back to article Windows XP support ends a year from … now!

Windows XP, we hardly knew ye! Yet by this time next year, the adolescent operating system will be headed for the big Recycle Bin in the sky, thanks to Microsoft's planned obsolescence policy and the inevitable march of progress. Introduced in 2001, XP was a big hit. But Microsoft will end support for XP on April 7th, 2014. …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Ian Easson

    Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

    This is the only thing wrong with your otherwise good post.

    It was only 2-3 years after XP came on line that it really began to take off. That was about the time of SP2.

    And, let us not forget, Windows XP SP2 (with its total reworking on the security infrastructure of Windows) was in fact a quite new version of Windows, not at all a service pack. Microsoft merely called it a free service pack so that everyone would upgrade to the new, more secure, version of Windows.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

      Come on get real, it was not a failure.

      My concern is that I will have to find $200,000 to get custom support, or go over to Win 8.

      Don't know what would be worse.

      1. Mark 65

        Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

        Switch sooner next time and you could have Win7 instead of 8

    2. Prowler
      Alien

      Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

      It's not that WinXP was a failure, or that SP1 magically fixed everything. Actually it was Microsoft who failed because it released WinXP approximately three years before the average consumer hardware could handle it adequately. This is out of blindness from developing on cutting edge hardware and as usual not considering the customer.

      XP arrived in 2001 with Pentium 4, specifically the horrific Willamette initial entry at about 1.3 GHz. Memory was still crappy SDRAM. HDD's were just crossing into 48-bit LBA territory but Windows didn't yet understand it. USB was stuck at 1.x on most consumer machines, especially the ones that launched with WinXP. The Motherboards were not yet the cornucopia of features we now expect. In short, it was still 1990's hardware well into the new century.

      It wasn't really SP1 that helped, because XP was still a bloated Windows 2000 + Win9x merger. What helped was the greatly enhanced hardware around 2004 with CPU's well over 2 GHz, Northwood and Prescott cores, big L2 caches, inexpensive DDR RAM, large fast HDD's, common USB 2.0 and associated devices and motherboards filled to the rim with features so that most people only needed to add a video card, and many didn't even need that. Running Windows XP with 1GB or 2GB in this era really shined.

      XP got a bonafide second wind when Vista faltered and the machines started going over 3 GHz or more, and more importantly had usable multicores, especially Core2 versions. Now it was fast! These machines are alive and well, and will be for some time, and are one of the reasons that Windows XP still hovers around 40% of all Windows systems.

      I would urge people to call Microsoft's and her enablers bluff on this. They have a lot of people snowed with that nonsense: "support will end...", as if Microsoft is somehow carrying these WinXP systems on her poor back. Ignore their push to get you to drop more bucks into their pockets. Run those machines as long as possible just to piss them off. I know I am.

      1. TheVogon
        Mushroom

        Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

        I guess you must be in a very junior role in IT, or working with the IT for a sweet shop or something similarly critical. end of support = no more security patches, and no more vendor support unless you pay large amounts (doubling each year) of money for it. Option a) is too high a risk for 95% of businesses, and option b) is very expensive very quickly.

        As to "Run those machines as long as possible just to piss them off. I know I am." - Microsoft don't care - it's just you that will be suffering - every PC that you buy to replace failed / outdated ones almost certainly already comes with a Windows license.....

        1. Michael Habel

          Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

          "As to "Run those machines as long as possible just to piss them off. I know I am." - Microsoft don't care - it's just you that will be suffering - every PC that you buy to replace failed / outdated ones almost certainly already comes with a Windows license....."

          While sadly true, I still down voted ya, I have a perfectly serviceable ATX Case, I can replace Mobos, and HDDs as well as the Odd Graphic Card now and then. The BIGGER challenge going forward will be UFEI Secure Boot.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

            "I have a perfectly serviceable ATX Case, I can replace Mobos, and HDDs as well as the Odd Graphic Card now and then."

            Good luck with that approach in the enterprise.....That's like the old Linux on the desktop costs less argument. It doesn't unless your time is of no value....

      2. Michael Habel
        Linux

        Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

        Or just find something like Cinnamon Mint install Wine on it then Office 2k3 (Which will also go EOL the same time XP does), and continue on! What's that ya like to play your Ego Shooters? I'm sure Valve will have ya covered pretty well by then with Steam for Linux!

        Happy Cinnamon Mint user. Flying the Bird at Microsoft!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

          Today's best Linux distributions (of which there are many) can do a good job of replacing Windows 7. They can replace Windows XP very easily indeed, and probably thrill users with all the new and better features they offer. As well as running even more comfortably on what is now low-end hardware.

          1. TheVogon
            Mushroom

            Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

            "Today's best Linux distributions (of which there are many) can do a good job of replacing Windows 7. They can replace Windows XP very easily indeed, and probably thrill users with all the new and better features they offer. "

            Munich council tried that - ten year later and tens of millions spent and they still havnt finished - and the 'migration' largely consists of having to access Windows via Citrix when they need to get real work done....

            Hence no corporates except very niche markets will touch Linux on the desktop with a shitty stick.

            If it really was better or cheaper then corporates would be climbing over each other to get the better mouse trap....

      3. Obvious Robert
        Thumb Up

        Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

        "Run those machines as long as possible just to piss them off. I know I am."

        And then dual boot them with your favourite Linux distro just to rub their noses in it.

        Don't, whatever you do, go anywhere near Windows 8.

      4. Captain Scarlet Silver badge
        Coffee/keyboard

        Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

        You think that was bad, I got a home pc which was supposed to get Windows 98 and to my horror had Windows ME installed. XP would never randomly Blue screen (Yes 9x did BSOD a lot but nowhere near as much as ME even when maxxed out on 512MB memory) on your or have people point and laugh at you at LANS.

      5. John Armstrong-Millar

        Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

        He He Microsoft shipping an OS that will only run properly on a machine that has not ben built yet.. What a ridiculous idea..

    3. BillG
      IT Angle

      Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

      Partial stats from my most major techie website, 150K users/month:

      Windows OS of Unique Visitors:

      Windows 7: 28.2%

      Windows XP: 34.2%

      Windows 8: 3.1%

      Source: SmarterStats Enterprise 7.4

      Windows XP won't stop working when Microsoft EOLs it.

      As I'd written before, my brother's computer has Windows XP SP3. He hasn't run Windows Update in five years. He uses Outpost firewall and a good antivirus and has never had a problem.

      1. smileypete
        Windows

        Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

        Same here, XP SP3 + no updates + Avast free + daily 'Image for Windows' backups do for me.

        Have gone for up to 3 months between reboot with no problems. Nowadays do a daily reboot as am running 'enhanced write filter', and no swapfile either.

      2. Michael Habel

        Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

        So how much longer can your Brother count on his Anti Virus Software. 'Cause once Microsoft calls time on XP, you can bet the rest of the World will follow suit in due process...

    4. Armando 123

      Re: Windows XP was considered a failure when it was first introduced

      As I recall, XP was a stopgap. Win2K came out and was, for its time, a decent desktop OS. In 2000, MS looked like they'd won and the war was over. However, Apple started to ship OS X, and by the end of 2001, 2K was already looking like it needed updating. Add to that that MS was deep into Longhorn, which would become such a running joke that it quit being funny, and MS had to release SOMETHING if only for marketing purposes. They put out XP, which I remember being called "cheesy", "bloated", and the interface possibly being made by Fisher-Price. Plus, the system requirements for the time were pretty darn serious, so that put a lot of people off as well.

      Over time XP became more accepted, because the stopgap (XP) turned out to be better than what replaced it (Windows 7). This is not unique to Microsoft, but it was a pretty glaring example.

      It's odd, looking back, just how quickly MS went from dominating the desktop to scrambling to keep up with Apple in the early '00s. (I can't bring myself to call them the aughts.)

  2. Richard Plinston

    > While the desktop version of XP has less than a year to live

    You are implying that XP will stop working in a year's time. That is not true, or should not be true. It is that there will be no more updates or fixes, but it should keep running as long as the hardware survives.

    It is probable that if there is hardware failure then a reactivation may be required but not available. Warez fixes that problem.

    1. Marvin the Martian
      Windows

      YOu're right.

      ... and it's obviously bugfree and security-hardened after 12years of fighting the gremlins, so no worries at all running it unsupported.

    2. Marco van de Voort
      Meh

      Updates

      Basically it will get tricky when the first major vulnerability is left unpatched by MS.

      Afaik MS did some fixes to win2000 after the expiry date, and since much larger XP user numbers won't be ready by April 2013, leaving something that is actively exploited or otherwise extremely dangerous would lead to big trouble and a bad publicity for MS.

      So my guess is that they will continue fixes for the worst vulnerabilities a while longer, and in as many ways as possible give you a "subtle" hint to upgrade.

      1. Hayden Clark Silver badge
        Unhappy

        Re: Updates

        I wonder if this is already happening. Some of my Xp installs are behaving worse and worse - particularly in the area of networking, where slow or absent servers cause the UI to freeze. I'm sure this didn't used to happen.

        Windows 7/8 will be "so much faster than XP is (now)"

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Updates

          'Windows 7/8 will be "so much faster than XP is (now)"'

          Yes indeed; mainly because the computers it requires to run are about ten times as powerful.

    3. Michael Habel

      Dude just use Mint

      I feel your pain towards Windows 8. Really I do! But, really its about time to let go and try Linux. It just might surprise you!

      1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge
        Thumb Down

        Re: Dude just use Mint

        > I feel your pain towards Windows 8. Really I do! But, really its about time to let go and try Linux

        This is the attitude that really pisses me off about Linux fanbois, the arrogant assumption that if we would only deign to try it we would all be singing Hosannas and be converted to the Church of Linus for ever after.

        Most of us are only too familiar with Linux. I run Solaris, two kinds of Linux, Windows XP and Windows 7 on various computers.They are all great for the environment where I installed and use them. I have no desire whatsoever to put Linux on my laptop, not because it isn't good, but because a Linux laptop is less useful for my particular needs than a Windows one. My home desktop can be booted into Solaris/Debian/WinXP as I wish. I am not looking forward to replacing it because Win8 looks crap, and I still have a need for a home Windows system.

        So, enough of the Linux bigotry, OK?

        1. Chika
          Megaphone

          Re: Dude just use Mint

          Linux bigotry? OK, I'll grant you that there are some real zealots out there, but can't you say the same for Microsoft fanbois as well?

          I agree that there are serious problems running some software from the Windows environment on Linux. Wine is not a panacea for all that ails you. However, would you not also agree that part of the problem relates to people that insist on using brand names to justify their OS choice rather than actually looking at what they actually need? The same argument can be aimed at those who resist moving from XP to W7, or to iOS, or wherever.

          Yes, like you, Phil, I have access to various OS loads, both on virtual and physical metal, and I know what I like and what I can do on each machine. You may think it strange that I do much of what I do on Linux, but it does what I want it to do. Then again, I do much of my video stuff on Windows 7 and have a Windows XP machine that may be used to do my vinyl transfers when I get a round tuit.

          I'm not suggesting that everyone needs to change, but neither would I appreciate somebody forcing the choice down my throat. After all, I still use RISC OS. Just think how old that system is!

        2. Armando 123

          Re: Dude just use Mint

          I'm a software developer and I'm using Mint and Windows 7 at work and own OS X machines at home. Mint is nice, but I just went through an upgrade where the NVidia drivers were absolutely horked and it took 10-12 hours of my time and about 5 of the sysadmin's to get it straightened out. Good luck getting my kids or in-laws to figure something like that out.

      2. jonfr
        Boffin

        Re: Dude just use Mint

        The problem with Linux distros is that many of them (I do not know them all) are ill maintained and have poor documentation. Updating can also be a problem on many Linux distros today.

        For this reason I am going to go away from Gentoo Linux to PC-BSD. I got a bit tired of the nonsense that I am seeing in the Linux world today and I just had enough. So I am moving to the stable world of BSD.

        As for Windows XP. I am only using it to run few computers that record earthquakes (that can be viewed here on my web page, http://www.jonfr.com/webicorders/tremoren.htm). I am not going to update them to other version of Windows. I am going to move them to some version of BSD in the future.

        Until then I at least hope that I can active Windows XP when I do re-installs. The only other usage that I have for Windows is games that run only on Windows platform. But I am only going to go up to Windows 7 with that. I am not going to come close to Windows 8. But that is a disaster and clearly shows how disconnected the development progress is now from the real world usage.

        Since most users want to customize there computers with fancy backgrounds and such things. Something that cannot be done on Windows 8. I also do not like the DRM-UEFI lock down used in Windows 8.

        1. Mark 65

          Re: Dude just use Mint

          "The problem with Linux distros is that many of them (I do not know them all) are ill maintained and have poor documentation. "

          In desktop terms i hear you. One option is possibly to use Centos which will then leverage off of the underlying RHEL albeit lacking some specific mods. Originally I thought Ubuntu offered hope but that's gone off on a tangent. Maybe LMDE is another option?

      3. Nameless Faceless Computer User
        Thumb Down

        Re: Dude just use Mint

        Linux don't run my version of Photoshop

  3. ceebee
    Facepalm

    really!

    With approximately 30% or so of all PCs running WinXP I just do not see how Microsoft can cease support. From a practical point of view security of one third of PCs will be at risk and that simply is not acceptable.

    Whilst it is unfortunate it is inevitable that XP will live on well beyond next year!

    1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

      XP users should say 'thanks' to the penguins

      Home users were supposed to get cheap Windows ME and anyone who needed to do anything was supposed to spend hundreds on Windows 2000. ME was a disaster in its own right, but the nail in its coffin was Linux with free stable multi-tasking. XP had its priced slashed for home users because Microsoft needed a competitor for Linux. Next came a whole stream of 'Linux not ready for the desktop' articles, followed by 'get the facts' wrong and still they could not increase the price of XP.

      Eventually Microsoft got an operating system that they could charge for. Just when XP was about to be killed to force expensive Vista upgrades, out comes the small cheap computer running Linux. XP users got a stay of execution while 'small cheap computer' got transmogrified into 'netbook' and obscurity.

      UEFI and secure boot are here to block Linux, so XP is no longer required. Windows users can now enjoy the yearly price hike an bi-annual hardware refresh that Microsoft planned for them 13 years ago. Enjoy porting to TIFKAM and get ready to port to Microsoft's new fashion statement every two years because Microsoft think you cannot join the penguins any more.

      1. Craigness

        Re: XP users should say 'thanks' to the penguins

        I had Win Me and I also tried linux back then. Win Me was not a disaster at all but linux on the desktop was a disaster in its own right. MS had and OS which worked for the masses; they were not competing with linux.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. This post has been deleted by its author

        3. pixl97
          WTF?

          Re: XP users should say 'thanks' to the penguins

          >Win Me was not a disaster at all

          I'll assume 3 things.

          1. You did not use WinME.

          2. You did not support WinME.

          3. Your memory has faltered.

          I have never seen an operating system corrupt files, randomly blue screen, or oddly fail in so many ways as ME.

          1. Chika
            Happy

            Re: XP users should say 'thanks' to the penguins

            1. I used WinME

            2. WinME crapped up many times.

            3. I recall that I wiped all six machines that were supplied with WinME and loaded them with spare Win98SE licences.

            I know of folk that persevered with WinME, but I had my limits!

          2. JoshOvki

            Re: XP users should say 'thanks' to the penguins

            I disagree, WinME was a disaster as was Vista (WinME2).

            Are you not mixing up WinME with Win 2k?

            1. John F***ing Stepp

              Re: XP users should say 'thanks' to the penguins

              I actually liked ME better than 98.

              It only had two or three major memory leaks and after a while I pretty well knew which bit of software would have to be killed after use (oddly, the win help facility was one of them).

              I still routinely fire up task manager first (I've got it running now on Win7) and miss it on LINUX or BSD (ps followed by kill -9 process# works as well).

              A lot of us use Windows for a very good reason; Windows operating systems are where our customers live.

              You know, money, root of all evil and that sort of thing. I am not at all sure that I would even have a computer if I didn't need it for work.

    2. TheVogon
      Mushroom

      Re: really!

      "I just do not see how Microsoft can cease support."

      They are not ceasing support. It just becomes very expensive and the cost increases exponentially year on year!

      "From a practical point of view security of one third of PCs will be at risk and that simply is not acceptable."

      XP has been out for 15 years at retirement! Try finding an enterprise Linux version (or any commercial OS) with that sort of lifecycle. Microsoft gave many years notice of the impending retirement of XP - just because you choose not to do anything about it isn't Microsoft's fault....

      1. mmeier

        Re: really!

        I have to check but at least Solaris has similar lifecycles. S8 is from 2000 and end of support was 2012.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: really!

          So XP had a ~ 25% longer lifetime then!

    3. mmeier

      Re: really!

      Not the problem of MS. They offer alternatives AND the end of support does not come as a surprise. If you don't like the alternatives - buy a Mac, pay for the support or live with the problems.

      And let's face it - a lot of those XPs still "out there" won't survive contact with WGA testing so for them nothing changes with the end of support - they don't get any now.

  4. jake Silver badge

    XP support ended here ...

    ... and indeed, all MS support ended here, close to three and a half years ago. Amazing how much of my time has been freed up, without a loss in income.

    Good riddance to bad rubbish.

  5. PushF12
    Angel

    Except that XP lives until 2016

    Windows XP Embedded Edition gets at least another two years of support, so somebody will do unofficial backporting, just like Windows 98 has an unofficial service pack that is currently maintained.

    1. DJGM
      Facepalm

      Re: Except that XP lives until 2016

      Oh yes, very clever idea ... run an unsupported operating system after the cut-off date for security support with unofficial unauthorised reverse engineered patches from untrusted 3rd party sources.

      That's about as advisable as wandering around a safari park covered in pieces of raw meat!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Except that XP lives until 2016

        What security? There is none in Windows. Its just a worthless cat and mouse game.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Except that XP lives until 2016

          Erm - you know that the Linux kernel alone has had substantially more security vulnerabilities than the whole of Windows XP? We are on well over 900 now....

  6. Stephen Channell
    Meh

    won't happen!

    for the same reason TIFKAM was "called" WindowsRT.. MS senior management are gutless, and they don't have A compelling story to say, because Windows7 is "obsolete" and Wi-Eight is "imature".

    It'll take just a few major customers to threaten to go OSX or Linux and MS will fold.. It all hangs on Windows Blue, and that won't leave time for 2014.. Just like the 2007 announcement, it won't happen!

    1. Richard 12 Silver badge

      Re: won't happen!

      It will happen. Look at the published pricing for extended support - that's clearly a "pay the salaries of the Win XP team yourself" price.

      XP will die, Microsoft cannot afford to let it live.

      However, the result will be a wave of Windows 7 installs instead of the Windows 8 (or Blue) that Microsoft wanted, and it will be reported as yet another nail in the Windows 8 coffin.

      WinXP is dying and it's taking Win8 with it.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Windows

        Re: won't happen!

        And the saddest part of that news is the loss of XP...

      2. Michael Habel

        Re: won't happen!

        "However, the result will be a wave of Windows 7 installs instead of the Windows 8 (or Blue) that Microsoft wanted, and it will be reported as yet another nail in the Windows 8 coffin."

        We live in hope. This is in fact the most likely scenario, if Microsoft still want to be relevant to there Corporate Customers. but, something tells me they just don't give a flying f**k anymore. Then again neither do I.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: won't happen!

      TIFKAM != Windows RT

      Windows RT = TIFKAM for Arm.

  7. kain preacher

    windows key tab

    You know I liked using the windows key and tab in windows 7.They killed it in Win 8. Areo is way better than metro.

    1. Cave Dweller

      Re: windows key tab

      Win+Tab is about the only shortcut I don't like, since it feels like a crazy Alt+Tab. I do tell my fellow workers to try it out from time to time, we call it "spooky vision".

  8. Turtle

    "Windows XP dies a year from … now!"

    "Windows XP dies a year from … now!"

    ... but not in my house, where it seems that it is going to live forever.

    1. DJGM
      Pirate

      Re: "Windows XP dies a year from … now!"

      . . . as long as you keep it permanently offline after the cut-off date.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "Windows XP dies a year from … now!"

        said it before on here .. quiz machine in local down the road is running Win2k quite happily. It's stupid - the quiz machine regularly has factually incorrect "Correct" answers and questions written by someone who has clearly never spoken English in his/her life - but that's not the O/Ss fault.

    2. hplasm
      Happy

      Re: "Windows XP dies a year from … now!"

      Ph'nglui mglw'nafh XP T'urtle's wgah'nagl fhtagn

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not Win8, not now or ever

    Personal computing history so far: DOS, OS/2, Win2000, WinXP, Win7. For the future? Win7 for as long as it remains viable. Win8 is awful. Linux doesn't do it for me. Can't bring myself to buy Apple (price, stupid menu bar location), but may eventually be forced if MS stick with their stupid new UI, which does not suit my workload at all. Maybe hackintosh is the way to go and put up with the stupid menu bar.

    1. Craigness

      Re: Not Win8, not now or ever

      You need to use the desktop, not the Metro interface. Both are available. As for the start menu, I've not used it in years. Hit the windows key and type - it's much quicker than reaching for mouse and scrolling, and can reveal settings without you having to navigate through the control panel. It's better, but it's different. Some people hate different so much they don't get to find out that its better.

      1. GregC
        Stop

        No. It's not better.

        Hit the windows key and type - it's much quicker than reaching for mouse and scrolling

        It also wipes out my entire screen, breaking the flow of what I'm doing when chances are all I want is to bring up an instance of Calc or something. The lack of start menu isn't the major problem for me, it's the fullscreen nature of it's replacement, along with myriad other little irritants.

        1. tabman

          @GregC - Re: No. It's not better.

          GregC, I can understand your issue with the "fullscreen nature" of using the windows key and typing and for those who use a machine without a touchscreen TIFKAM doesn't feel very natural to use.

          Have you considered using a start menu replacement? I use one and boot straight into desktop. Win 7 functionality, all my software (office, games, etc) and driven by mouse + keyboard.

          When I want to use the touchscreen I Ctrl-Win into TIFKAM where it works beautifully.

          1. GregC

            @tabman - tried the preview, didn't upgrade - no problem!

            I reached my conclusions about TIFKAM (and other aspects of W8) during the preview phase, and am quite happily continuing with 7.

            The only reason I continue to post about 8 is that I take issue with people saying that the problems with it are people that are "too lazy to learn" or "aren't using it properly" - there are genuine issues with 8, that could be easily fixed if MS got their head out of their backside and reinstated the registry change that restored usability in the Developer Preview...

          2. Michael Habel
            FAIL

            Re: @GregC - No. It's not better.

            "Have you considered using a start menu replacement? I use one and boot straight into desktop. Win 7 functionality, all my software (office, games, etc) and driven by mouse + keyboard."

            Again whats it with all these 3'ed party Commercial fixes or some Open Sourced fix (if the Shrills can trust it!), that are needed to fix a problem that shouldn't have ever existed in the first place!

            1. tabman

              Re: @Michael Habel - YES It's better.

              @ Michael Habel

              I don't consider it a fix, it just changes the way it works so that the desktop suits me. I'm not suggesting anything is broken. Or a problem. It just wasn't quite right for me but now it is and I found some software to help me with that.

              Can you relate to that Michael? I’m sure you can. You use Linux Mint don’t you? What desktop do you run – maybe standard Gnome 3 + MGSE? Doesn’t matter but would guess that your desktop, like mine, is customised for preference using third party software – that doesn’t make either of them Open Sourced Fixes!

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: @Michael Habel - YES It's better. @tabman

                Thanks - you summed up what I've been thinking pretty nicely. Interesting that Michael suggests dealing with Windows 8 is to install another operating system entirely! Brilliant. Most people would rather do that install Classic Shell in a few minutes. But then, as he says, valve will probably have people's ego shooter needs sorted out in a few months. Yup, I'm going to base my OS choice on "probably." (Assuming this can also be applied to all apps that people might want to run.) It's interesting - I've seen these vague assurances from evangelists before; in one specific case the zealot in question started by saying there were Linux equivs for a given type of software. Over the next two paragraphs it went down to "I'm sure" and then "probably" or "most likely."

        2. mmeier

          Re: No. It's not better.

          Hmm, let me see:

          Win8:

          Win-Key, Select with mouse or keys the calculator Icon on Modern (Since I use it often it will be one of the 72 icons) and done

          Pre Win8: Open Start Menu, select with mouse or keys the calculator entry (Let's assume it is one of the 10 "recently used) and done

          Where is the difference again?

      2. J__M__M

        Re: Not Win8, not now or ever

        As for the start menu, I've not used it in years.... So it doesn't effect you, Mr. One Person. Congrats. Unfortunately about a bazillion people do it the other way, just like Microsoft told them to.

        Hit the windows key and type - it's much quicker than reaching for mouse and scrolling.. Except when your hand is already on the mouse.

        Some people hate different so much... It's not the different, it's the dough. So really, just what is the ROI on taking away the start button, anyway?

        1. Mr_Blister
          Thumb Down

          Re: Not Win8, not now or ever

          Depending on your work area, using the mouse can cause a lot of pain and discomfort in your hand. However using the keyboard more helps to keep the pain away, plus I like keyboards as I am an old school kind of guy (still use my Atari ST/E and Falcon 030 etc). I find the Windows Start menu useful from time to time and I also find it far quicker to navigate through a drive directory with keystrokes, especially often used ones. One of my three laptops lacks the Windows key, which forces my hands away from the keys to use the red track point (no touchpad on this particular laptop).

      3. mmeier

        Re: Not Win8, not now or ever

        And Modern as a "start menu" gives me the 72 most common used programs in a neat overview. With many users putting programs on the desktop and then having to hide (easy) and re-open (complex) all running programs to GET at the desktop that is actually a better solution

    2. leexgx

      Re: Not Win8, not now or ever

      first thing i do when i come to an windows 8 pc is install startisback (5 user keys are dirt cheap) and convert the account back to an standard account as its unlikely they are going to use RT

      i did a job yesterday and it was quite funny a tech person came around to charge £20 an hour to teach how to use the computer but when it came to windows 8 he gave up and called someone els up to come around (funny he does not even know about start menu software for windows8)

      i not an compleat hater of windows 8 but you shove an win8 pc to an 80 year old, all the computer lessons they have done are meaningless unless you install startisback or start8 and most users computers are running xp to win7 still so it adds to the confusion (main issue i have seen customers having is getting Stuck on an RT program as there are no back buttons most of the time)

  10. HipposRule
    Happy

    Embedded

    And if you can get hold of a copy of POSReady 2009 that is supported till 2019 and is basically XP embedded.

    1. Bod

      Re: Embedded

      Is that the one you see blue screening in cash machines and railway station notice boards?

      Was surprised once when a cash machine crashed on me, did a reboot through the bios like an ordinary desktop and booted up into XP! Damn thing kept my card though.

      I suppose so long as these things are not connected to networks in any IP protocol way and certainly not The Internet, then they can run forever.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Interesting figures

    Perhaps one shouldn't read too much into graphs, but it does seem that the Win7 share dipped for a short time when Win8 hit the streets, then started to rise again - a clear indication of the failure of Win8 to capture anyone's imagination.

    It would be safe to predict, I think, that there will be an upsurge in Win7 sales as people and businesses migrate while they can.

    Leaving Win8 languishing, going nowhere - until someone works out what it's for. Or until MS concede their failure and upgrade it to something that is attractive to those who want a tool, not just a window on a world of consumption.

    1. mmeier

      Re: Interesting figures

      Actually totally expected. New "privat" boxes get Win8 these days. Companies OTOH are currently busy replacing XP boxes with Win7 after they finished the testing phase last year. That will be (mostly) done end of Q2/2013 and Win7 will drop sharply

  12. Refugee from Windows

    Clinging onto life

    I'm sure some of us have XP machines living on simply because they are still able to do the job they were bought for years ago. Mine lives on as print server and interface to the radio kit that's attached to it. Depending on the circumstances it'll either get retired, knocked off the network to become a stand alone machine or get some version on Linux installed on it. A couple of years ago it had its memory maxed up. I suppose I've had my moneysworth out of it then.

    Thing is I've already eyed up its likely replacement, so there may be an RPi as print server, the SDR stuff will be used with the W7 laptop and something fairly simple to interface the radio with. None of these are likely to have W8 in them.

  13. MJI Silver badge

    Feature removal in newer versions keeps XP going

    Too many features have been removed from Vista and 7 from XP, for SOME users.

    Full screen DOS support is important for SOME people (removed in Vista - WHY?), Netbios is important for SOME people. (removed in 7 - WHY?)

    These are two I thought of without looking up.

    1. Christian Berger

      Re: Feature removal in newer versions keeps XP going

      That's a typical marketing strategy for Microsoft. Until Windows 2000 they added new features to their operating systems, from that point on they gradually removed those features to "differentiate" their product lines.

      For example Windows for Workgroups 3.11 used to be able to join domains by default, even though you had to install TCP/IP manually. From Windows XP on the ability to join domains gradually got removed.

    2. Michael Habel

      Re: Feature removal in newer versions keeps XP going

      Pry tell me how you managed to get a Full Screen Dos going in Windows XP, 'cause I never could. At least not on the Command Line Interface any way. How it may have been for actual DOS Programs though? I can not say.

      1. MJI Silver badge

        Re: Feature removal in newer versions keeps XP going

        Just run a VGA graphics dos application, or do Alt-Enter.

        And what could 98 do that XP could not

        Window the VGA Graphics DOS app and run it.

  14. Lopez

    Reality Check

    Last week I was working on a customers Windows 2000 servers that will not get replaced in the near future.

  15. Christian Berger

    Will they release a new version?

    I mean will there be a Windows XP 2.0? No? Tough luck, you'll need to migrate to Windows7 or whatever.

    Now just imagine Windows XP was free software, or you would at least get the source code with it. You could then hire a programmer to maintain it for you. You wouldn't need to care whether Microsoft still supports it or not. If there's a bug you could just pay someone to backport the bugfix to your version. Or you could even "mix" your own Windows version gradually swapping components so you are still compatible with your old software.

    1. The Real Tony Smith
      Linux

      Re: Will they release a new version?

      "Now just imagine Windows XP was free software, or you would at least get the source code with it. You could then hire a programmer to maintain it for you. You wouldn't need to care whether Microsoft still supports it or not. If there's a bug you could just pay someone to backport the bugfix to your version. Or you could even "mix" your own Windows version gradually swapping components so you are still compatible with your old software."

      That's a brilliant idea, now what could you call it, something rhyming with 'ix perhaps?

      :-)

      1. Christian Berger

        Re: Will they release a new version?

        Well essentially that's why you want to use free software or at least open source software in your business. If you buy software negotiate into the contract that you will have support till infinity, or get the source code the moment your support ends.

        If you pay a company to write software for you, demand the source code. It's insane to use software where you don't have the source code for business critical uses.

  16. Jess

    Linux Mint

    The interface in Linux Mint is far more like XP that Windows 7 is, (And more like Windows 7 than Windows 8 is).

    It also works very well.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Linux Mint

      Those that only use their computer for browsing the web and writing documents should have no trouble going over to Linux.

      Those that cant and need to stick to Windows will be wondering is it worth upgrading it? Security doesn't exist in newer versions its just a game of cat and mouse.

      The last change Microsoft made to the OS was when they made available their Rocket Speed Win32 API Windowing System on a BSD like kernel and moved away from their boot-loader like OS (DOS).

      1. Michael Habel
        Stop

        Re: Linux Mint

        "Those that only use their computer for browsing the web and writing documents should have no trouble going over to Linux"

        Whats so specific to your task that you must demand Microsoft Windows for anyway If One might ask?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Linux Mint @Michael Habel

          "Whats so specific to your task that you must demand Microsoft Windows for anyway If One might ask?"

          What does it have to do with you? Just asking so you can say "But x in Linux does it great!" or "It runs fine in Wine!" ? Unless you can guarantee - guarantee, mind - that switching to Linux will cause no problems in itself I'd suggest you drop the Mormon-at-the-door act. It's not helping Linux, you know. Most people realised that a few years ago; I can only assume you're a recent convert.

        2. tabman

          Re: Linux Mint

          In my case (and I know I'm not who you directed this to) these are the reasons I "demand" Microsoft Windows:

          1. MS Office - Industry standard software. Open & Libre Office just not up to the job

          2. Loads of Games - Only 1 of them available on Linux Steam

          3. AutoCAD - Industry standard. FOSS alternates not up to the task (I've tried).

          Anyway, I don't just demand Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8, or 2.0!) I run a debain variant on ARM (Rpi), Ubuntu on x86, Android on tablet. I use what my working style fits best with.

          Can I ask you the counterpoint question though? What is so exceptional that you must ceaselessly promote Linux on these forums? Please also consider what AC says in his reply to you when, if, you answer.

      2. Bod

        Re: Linux Mint

        "Security doesn't exist in newer versions"

        Provide your reasoning. Otherwise it's utter fanboi crap.

        If anything the security in newer versions of Windows anyway are OTT. They've done exactly what Linux fans ranted was needed by insisting you need administrator permissions to do anything that affects the OS, install applications, drivers, etc, and then get ranted at for an annoying feature that's exactly the same as doing 'sudo' or getting the administrator password box in the GUI of Mint or many other Linux distros.

        p.s. I use linux a fair bit. I just don't love it, nor do I love Windows, or Mac OS etc. They are just tools for the job.

  17. Andy Fletcher

    I'm going to miss it

    But I will get over it. I'm the only person at work still running it anyway.

    1. J__M__M

      Re: I'm going to miss it

      Question. So do you have stay late every night long after your coworkers have gone home for the day just to keep up? Just asking since they're no doubt all so much more productive and efficient than you, you with your crappy old XP and whatnot...

      Or...

      Are you actually working while they're trying to remember where the F they go to setup a VPN or what the H a homegroup is, etc etc.

      1. Andy Fletcher

        Re: I'm going to miss it

        Arg....you've been to my workplace!

        Yup, when they all started using their Windows 7 & whatever Office version it is now it started with a lot of swooning about how much prettier their screens looked. Within moments the realisation that they couldn't work out how to do pretty much anything with it set in. I'm afraid to say, I don't think anyone I work with can even spell VPN.

  18. s. pam Silver badge
    Mushroom

    The funts are still loose in the asylum!!

    Almost all of you reading this who work in banks, insurance companies and other large institutions have an even bigger time bomb you need to sort than XP.

    That is continued use of Windows NT and Windows 2000, still evident on your networks when we run network scans. That combined with a high number of cash points running OS/2 are a bigger scandal coming than the press is aware of.

    There was a song, I can't recall the band "One, two three lock band" and it appears many are members.

    PS> Why the nuclear cloud icon -- because this is going to explode badly in folks' faces soon as the HW dies.

    1. J__M__M

      Re: The funts are still loose in the asylum!!

      "evident" ain't exactly "is"...

      Three lock box? That would be Sammy Hagar to most of us (but Mr. Hagar to you).

    2. adam payne

      Re: The funts are still loose in the asylum!!

      The cash machin at my local bank runs on XP. I know this because it got hung on the shut down screen.

      1. BongoJoe

        Re: The funts are still loose in the asylum!!

        I understand that the NHS uses XP rather extensively.

        That is going to be an upgrade and a half...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: The funts are still loose in the asylum!!

          It's proving to be more problematic than that at the trust I work for.

          We were about 1/3 into a Win7 roll out when a truly huge issue arose - the software we use for our smartcard readers - Gemplus - wasn't playing nice with Win7, which meant that our users couldn't access the RiO platform reliably, so about 1,000 PCs had to be rolled back to XP.

          Couple this with the amazingly shit point that RiO only runs in IE7 (or compatibility mode) and that, despite 3 attempts to roll out Office 2010 about half our PCs are still running 03-07, the path to modernity is proving to be paved with more than a few pieces of doo-doo.

  19. Lopez
    Happy

    Re: Feature removal in newer versions keeps XP going

    Pry tell me how you managed to get a Full Screen Dos going in Windows XP, 'cause I never could. At least not on the Command Line Interface any way. How it may have been for actual DOS Programs though? I can not say.

    In XP - Open command prompt and hit alt-enter for full screen.

  20. adam payne

    At first I didn't like XP that much but I got used to it. Now it's like those old comfortable slippers people have.

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      The ones that smell?

  21. Ian 55
    Facepalm

    Graph shock shock shock

    I am amazed that I am the first person to point out that the first graph shows that the final market share of every OS is nil.

    I will probably run one PC with XP for years after the end of support. It will be for playing games and it won't be allowed near the internet.

  22. LinkOfHyrule
    Paris Hilton

    We've had some good times together me and this old 'puter.

    We've been through the same ups and downs as most couples - random blue-screens of death due to a dodgy video card driver, updates that took half a day in order fix more holes than a chuck of Swiss cheese, that annoying "doo-dong" sound it makes when you plug a USB device in, being accused of owning a pirated copy the operating system for no reason... ah memories!

    I'm thinking of holding a funeral - maybe plonk my Windows XP install disc in a shoe box, dig a hole in the garden and lower the coffin down to the sound of the Windows XP shut-down jingle! I won't wear black, XP was a colourful chap and would rather we all celebrate its life by wearing the most garish green, blue and orange clobber we have available!

    I might make it a headstone out of a 2008 vintage netbook, just have it poking out the earth to mark the spot so that well wishers can pay homage. *sobs*

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Our migration has been piecemeal department by department to Windows 7 for about 2 years and we are probably 75% done now. Will we be completely done in a year? In production mostly with just a few XP VMs to remote too for those stubborn applications which just don't work on 7. In our software department however no chance as we will be supporting our applications on XP for a few years yet as some clients will still use it.

    From a support perspective this is the 2nd time Ive had to go through a painful migration (NT4 - XP being the last). We were a lot slower this time, partly because we have double the machine count but also because of the vast array of client side applications we now have compared to last time. I really hope next time is not too soon! We have even considered Windows 8 as a destination platform as 99% of the applications that work on 7 work on that but because of the uncertainty of it future with 8.1 just round the corner we decided not too. My solution? More server side applications please.

  24. Schultz

    "technology becoming much smarter with a greater focus on location and context"

    That is exactly what most people would like to avoid with their 'work' computer. We need a tool to do well-defined work and -- no thanks -- I do not want fries with that even if there is a McD promotion around the corner.

  25. Greg J Preece

    an operating system that was, at the time of its release was, fast and stable thanks to its roots in Windows NT

    Rose-tinted glasses? When XP came out, I remember it crashing all the time, and the hardware available then being generally underpowered for the system. I ditched 2000 and went to XP around the time XP SP2 came out. The hardware available had improved (though mine was actually OK anyway), and the stability, networking, USB support, etc were much better, giving me far greater incentive to nuke Win2k. From XP I moved to XP64, which was, IMO, a belting operating system for the time. It was exceedingly fast and stable for me, and fortunately I was able to get drivers for all my hardware.

    People only think XP is great now because it's had a decade of patches to make it stable, and the hardware has improved to the point where XP will run blisteringly fast. Compared to a modern system, though, it does feel very outdated at this point.

  26. Someone Else Silver badge
    Flame

    Engaging BS filter....

    Consider the following:

    Forrester principal analyst John Brand says you need to do so because "Our relationship with technology is evolving rapidly - largely as a result of the technology becoming much smarter with a greater focus on location and context to create compelling user experiences."

    XP can't deliver those experiences, he says, and "organisations now need to act swiftly to ensure they can implement a platform for enterprise computing able to support their business and users’ needs well into the coming decade.

    Now engaging the BS filter, we get:

    Blah, blah, blah, blah...fap, fap, fap...Gad, I do hope my MSFT futures position pays off after this piece is published...blah blah, blah...ssssssssssssssssssssssss....

    1. Antoinette Lacroix
      Meh

      Re: Engaging BS filter....

      I wonder what lurks behind this "Compelling user experience (TM)". What excatly is it, one can do with Win 7/8, that can't be done with XP ?

      1. Globe199

        Re: Engaging BS filter....

        There are some good things in Vista/7/8 like Bitlocker. that, and moving to a 64-bit OS for more RAM and HD space is nice.

  27. richard 7

    *sigh*

    XP has been good after it got itself settled. Its doen a job, it still does a good job in some places. But its too far gone now. We are into the territory where you need to start kludging things to make them work with XP. We've also smashed the 3Gb barrier in day to day PCs now and if you've ever attempted XP64 you'll know thats not an option. Dspite what the Linux brigade would have you think 7 is not actually that bad, its a leap on from XP and not a leap backwards like Vista was.

    I'm not sure where we will go now though. I think Microsoft is on its way to an almighty train wreck, there seems no direction or drive in Redmond now and they do seem to have lost the plot :(

  28. ecofeco Silver badge
    Mushroom

    XP must die!

    For the love of god, go away already!

  29. Globe199

    ...and?

    All the small businesses that have been running XP just fine for almost 12 years suddenly let out a gigantic yawn.

    Look at your OS chart. WinXP is STILL number 2 of all OSs, which is pretty incredible considering the huge share it's lost since 2008.

  30. Bob. Hitchen
    Meh

    XP lives on

    This seems to come up regularly and like previous occasions is not worth worrying about. W7 blue screens on my favoutrite game CIV2 hence not fit for purpose. W8 looks like pants. XP just runs.

    MS support - What's that exactly?

    Touchscreens no thanks.

    XP will be around for a long time yet. because most new technology is not really needed on existing desktops/laptops. Modern stuff uses a whole variety of gadgets like phones/non upgradable tablets, smart TV's etc.

  31. BongoJoe
    Thumb Down

    Upgraded to XP here

    For a lot of my stuff I found that Windows 7 isn't good enough for my needs.

    I produce lots of data on horse racing and it needs about ten to fifteen thousand SQL queries to do a run every evening. If I run it on a new Windows 7 machine then it can take over twice as long as on an XP machine that's got signficantly less RAM and is about six years old.

    Doing serious database bashing on a Windows 7 machine is a complete nightmare. But, hey, it looks nice so that's alright then, isn't it?

    I'm upgrading more run time machines to XP here from W7. Not only does the code run better, smoother and the runs are more reliable but the network is more robust.

    The only reason why I have one W7 machine is that accursed Adbobe Lightroom demands it.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. TheVogon
      Mushroom

      Re: Upgraded to XP here

      This issue occurs on Windows 7 computers with cheap network adaptors that don't properly support TCP Window scaling that are interacting with MS SQL 2005 or higher servers. To correct this problem perform the following steps:

      A.

      1. Run - C:\Windows\System32\gpedit.msc - Expand “Computer Configuration”

      2. Expand “Administrative Templates”

      3. Expand "Network"

      4. Click on “DNS Client”

      5. Set “Turn off Multicast Name Resolution” to Enabled

      6. Select “File” then “Exit”

      B.

      1. From the command prompt Type “netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled” and press enter

      You will need to reboot the computer after making the above changes.

      If you are using ODBC DSN connections, make sure that you are using the "SQL Native Client" driver.

      1. BongoJoe
        Pint

        Re: Upgraded to XP here

        Thanks for the reply. However, it's not only only SQL Servers 2005 and upwards.

        For example, I have a little VBA application which runs in Excel. It creates a linked list and in the run that I hae now the list is about a quarter of a million nodes in length.

        I've written the code so that the speed of writing to the list is optimised, i.e. pointers where there should be to get new nodes in the shortest amount of time.

        Each node is about 1.5k in size and, as I say, there's about a quarter of a million of them.

        Run the same code with the same data on a new W7 machine and the other on a crufty XP box and the timings are interesting -- the XP box is almost exactly three times faster to run up and down the linked lists than the W7 machine.

        I use linked lists because the Collection class is far, far too slow to contemplate for serious amounts of data bashing.

        I make a pile of five dimensional linked lists and run up and down them all the time in my analysis and guess which machines it runs faster on? Yes, the old XP boxes. On any of my W7 machines it's just too slow to use.

        But for most folk who like to look at pictures of internet cats, Skype long lost relatives in far off lands and such then W7 is fine. But if I want to really hammer data day in and day out then W7 just doesn't cut it.

        I've got friends in the music business and they can't bear to run their recording studio (no, not mp3 dance 'music' but proper recording) on W7; give them XP and they're happier.

        I know of many a developer who have upgraded their machines from W7 to XP simply because XP runs better than W7.

        Cheers.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Upgraded to XP here

          OK, so now we are on to a completely different issue. I think you will find that the above fixed your first issue.

          Yes there are a few common bugs / issues where XP can be faster, but they are generally easily resolved. Normally I charge £600+ a day for this sort of stuff :-)

          Is the data stored locally or on a network / NAS? Which exact version of Office and Office service pack are you using?

        2. TheVogon
          Mushroom

          Re: Upgraded to XP here

          "I use linked lists because the Collection class is far, far too slow to contemplate for serious amounts of data bashing.

          I make a pile of five dimensional linked lists and run up and down them all the time in my analysis"

          nb - sounds like you should be using a pivot table as the fastest way to do that.

        3. TheVogon
          Mushroom

          Re: Upgraded to XP here

          nb - guessing you are using Office 2010, please try installing the Excel 2010 Cumulative update referenced here:

          http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2800779

    4. tabman
      Stop

      Re: Upgraded to XP here

      Seriously? What database are you using? To be clear, what you are saying is that your SQL queries take 2 x longer if they have newer hardware and significantly more memory? The only difference is that the OS is Win 7 instead of XP?

      Why would that be the case?

  32. Revelationman
    Linux

    Moved to Linux Mint Debian

    I was given this 9 year old AMD 3200 desktop instead of binning it, I have removed XP and installed Linux Mint Debian the tower has a new life , it's fast , runs great

    My point is to those with older computers like this give Linux a shot, I have the latest Firefox browser Libre Office , and it's more secure then Windows,.

    As I said to one person the main thing today is being able to get on the net and Linux can do that

    So do not worry about going and spending money you do not have on a new computer or buying Windows 8 or 7 just switch to Linux

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Moved to Linux Mint Debian

      You could have installed Windows 7 and got a similar effect....Except that all your apps and games would still work...

      What distribution are you using that is more secure than Windows? Everything Linux distribution I have ever looked at has far more security vulnerabilities per year than any version of Windows.

    2. Steve78

      Re: Moved to Linux Mint Debian

      Yeah, that might work just fine for you but it's a totally inappropriate solution in the corporate environment.

  33. Martin Maloney
    Boffin

    Who cares?

    Why would home users and small offices want to abandon WinXP? They're running Office 2000, Photoshop 7, AutoCAD 2002 and other application software of similar vintage, and they are satisfied with their productivity under WinXP and on their current hardware. Upgrading would entail expense and a learning curve.

    The main danger from the cut-off of support for WinXP is that Internet Explorer won't continue to have its security holes patched. The solution is to switch to Firefox or to Chrome, which will continue to be upgraded. (Anyone with a brain already switched long ago!)

    Likewise, anti-virus/anti-malware programs will continue to be updated.

    Treat the end of WinXP support as the non-event that it is.

    1. tabman

      Re: Who cares?

      Provided that AV software is as effective as we would all like to believe it is then that's great. Stick with XP, office 2000, photoshop 7 and AutoCAD2002. Save the expense and the learning curve.........for now. That expense and learning curve will only be steeper later. I'm not saying that change should happen as every evolution of OS or HW comes out but it does need to happen eventually.

      Just sticking your head in the sand wont cut it.

  34. PAT MCCLUNG

    Clerk

    Windows 2000 Pro (on which support ended a long time ago) is one of my favourite operating systems from M$. The other was NT, which Bill Gates, who couldn't design an OS if his life depended on it, brought in that DEC guy to do for him.

    I use Win2K to control my old photo scanner, and to do some neat tricks with music CD's, capture music from tape cassettes, vinyl records, etc. Probably best to leave the internet off on the Win2K system, since there's no "support", anyway. Let's hear it for "airplane mode".

    If you have old software that you like to run, it will run without "support" - what works now will continue to work. Of course, I run the latest Linux and also an old version from 5 years ago that has some long ago Mathematica software version that I like, on that same 10 year old machine.

    Have a few copies of WinXP .that I run virtual (once a month?) installed on some of my computers, and on my newest hardware (June 2012), that came with Win 7, I upgraded to Win 8 during the January "fire sale". Win 8 ain't a bad operating system, but I don't run it much, only to get stuff available only on the "dark side".

    Anybody that has only one computer with one OS installed is a person I find hard t understand. Anyone with only a tablet computer I also find incomprehensible (a personal security nightmare), though I have one android tablet I run in "airplane mode" to watch videos on airplanes. You run a tablet in open internet mode, you are insane!

  35. AndrewCarlton
    Angel

    Upgraded to W7 during public "beta" and never looked back, did the same for Win8, I love Win8

    Persuaded the company I work for (500+ PC's) to upgrade everything to XP, almost finished with that, only 10 more PC's to go then it's by by XP you outdated bloated OS

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like