Windows xp support ending

NiftyDigits

giraffe69 wrote: »

I don't think that is true. There are those who don't like the look of Win 8 (some have found 8.1 an improvement) but even if you don't like it you can get something called classic shell(free) which makes it look more like Win 7.
Mostly however the dislike is by people who never want anything to change and regret the invention of the wheel!

List of features removed in Windows 8

Features new to Windows 8

securityguy

NiftyDigits wrote: »

List of features removed in Windows 8

Features new to Windows 8

What's your point, caller? That you're bereft without the re-dialling options on DUN? That you're sufficient of an Eno completist that you miss the startup noise?

yangptangkipperbang

A few things to consider:

1. Your "old" PC may not be physically capable of supporting a later OS.
2. XP has been around a long time and the vast majority of security "loopholes" in it will have been found and plugged by MS.
3. Stand alone virus/malware software will still be effective on XP.

NiftyDigits

securityguy wrote: »

What's your point, caller? That you're bereft without the re-dialling options on DUN? That you're sufficient of an Eno completist that you miss the startup noise?

That people have access to facts before they make a decision.

What was your point?

prowla

datostar wrote: »

I have an old Microstar laptop with a 40GB hard drive and 512MB RAM. Frankly, it struggled a bit even with WinXP and wouldn't have stood a chance with Win7.
I've had some experience with Ubuntu but realised that the full version of that is about the same size as Win7, so after a little research I installed Lubuntu, a lightweight Ubuntu version. Excellent results - occupies less than 4GB as installed, boots up in less than a minute, altogether faster and smoother with most basic programs included and access to the Ubunutu repositories for extra stuff. I did have to go into Terminal to set up a Samba server for networking and to sort out a 3G dongle settings so it's not all plain sailing as a Windows replacement (but no Linux ever is!) Nevertheless, the old beast has got a new lease on life (with regular updates) and I'm keeping XP Mode on my main Win7 machine in case I need to use any old XP programs.

Support for XP Mode in Windows 7 also expires.

An alternative would be to create a VM (eg. use VMware Player on Ubuntu) and install XP onto that; for example I have an XP VM which I use to run a scanner, another to interface to a couple of gadgets I've got, and another to run a couple of old games. With the end of XP support, I'll probably deconfigure their network interfaces, and leave them as self-contained closed appliances.

securityguy

NiftyDigits wrote: »

That people have access to facts before they make a decision.

There is no decision, other than "when". Endlessly picking over feature lists to decide "if" you are going to upgrade entirely misses the point.

It's the belief that you can endlessly delay software upgrades that leads to debacles like this, with the NHS !!!!ing money down the drain to temporarily stave off doing work that they're going to have to do anyway, and that they should have done years ago.

Anyone running XP now would confront significant (not insoluble, but significant) issues were they to need to, for example, obtain new hardware to deal with a failure and then restore a system unless they have complete backups (which, let's face it, the sort of home user scared of upgrades is unlikely to have). A lot of the "keep XP running" solutions involve virtualisation, which again, is hardly the stuff that naive home users leap to as their first solution.

Instead of investing effort in figuring out increasingly complex ways to keep obsolete software running, why not just spend half a day on the upgrade? How do these people who "can't" learn to use a very slightly tweaked operating system ever manage to deal with buying a new washing machine?

GunJack

securityguy wrote: »

How do these people who "can't" learn to use a very slightly tweaked operating system ever manage to deal with buying a new washing machine?

That's the point - they struggle, often badly, very badly...

...whilst the "bright young things" who've not known any different or the people who work in IT, or are a more advanced home user, etc can make the switch with relative ease, the explosion of home pc use over the last 15 years has included (probably) the vast majority who can turn on a pc and browse a few sites but with absolutely no understanding (or, in fact, desire to understand) how the pc does what it does and can't work out how to tweak/alter the experience.

A lot of these people need a lot more than their hands holding to make the jump from the familiar (whether that be xp, vista, or 7) to something like W8 or linux, and I suspect many just won't bother....

closed

securityguy wrote: »

why not just spend half a day on the upgrade?

The upgrade costs money, that's why. A not insignificant amount in the public sector.

giraffe69

The upgrade costs money

That's true but so do, for example, vehicles and the NHS aren't running 15 year old ambulances. The point is they have had plenty of notice to deal with this and in some cases have just buried their heads on the sand.

In the case of home users they have adapted to the ending of analogue TV and the need for a set top box or built in decoder. They will need to deal with the ending of XP. For sure there are scare stories about what happens if you don't do it before midnight on 8th but some planning is a good idea so users don't go out and buy a new printer, scanner or other device and then get narked because it does not work on their computer which is not updated. Sticking with XP as well as any attendant security risks will also reduce choice as the weeks and months go on.

closed

They have dealt with it.

The public finances are still in deficit, another years use out of an ambulance/car/pc/bed/whatever seems a good use of public funds to me. 5.5M is a drop in the ocean compared to the public sector it budget and public sector waste.

xp still works, analogue tv doesn't.