Windows XP support ended - day 1

andydiysaver

almillar wrote: »

andydiysaver (and others blaming Microsoft) - Microsoft supported Windows XP for 14 years. How much did you pay for your copy? How long do you expect them to continue to support it? What other companies support an OS for that long, and how much do they cost? Windows XP was designed to run on 128MB of RAM (or 64MB if you left some stuff out) - how much RAM does your smartphone have? Time to let go...

I am not blaming I'm just questioning


point is - if XP can run on 128 meg, imagine what a developed version could do running on 32 gig? profit is the motivator for change, not need for change. E.g. start buttons going and reappearing, these days they're breaking it just so they can fix it. money is the motivator, not innovation.

poppellerant

Christopher Boyd of Malwarebytes warns that a fake application called YourFileDownloader promises to help Windows XP users download and install the latest drivers for their computers, but after deployment, you need to pay to register and unlock the program.

“Take care with the last minute surge of XP themed downloads and offers – whether on social networks, forums or video sharing sites a lot of what you’re going to see over the coming weeks will probably not do you any favours to install or sign up to,” he writes.

Indeed, Windows XP users are the preferred target for cybercriminals worldwide these days and since so many people are still running the unsupported operating system, up-to-date third-party software that can block such threats and protect their computers is a must-have.

Plenty of security vendors have already confirmed that their apps would still work on XP, so find an anti-virus app and deploy the latest virus definitions as soon as possible if you’re still running this OS version.

http://blog.malwarebytes.org/online-security/2014/04/xp-themed-downloads-and-offers-doing-the-rounds/

almillar

if XP can run on 128 meg, imagine what a developed version could do running on 32 gig?

Just for starters, the XP that ran on 128MB would be the 32 bit version, which can only address, what, 3GB of RAM, so that's a non starter. Windows XP did develop. It developed into Vista, 7 and 8. The genes are there, many drivers still work, and plenty of the stuff that started with XP is still present in the newer versions.
lazer - if you got 3.5 years out of a netbook, you'd be doing better than most people.
You certainly shouldn't have been buying a computer with XP on it in 2010 if you wanted to use it in the future.
I'd be interested to know how much any individual would be willing to PAY MS to keep XP up to date. Or do you think they should do it for free until the end of time?

spud17

People change their phones all the time, often when not necessary, you never see all this fuss.

There is even competition to be the first to be seen with a new OS version.
Apart from, perhaps, a few initial gripes, that's all you hear.

Look at the rapid uptake of tablets with their different variations and customisations of operating systems.

What a contrast.

lazer

almillar wrote: »

Just for starters, the XP that ran on 128MB would be the 32 bit version, which can only address, what, 3GB of RAM, so that's a non starter. Windows XP did develop. It developed into Vista, 7 and 8. The genes are there, many drivers still work, and plenty of the stuff that started with XP is still present in the newer versions.
lazer - if you got 3.5 years out of a netbook, you'd be doing better than most people.
You certainly shouldn't have been buying a computer with XP on it in 2010 if you wanted to use it in the future.
I'd be interested to know how much any individual would be willing to PAY MS to keep XP up to date. Or do you think they should do it for free until the end of time?

Not everyone buying a computer understands them.

Personally I would expect any electronic item to last a minimum of 5 years for basic use - you may not be able to run the latest games or whatever on it but you should be able to still use it without any major risk.

I bought an old laptop second hand for around £100 in 2007 and my mum is still using it.

I've never bought into the need to update something when the old one does a perfectly good job

securityguy

lazer wrote: »

Personally I would expect any electronic item to last a minimum of 5 years for basic use - you may not be able to run the latest games or whatever on it but you should be able to still use it without any major risk.

There isn't a "major risk" here.

The saga of why a few vendors were selling XP up until 2010 deserves a blog post in its own right, and I would be surprised in many such devices were sold in the UK (although I'd be interested to be shown wrong). Microsoft shipped Windows 7 Starter in 2009 which runs fine on Netbooks; the problem was that Vista didn't, so rather niche territory of Windows netbooks on low-end Atom processors (ie, the ones that really needed to run cut-down Linux distributions) ended up on life-extended XP. A few vendors continued to ship XP on those devices, but it was hardly a volume proposition, and the devices were so obviously obsolescent bargain basement stuff that to complain about not getting five years' support seems a bit excessive.

Lum

Yeah, the XP on netbooks thing was a bit of a disaster. MS gave the end date for XP a long time ago, and the companies that still chose to ship XP-only netbooks were being a little naughty IMO. That said, lets use a car analogy.

Here the lifespan is 10 years, after which time, the manufacturer is no longer obliged to provide parts for that vehicle, however if you buy the new model of a car which is then made for another 6 years, you can look forward to 16 years of parts availability from the manufacturer.

If you buy a late reg that's been sat on the forecourt for 2 years and is the last of the old model... you only get 8 years.

Computing does move on a lot faster than cars, though the longevity of XP is a bit of an anomaly, so 3-4 years out of that netbook seems alright to me.

Those bargain basement XP netbooks from 2010, that's basically what you did, XP was replaced with a new model 4 years before you bought that cheapo netbook.

Time to replace the machine or learn how to install and use Linux.

NiftyDigits

Lum wrote: »

Yeah, the XP on netbooks thing was a bit of a disaster. MS gave the end date for XP a long time ago, and the companies that still chose to ship XP-only netbooks were being a little naughty IMO. That said, lets use a car analogy.

Here the lifespan is 10 years, after which time, the manufacturer is no longer obliged to provide parts for that vehicle, however if you buy the new model of a car which is then made for another 6 years, you can look forward to 16 years of parts availability from the manufacturer.

If you buy a late reg that's been sat on the forecourt for 2 years and is the last of the old model... you only get 8 years.

Computing does move on a lot faster than cars, though the longevity of XP is a bit of an anomaly, so 3-4 years out of that netbook seems alright to me.

Those bargain basement XP netbooks from 2010, that's basically what you did, XP was replaced with a new model 4 years before you bought that cheapo netbook.

Time to replace the machine or learn how to install and use Linux.

Some of those Netbooks supplied with XP have the ability to be very easily upgraded. So not the disaster imagined. The MSI Wind U135DX a case in point.

Lum

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Some of those Netbooks supplied with XP have the ability to be very easily upgraded. So not the disaster imagined. The MSI Wind U135DX a case in point.

I wrote "XP-only" for a reason. If they're shipping with a dual licence or some other sensible upgrade path then they're not XP-only.

CC-Warrior

Everyone has had more than enough time to ditch XP! Sure it will carry on working, but they'll be gaping holes in the OS that won't ever be patched up.