Windows XP

Jivesinger

It turns out (well, according to Microsoft at least, and I admit they aren't exactly neutral bystanders in this) you don't need to wait till April 2014.

Windows XP PCs already have a 6 times higher infection rate than Windows 8 PCs. Part of this is probably due to Windows 8 having built-in anti-malware, but even Windows Vista and 7 are significantly better than XP.

Also they give some indication of what will happen when XP goes out of support, by showing that infections of Windows XP Service Pack 2 jumped after support for SP2 was withdrawn.

And even amongst PCs with current anti-malware software installed, infection rates for (out of support) Windows XP SP2 are twice as high as for XP SP3.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2013/10/29/infection-rates-and-end-of-support-for-windows-xp.aspx

So all the people wanting to stay with Windows XP have to ask themselves: "Do I feel lucky?"

Kernel_Sanders

googler wrote: »

And also, anyone not using their XP machine for web access won't be more susceptible to anything...

Web access isn't the only way; portable media can be a carrier.

Mr_Toad

Many people don't like change and try to stick with what they know for as long as possible, some don't like spending money when they already have something that works.

However, it can be sorted for free. :money:

Why not encourage people to look at Linux? If all you are doing is email, browsing and on-line shopping then Linux is a great option, it's not difficult to learn as many distros are very Windows like in look and feel.

Even those people with more specialist needs can often find a Linux option, and a free one, to do what they need providing they aren't averse to learning how to use the new software.

All you need is a bit of disk space and you can run Windows and Linux in parallel for a while.

I've moved seven people off XP onto Linux so far and all but one have taken to it in a big way, the exception being a grumpy old git who will stick with XP until the bitter end then expect me to sort it out.

One of the people I moved over is into all sorts of things, music, video, photography and actually enjoyed getting to grips with the new software. The only downside is that he's become a Linux evangelist of the more radical sort who can't believe he was conned for decades, his words, by MS.

I've tried explaining that Linux for non techies is a fairly recent thing but he's not having that.

So people, look in detail at what you do and what you need and see if Linux can fill you requirement. We are a great community with a lot of help and support available.

Remember - It's free. :money::money::beer:

almillar

Mr Toad - I appreciate your enthusiasm, but if you've read all the whinging in this forum about the slight reorganisation of the Start menu in Windows 8, you would realise that Linux would be many, many jumps too far!

Mr_Toad

almillar wrote: »

Mr Toad - I appreciate your enthusiasm, but if you've read all the whinging in this forum about the slight reorganisation of the Start menu in Windows 8, you would realise that Linux would be many, many jumps too far!

Yeah, yeah, I know.

But, there are several distros that have a Windows look and feel and even a 'Start' button, Zorin come to mind, and I've made Ubuntu look like Windows for a couple of people because they were having an attack of the vapours at the thought of something different.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33153_7-57487316-10391733/zorin-os-6-the-ultimate-linux-distro-for-windows-users/

http://deviceguru.com/making-ubuntu-look-like-windows-7/

It's true what they say. You can lead someone to knowledge but you can't make them think!

smudger1964

I have managed to get Linux downloaded and chosen the load ubuntu when you turn the pc on...Its going to take some getting used to it could just be my pc but it seems painfully slow to get online via firefox which is quick on my Xp but seems the speed of dial up on linux..Ill have another go at it when I have more time

closed

Jivesinger wrote: »

So all the people wanting to stay with Windows XP have to ask themselves: "Do I feel lucky?"

Or

Why is (seemingly - extrapolating facts from stats has inherent problems) microsofts own antivirus product letting through more infections on xp than w8. What does that say about defender, what does that say about XP's patching?

From the same stats, it appears that W7 users encounter (according to Windows defender/mse) malware 50% more often than w8 users,, no explanation for that, could that mean that defender detects better on W7 than 8, could that mean that the W7 user pool is larger and therefore more statistically valid, and if so could that also mean that the XP pool is larger and more accurate. Could that be that W7 and vista and xp machines have been around longer, and therefore had more opportunity to get infected than new hardly used W8 machines.


The more important question is

Do I have a backup and use a better antivirus than defender.

The infection rate as detected by microsoft malicious removal tool, on xp sp3 systems (many of which will have no or out of date or inadequate antivirus) is 0.091%, that's quite good odds, 1 in 111 chance of infection, add a backup and AV to improve further.

emptybox

Mr_Toad wrote: »

Yeah, yeah, I know.

But, there are several distros that have a Windows look and feel and even a 'Start' button, Zorin come to mind, and I've made Ubuntu look like Windows for a couple of people because they were having an attack of the vapours at the thought of something different.

It's true what they say. You can lead someone to knowledge but you can't make them think!

Q4 OS is another one that looks promising for someone liking the Windows classic look (although you can make it look like XP or Windows 7 easily).

Sorry I'm not allowed to post links as a newbie.
(and when does that horrible "Alert Newbie" post-it note go away?)

smudger1964 wrote: »

I have managed to get Linux downloaded and chosen the load ubuntu when you turn the pc on...Its going to take some getting used to it could just be my pc but it seems painfully slow to get online via firefox which is quick on my Xp but seems the speed of dial up on linux..Ill have another go at it when I have more time

Not quite sure why Linux would be slower?
Are you connecting by ethernet cable or wifi?
I guess it could be a chipset that Linux finds troublesome?

LittleJo

Hi
Or could it be that you are running Linux from a CD instead of an HD?
Jo

yummy_mummy_2

dogmaryxx wrote: »

Extending Chrome support for XP users until April 2015
On April 8, 2014, after more than a decade of powering many of the world’s computers, Windows XP will officially retire. Like all technologies that come to their end-of-life, the XP operating system and most of its desktop applications will no longer receive updates and security patches. Since unpatched browser bugs are often used by malware to infect computers, we’re extending support for Chrome on Windows XP, and will continue to provide regular updates and security patches until at least April 2015.

We recognize that hundreds of millions of users, including a good chunk of current Chrome users, still rely on XP. Moreover, many organizations still run dozens or even hundreds of applications on XP and may have trouble migrating. Our goal is to support Chrome for XP users during this transition process. Most importantly, Chrome on XP will still be automatically updated with the latest security fixes to protect against malware and phishing attacks.

If you’re an IT administrator and your employees depend on web applications built for older browsers, you can use Legacy Browser Support to set Chrome as the primary browser and limit the usage of the unsupported, legacy browser to only specific web apps. See Chrome for Business to learn more about how to deploy and manage Chrome for an organization.

Mark Larson, Director of Engineering and Superintendent of Public Safety, Google Chrome

From:http://chrome.blogspot.de/2013/10/extending-chrome-support-for-xp-users.html

I have chrome installed on my computer but do not have this set as my default browser @ the mo ...So when I make that change is this all I will have to do to get updates for XP.
Thanks.