windows. I'm sure I could spend time trawling forums to get it to boot, but if it can't boot the live disk, then I'm not really tempted to enter a world of pain.

      1. Chemist

        Re: Migrate away from MS altogether

        "but if it can't boot the live disk"

        If the computer can't boot the live disk, either the image is faulty ( try a checksum) or the drive is faulty. Have you tried either another distro or booting from a USB stick - that can be created in Windows (http://en.opensuse.org/Live_USB_stick"

        (If your older machine has only 512MB then SUSE might be unwise, it usually warns on a 1GB machine but still installs OK), plenty of other lightweight distros but not all have live CDs/DVDs

    3. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Migrate away from MS altogether

      Pigs might fly...

      Google probably has sufficient resources to get React OS up to scratch (ie. XP-SP3 compatible) in a few years. I suspect that many would be less intimidated (rightly or wrongly) by this upgrade than a change to Unix/Linux, but as I said pigs might fly...

  10. Sandtitz Silver badge

    Google PR

    This is just a PR move from Google, though it is good news for those XP users who aren't going to change OS just yet.

    Remember how they completely dropped the ball on Windows 2000 support when Chrome was released (2008) even though W2K had two years of life support left. Opera dropped support less than a year ago for W2K and Firefox 10.x had its last release early this year.

    I expect Firefox to last much longer on XP platform than Chrome. Opera will probably follow Chrome due to its use of Blink.

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  12. James Pickett

    Still using FF with Win2k on two old laptops. Mercifully free from nagware, too.

  13. Alistair MacRae

    Make XP open source?

    That would generate some good will towards MS wouldn't it?

    No real profit in it though I suppose.

    1. Craigie

      Re: Make XP open source?

      Nice idea, though that would be revealing about 20% of Windows 8 source code too (guessing, but I'm sure there will be some in there).

  14. W. Anderson

    Zorin Linux as great option for Windows XP users

    Since even Windows 7 and Windows8/8.1 have security flaws, Windows XP users will not necessarily suffer any more security vulnerability by continued use beyond spring 2014.

    However, part of the 12 $Billion opportunity for technology providers seeking to take advantage of the Windows XP cessation should be Linux vendors such as Canonical with their Ubuntu distribution and RedHat based CentOS that have already shown excellent desktop options for Windows XP users, particularly the very impressive Zorin Linux that present Windows 7 users find very compelling and easy to use with it's familiar GUI.

    Those transitioning to Linux or ChromeOS will also find significantly increased reliability and 'worry free' security, as well as much lower costs that tackling the ever changing and cumbersome Windows 8.1/9/10, or whatever patchy versions of Windows will be in vogue next near.

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