Withdrawal of support for Windows XP

wildturkeycanoe said :

The antivirus programs are undoubtedly created by the virus programmers and continual software updates are required because the programmers keep creating problems in the system so that they keep their job. If you made a computer software package that never needed updating, you’d never make any more money once it’s installed around the world. Just like a car that doesn’t need servicing, requires no fuel and never wears out tyres, you’d screw over the entire motor industry.

I know we all love a good conspiracy theory, but the idea that a company like Intel – who now own McAfee – are themselves the creators of the viruses they’re trying to protect against is a bit of a stretch… There are more than enough legitimate cyber criminals operating the world over that Intel, and other AV manufacturers, don’t need to worry about creating more work for themselves – and in the process risk destroying their reputation.

davo101 said :

Roundhead89 said :

…and a few minutes to realise that none of your Windows programs work any more, the open-source alternatives suck and your printer and web-cam malfunction badly.

Guessing from your lack of knowledge about Wine that you’re not much of an Linux user; and from the comment about printers and web-cams, haven’t yet enjoyed the experience of trying to find Windows 8 drivers for family member’s old bits of kit (it’s great having to explain that they have to throw out their printer because HP has decided to stop supporting it)

Agree, it’s fine to keep updating the software on your machine [and the machine itself that can’t run the new software due to processing and memory requirements], but older hardware isn’t supported a lot of the time as drivers for new Windows programs aren’t available. Emulation modes are average, as they slow down considerably due to the processing power required. I have had to throw away so many discs with PC games that aren’t supported any more, replaced printer due to lack of support and I’d reckon it won’t be long before the new one is obsolete. The manufacturers have sucked us into a money pit, knowing that we MUST upgrade if they stop making updates for particular things. The antivirus programs are undoubtedly created by the virus programmers and continual software updates are required because the programmers keep creating problems in the system so that they keep their job. If you made a computer software package that never needed updating, you’d never make any more money once it’s installed around the world. Just like a car that doesn’t need servicing, requires no fuel and never wears out tyres, you’d screw over the entire motor industry.

Roundhead89 said :

…and a few minutes to realise that none of your Windows programs work any more, the open-source alternatives suck and your printer and web-cam malfunction badly.

Guessing from your lack of knowledge about Wine that you’re not much of an Linux user; and from the comment about printers and web-cams, haven’t yet enjoyed the experience of trying to find Windows 8 drivers for family member’s old bits of kit (it’s great having to explain that they have to throw out their printer because HP has decided to stop supporting it)

davo101 said :

Grrrr said :

Canberroid said :

Linux is free if you don’t value your time.

The implication that it takes more time to maintain than Windows isn’t really true any more.

+1
An hour to blow away Windows, install Ubuntu and set up automatic updates and you’re good till 2020 (at which point you do a release upgrade and see you again in 2025).

…and a few minutes to realise that none of your Windows programs work anymore, the open-source alternatives suck and your printer and webcam malfunction badly.

Grrrr said :

Canberroid said :

Linux is free if you don’t value your time.

The implication that it takes more time to maintain than Windows isn’t really true any more.

+1
An hour to blow away Windows, install Ubuntu and set up automatic updates and you’re good till 2020 (at which point you do a release upgrade and see you again in 2025).

Canberroid said :

Linux is free if you don’t value your time.

The implication that it takes more time to maintain than Windows isn’t really true anymore.

bronal – Most people who really want to stick with Windows are faced with the same dilemma as you – choose between 7 and 8.1. Windows 8 can be made to behave a lot like 7 without too much effort (as per post #1.)

The thing is, if the hardware it’s going on is old (which it will likely be if it came with XP instead of Vista or 7) then paying ~$150 for an upgrade is a bit steep compared to getting a copy of Windows virtually free on new hardware.

If you want to stick with Windows, you don’t have to upgrade right away. You will at least get 1 year of monthly updates of Malicious Software Removal Tool from Microsoft, and anti-virus helps too. However, any exploits found from now on will not get patched and the above only offer limited defences.

My suggestion would be to buy some new hardware soonish – perhaps after Intel’s next laptop CPUs refresh, in the coming months. Once everything is migrated, put Ubuntu on the old one. Or wipe it and sell it. Or whatever.

Also, ignore troll-sniffer. He obviously knows nothing about Mac OSX. It’s a decent OS, running on decent hardware. Macbook Airs are no more expensive than Ultrabooks of equivalent spec from other vendors.

He’s also not too Windows savvy: Anti-virus, firewalls and doing your best to avoid dodgy websites doesn’t mean your browser can’t get exploited by a drive-by download from, say, a hijacked ad on an otherwise reputable website. Anyone with an XP machine that hasn’t been patched since SP2 has plenty of holes, and there’s rootkits out there that AV won’t detect.

Canberroid said :

Windows 7 is probably your best bet.

Doesn’t solve the stated problem ie: having to pay for upgrades.

Linux is free if you don’t value your time.

Windows 7 is probably your best bet.

wildturkeycanoe said :

We as a community are almost dependent on the internet and must cough up every 5 or ten years in order to keep using something practically forced upon us. I think some assistance packages should be considered by the government to keep the less fortunate connected.

One word: Linux. Get a copy of any of the lightweight distributions, whack it onto your machine, never pay for an operating system again.

What about home PC users such as elderly, disabled and those on budget incomes whose five or ten year old computers won’t have enough speed or memory to run Win7 or 8? Does that mean they will no longer be able to jump on the net or use their emails? If that is their only connection to the world [remote location etc.] how are they going to find the money to buy a new PC with Win7 software and then get everything transferred from the old one [knowing that hard drives have different connection plugs too]? They’ll need a PC expert to set it all up, let alone the purchase price of the entire system. The underprivileged are going to get left behind…..
At least with cars you can still drive them and get spare parts when they’re 60 years old. Computers are obsolete a week after you get them home.
Evanjames – you say support for Win7 until 2020. That gives another 6 years before everyone will have to upgrade again. It’s as bad as whitegoods that only last the warranty period and then you have to buy a new one. It’s a system designed to keep it’s own creators wealthy at our peril, a system almost necessary for living [email, bill paying, news, job seeking, gambling, school studies, tertiary studies, billing, work etc.]. We as a community are almost dependent on the internet and must cough up every 5 or ten years in order to keep using something practically forced upon us. I think some assistance packages should be considered by the government to keep the less fortunate connected. Oh, but the NBN got scrapped, so newer versions of Windows will suffer trying to sent data at 100kb/s, if at all…….