Ot: Windows xp april 8 end of support

[alancw3]

so for all our computer experts out there what does this mean to me if i do use xp. am i now forced to upgrade to a new operating system? thanks for any info.

[dave thompson]

No, you won't be 'forced' to use another operating system. It merely means that Microsoft isn't issuing any more fixes. patches, security upgrades for XP.

I use XP. The company I work for offers it's employees the opportunity to buy Office Professional 2013 for $10. Unfortunately Office 2013 isn't compatible with XP, so I'll either have to buy Office 2010 at retail or upgrade to Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 if I want to use Office 2013.

[JER3]

For web access you will want something newer that has security updates. You can continue to use XP as long as you want, just keep it off the Internet and you should be fine. See here:

https://www.securitybeacon.com/?p=1822

[Rada]

I thought I read somewhere that third party updates will still be available.

[zachateseveryth]

I thought I read somewhere that third party updates will still be available.

There will continue to be updates to third party anti-malware utilities for a while but there are a number of security holes in XP that will just never be addressed.

[JER3]

Sure, 3rd parties may still provide updates to drivers and other things like anti-virus software but that's not enough these days. Better to move to something newer. Personally I like Linux, but Windows 7 is a close second and likely the easiest transition for someone jumping from XP. Most new machines however come with Windows 8.

[bargainguy]

...the OS can only see 3.5G RAM no matter how much RAM is installed. By today's standards, not a lot. Fine for basic tasks, slow as molasses for everything else.

[gavingould]

you're not 'forced' to upgrade, but if you want a fast, safe, reliable computer it's in your best interests to do so.

PCs are dirt cheap these days. you might say they're damn near disposable. if you already have a lot of XP specific apps that won't run on 7 or 8, then yes it may get costly replacing them with newer versions.

if just web surfing/email/light 'office' apps i'd say get a Chromebook or similar.

[Llewellyn]

Just stay away from Windows 8 :mad: Go with 7

[josephr]

Just stay away from Windows 8 :mad: Go with 7

+1Billion. 8 sucks....sitting here with windows 7 and hope to keep it for long, long while....that being said, I'm starting to envy those who live off the grid....no more viruses, facebook statu updates, yahoo news videos, kids whining about facetime, email newsletters...Of course, its ironic I'm posting this on an internet forum, right?

Joe

[ultraman6970]

My personal view ok? I got 8 form the school like 6 months ago or more, put it in 2 of my desktops. Noticed that the thing was a phone OS so went ahead downloaded Classic Start Menu and the thing rocks, obviously you have some differences but is better than have nothing, put the XP theme and ready to go.

IMO way better than all of the other stuff, even 7. Networking, installation of drivers (even got away installing old windows xp drivers and work just fine, stuff that with 7 is a real hassle), even like 5 months ago had to retire my MB and got a new one, just connected the drive and windows worked right away, not SSID's crap like in the other XP and up OS's.

By the way I still use old software and even compatibility mode worked better than with 7.

My only complain is that I havent found a free application to be able to clone windows 8 drives.

[josephr]

My personal view ok? I got 8 form the school like 6 months ago or more, put it in 2 of my desktops. Noticed that the thing was a phone OS so went ahead downloaded Classic Start Menu and the thing rocks, obviously you have some differences but is better than have nothing, put the XP theme and ready to go.

IMO way better than all of the other stuff, even 7. Networking, installation of drivers (even got away installing old windows xp drivers and work just fine, stuff that with 7 is a real hassle), even like 5 months ago had to retire my MB and got a new one, just connected the drive and windows worked right away, not SSID's crap like in the other XP and up OS's.

By the way I still use old software and even compatibility mode worked better than with 7.

My only complain is that I havent found a free application to be able to clone windows 8 drives.

Sounds like some pretty good advice...we picked up a computer with W8 on it right when it came out an the UI was the worst. Those stupid tiles! Yes, you could switch back to a regular screen, but there seemed to be a lot of going back and forth still and we don't have the patience to learn something new. Windows 7 works just fine and I don't need a touch screen anyway.
Joe

[JER3]

Agreed, Win 8 is ok. Installing Classic Start menu at the get go really helps. Why MS didn't include such a feature themselves is surely at least a $65,000 question? Had they done that then Win 8 would have done much better out of the gate.

I have some non Internet type apps that only work on XP so I'll be running it for years in my lab. I put it in a Virtual Machine and run it under Linux. It works great that way and avoids many of the pitfalls of running Windows directly on the hardware.

[Rada]

Win 8.1 is supposed to be more desktop friendly. I've used 7 a bit on my daughters lap top and it seems pretty similar to XP, which was the last Win OS I used. I've been using various Linux distros the past eight years and have been very content to not be using Win any longer.

[ultraman6970]

The problem with 8.1 is that the task bar is not there yet, they did some mods here and there but the task bar is still missing as we know it.

The other problem with 8.1 is that is not just download the off-line installer and install the thing, you actually need to give them all your info like name and email to even install it. Some how looks like this is their way to push people to use the idioticsoft store and that's just bad idea. I havent move to 8.1 yet and I doubt I will just because of that.

For the ones installing 8.0 from scratch, disconnect the network cable so it doesnt force you link the windows with a MS or Hotmail account (did not like that), once you do that it will install like any other winblows. Hmm.. now that I tihnk about it, did not try to install the offline 8.1 upgrade with no network... hmm...

After all quite happy you know, way more stable than anything before, MS screwed up taking the darn task bar, really bad move. Worse case scenario just leave it as an option DUH!, dont have a job and these clowns are paid millions... In a phone, yes the thing will work great in a pc NO WAY! duh!

The funniest thing of all, like 5 or 6 taskbars from other people moving around and they got the thing done really quick, the question is how hard is to pay to one of the software guy to just put the task bar back? 8.1 and like 8 months and the thing is still not there... amazing.

Better for them to create a super taskbar with a naked female Gennie dancing live for you when 9.0 comes up or nobody will believe them no more.

Sorry for the rant :)

[rounder]

Just stay away from Windows 8 :mad: Go with 7

All of the computers at work are running Windows 7 professional. I saw the computers at Best Buy running windows 8 and thought they looked hokey. I just bought a new desk top for home and paid 50 extra for windows 7 professional...not the latest and greatest but was good for peace of mind.

[alancw3]

thanks guys for all the input. i really appreciate the advice. i am leaning towards another toshiba satellite (current one provided great service for the last twelve years, only had to replace the keybroad twice and cooling fan twice, both easy jobs). new one would be with 17.3 inch screen. so i think it will be windows 7 as 8 seems problematic. the other alternative is to dwell into the apple world with a macbook pro although large screen pro's seem rediculously expensive.

[gavingould]

Yes, Apple will be expensive for a laptop especially 17" compared to a Windows laptop. It's their top-line item, their Meivici if you will. If you don't need portability, a Mac Mini with any screen is more reasonable - you don't have to buy an Apple monitor.

Had an HP laptop, lasted one year. Bought a MacBook Air 13" and run Windows 7 in Bootcamp for work, no problems.

[Dustin]

People still use windows?

[oldpotatoe]

Yes, Apple will be expensive for a laptop especially 17" compared to a Windows laptop. It's their top-line item, their Meivici if you will. If you don't need portability, a Mac Mini with any screen is more reasonable - you don't have to buy an Apple monitor.

Had an HP laptop, lasted one year. Bought a MacBook Air 13" and run Windows 7 in Bootcamp for work, no problems.

I have this, mac mini, desk top, big monitor..I have a laptop but when I got the ipad..turned it off..do not use it at all.

[dustyrider]

XP? I'm still using vista on one of my machines!
It just pushes the "monitor", a 32" TV, which I stream video to.

[gavingould]

one other note... might be a bit tough to find anything with 7 installed on the racks at the stores, most have 8 preinstalled now.

[rounder]

one other note... might be a bit tough to find anything with 7 installed on the racks at the stores, most have 8 preinstalled now.

I bought mine directly from Dell...windows 7 was an option.

[gavingould]

Dell might be about the only one doing that. i don't think you'd see anything with & on it in a brick&mortar, unless they have some new old stock.

[Llewellyn]

one other note... might be a bit tough to find anything with 7 installed on the racks at the stores, most have 8 preinstalled now.

My understanding is that you can buy a PC or laptop that has W8 on it, buy W7 separately, get the hard disc completely wiped and then install W7.

Obviously it's best done by someone who knows what they're doing.

[ultraman6970]

Some companies do that, the old winblows comes in another CD but the guys have the scripts really well made, when you put the cd the script takes care or basically everything for you after asking you like 4 times if you are sure of what are you going to do because it will wipe off the drive completely. (dell and hp were kind'a like that)

The only one that was just crazy and dunno if they are still doing it was Acer, basically you needed to uninstall the old OS and the script created some 3 or 4 cds back ups before installing the new thing over.

[Tony T]

Good point in today's WSJ Article:

The software giant itself will further contribute to the problem in May, when Microsoft issues updates to Windows 7 and Windows 8, more modern operating systems built on a similar blueprint as XP. The patches Microsoft sends for those operating systems will be pointing hackers to possible weak spots in XP without supplying the fix.

Windows XP: Old Platforms Die Hard, Security Risks Live On (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304157204579473821528178710?mod=WS J_hppMIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond&mg=reno64-wsj)

[ultraman6970]

Paranoia season again, they do this each 6 to 10 years. For the year 2000 everybody got new computers...

The mistake of MS IMO was that they tried to do the same crap that apple did, they just create a necessity and people just buy their crap because it is a trend. But did not work, was so easy for MS, 8 is fine but they screwed up taking the darn task bar out, it had that people wouldnt be complaining, even easier... at the installation bring the option to install it and done with the problem.

Now another screw up, you can't upgrade off line, upgrades before were easy, now are a pita because of their store. Sure windows 9 won't bring the task bar either. Again... simpler just add the task bar in the updates and 8.1 together (no, store non sense, no one I know even use their darn store anyways, total failure), everybody happy and willing to move.

Darn...

[martl]

No, you won't be 'forced' to use another operating system. It merely means that Microsoft isn't issuing any more fixes. patches, security upgrades for XP.

True - it won't stop operating on a given date.
This means, though, that you really shouldn't get an XP machine in touch with the big bad internet. After the deadline even less so than already. Especially not if you are using it to access online banking, buy stuff, handle ebay or paypal or trade bitcoins :)

If you use your computer standalone, you are fine, of course. It is also possible to "harden" an xp in a way that accessing the web is still somewhat safe, but that requires a lot of specialist knowledge and also some software which is arguably more expensive and time consuming than just getting a copy of 8.1 and learn your way around the new GUI.

Also, support for modern hardware is increasingly deteriorating. The recent HW we purchase at the company i do IT for doesn't even come with XP drivers. And if you manage to get it running, chances are features are left out, like hi-speed USB, or power optimization features (Optimus, for example). Let alone mobile/GSM nics or exotic stuff like fingerprint readers, multimedia devices etc etc. The same is true for peripheral devices you might want to use with the computer, like GPS devices or cameras.

So there are few reasons to stick with an OS which technology dates back to the 1990ies.

Paranoia season again, they do this each 6 to 10 years. For the year 2000 everybody got new computers...

The mistake of MS IMO was that they tried to do the same crap that apple did, they just create a necessity and people just buy their crap because it is a trend. But did not work, was so easy for MS, 8 is fine but they screwed up taking the darn task bar out, it had that people wouldnt be complaining, even easier... at the installation bring the option to install it and done with the problem.

The problem was that Vista was so crappy in the beginning that all the big customers forced MS to continue XP far longer than it should have been allowed to live. No modern Linux SW will run on a Linux system from 2001, the same is true for Apple stuff, they won't even allow you to their online store with a much younger machine. XP was great in its days, it has lived past its expiry date, let it rest in piece. A sw change and a different UI every 13 years is not exactly forcing the customers to spend money when it isn't necessary.

[SteveV0983]

HP still offers configurable systems online with Win 7. Between my wife, my Dad and I, we have 2 HP laptops and 2 desktops all running W7 and all have been flawless for years. I even have a 2003 HP desktop with XP on it that just won't die. I know it's not popular to say nowadays, but after using several i-devices, give me Win 7 all day every day. No interest in 8 because it can't run a couple of my programs, but 7 is excellent. You really do need to advance to a 64-bit OS.

Sent from my HP laptop.

[jpw]

i'll be doing a windows 7 custom install to replace xp. a chore, but cheaper than buying a new laptop. i just hope it goes smoothly:eek:

[ultraman6970]

It will...

i just hope it goes smoothly:eek:

[victoryfactory]

+1Billion. 8 sucks....sitting here with windows 7 and hope to keep it for long, long while....that being said, I'm starting to envy those who live off the grid....no more viruses, facebook statu updates, yahoo news videos, kids whining about facetime, email newsletters...Of course, its ironic I'm posting this on an internet forum, right?

Joe

Win 7 was a big success and stable too.
Win 8 was a shock due to the seemingly arbitrary reshuffling of the desktop.
This was so win 8 could be more cross platform with other device types I guess
We got a couple of win 8 boxes at the factory and our first impressions were
negative as we were not in the mood to learn where everything had been moved to.
We upgraded to win 8.1 and it's a little better. There are a few tricks to get
you to familiar places like hitting the WIN + X keys to see the original desktop.

Win 8 is not another vista bomb. It's here, you can get used to it.

As far as dropping support for XP, this is typical of microsoft. They want people to throw away perfectly operable
computers and replace them with new ones. They will tell you that it's a security issue and that the old OS is vulnerable
but if they wanted to support XP they could. Isn't it enough that the newer OS is better and you can't buy XP anymore?
Can't they wait until nature takes it's course and most people migrate?
I think this announcement is just meant to "help" people get on board with the program. (and increase sales)


VF

[ultraman6970]

Many of the guys I know are using a 3rd party task bar, honestly windows 8 is super robust compared even to 7.

I've seen many companies using even 3.1 because the software that are running in those machines is all they need, remember a fire extinguisher software this building management was running in DOS, the thing just worked. In argentina saw a server maybe 20 years old running a database thing in Dbase, this was in a oil rigg in the middle of the atlantic, asked them and they told me that they just did not justify to spend 10.000 bucks in the new version of everything when the old one worked just fine and gave them the data they needed to work, server failed a few times but dell still had parts in the warehouse for it. I imagine at this point they moved to something else.

[SteveV0983]

i'll be doing a windows 7 custom install to replace xp. a chore, but cheaper than buying a new laptop. i just hope it goes smoothly:eek:

Hopefully you are doing a clean install as opposed to an "upgrade". There are lots of online videos showing you step by step how to do a clean install. Check out Newegg.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tauiGKUQHNM). But although it will be cheaper than an entire new laptop, you're still going to be limited by the motherboard, cpu and ram of your old laptop. You can get an oem Win 7 Home Premium for about $100.00. If that's all you change, then it will be noticeably cheaper. But unless you do an "upgrade", it's going to wipe out your data. Which means now you'll have a fresh OS on a laptop and hard drive that is probably at least 5 years old. Not sure it's really worth it. Another option is to at least replace the hard drive with an ssd. I just put a great Samsung 250gb ($140.00) into my laptop and it was a noticeable improvement over the mechanical drive. So now you'd be up to about $240.00 on an old system that possibly has a slow cpu, slow ram, and is limited to 4GB ram (all very low by today's standards).
Still cheaper than a new laptop, but don't expect miracles unfortunately.

[tmf]

Another way to buy Windows 7 installed at a possibly good price is to look at the Dell Outlet store.

[m_sasso]

Interesting story behind the Windows XP picture we will always remember, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVXY8OEZAEQ

[Keith A]

Pretty cool...thanks for sharing.

[paredown]

I think M$ screwed the pooch on this one--there grand plan was that Windows 8 would be so insanely great (to quote their late arch-rival) that people would drop XP like a hot potato and all jump on teh Windows 8 bandwagon.

They had some reason for thinking so-the presales were strong, and they thought that would translate into real sales--as a lot of people have said there has not been a compelling reason for most people (including a lot of corporate America) to switch.

Unfortunately the early popular press on Windows 8 was not good--most people saw what they had taken away, and missed or undervalued what was better. (A slight caveat--with the younger set/tablet users etc, MS was actually seen as a better, more innovative company)

So their grand plan failed, they had announced the drop-dead date for XP and had no backup plan.

They have already announced continued support for MS Security Essentials for XP for a year--a tacit acknowledgement that there are a lot of people out there who still have not switched from XP.:banana:

And the new version of 8.1 (8.1 Update) has put the desktop back explicitly (http://recode.net/2014/04/04/how-to-boot-windows-8-1-directly-to-the-desktop/), an acknowledgement that the 'one look, one desktop' strategy has failed.

What they still have not done is cut price on Windows 8--a cheap 3 for 1 family pack like they did for Windows 7--or heck, a cheap 3 for 1 family pack for Windows 7 might convince fence sitters to switch...

[alancw3]

thanks for all the suggestions. after much thought i finally decided on an apple macbook pro. have used for two weeks now and while frustrated at times i do have to say that i am absolutely blown away by apple's way of doing things. so much more fluid and seamless in functionality. can't believe it took me 25 years to see the light. i guess in a certain way i have to thank microsoft for forcing me into it.