Poll: Will Microsoft really end Windows XP support on April 8??

[imagoon]

My sister's ancient XP rig is a malware riddled mess and has been since I gave it to her five years ago. Her ten year old grandson makes sure of that - even with regular updates. I don't know how much worse it could get.

The 10 year old grandson shouldn't be running in an Admin account nor unsupervised. MS patches fix exploits in the OS but can't stop willful downloads and destruction.

 

[Leyawiin]

The 10 year old grandson shouldn't be running in an Admin account nor unsupervised. MS patches fix exploits in the OS but can't stop willful downloads and destruction.

No, he shouldn't. I've washed my hands of that situation after the third clean install. Gave her son the disc and told him to keep it up for his kid.

 

[BurnItDwn]

My sister's ancient XP rig is a malware riddled mess and has been since I gave it to her five years ago. Her ten year old grandson makes sure of that - even with regular updates. I don't know how much worse it could get.

By 10 years old a kid should be fully capable of formatting and reinstalling the OS.

 

[PingSpike]

right, make paid software voluntarily misbehave... I don't think so

on the topic, xp support is not ending, just the free one. expect to see lots of sites offering updates that some paying customers decided to share around.
Windows 3.11 was supported until... 1998? nope. until 2008.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/05/microsoft_retires_windows_3_1_1/

Wow, 3.11 support didn't end until 2008? That's crazy.

 

[Train]

Wow, 3.11 support didn't end until 2008? That's crazy.

That was 3.11 "embedded". whole different animal. think POS device at a restaurant, store, etc, with everything locked down except the POS app.

XP embedded currently supported to 2016

 

[techs]

After some thought I think it all comes down to publicity. If the news media make a big deal of this MS will look terrible. Old people who will have difficulty learning a new OS, businesses with proprietary software, poor people who can't afford a new computer could be rolled out every day in the media.

Plus, it this hits the media big the general perception that Win8 sucks will also be talked about a lot. The logical thought procession will be MS is cancelling WinXP support because no one wants to buy their crappy Win8

This could really be a public relations disaster for MS, possibly.

 

[dainthomas]

After some thought I think it all comes down to publicity. If the news media make a big deal of this MS will look terrible. Old people who will have difficulty learning a new OS, businesses with proprietary software, poor people who can't afford a new computer could be rolled out every day in the media.

Plus, it this hits the media big the general perception that Win8 sucks will also be talked about a lot. The logical thought procession will be MS is cancelling WinXP support because no one wants to buy their crappy Win8

This could really be a public relations disaster for MS, possibly.

Windows 7 came out almost five years ago. Not really new. And not radically different for grandma to use from XP.

 

[Leyawiin]

By 10 years old a kid should be fully capable of formatting and reinstalling the OS.

He's not being trained to be a neckbeard basement dweller.

 

[BurnItDwn]

He's not being trained to be a neckbeard basement dweller.

Truth be told, if he's reached the age of 10 in this information golden age and he infects PCs with spyware/adware/malware, that he's likely not received ANY training at all in anything.

Everybody should be capable of installing OS, most people are too lazy. But, 10 year olds should have more curiosity than laziness...

It's not a matter of dwelling in a basement or having the best neck beard, it's about being able to think and use ones brain.

 

[Skel]

After some thought I think it all comes down to publicity. If the news media make a big deal of this MS will look terrible. Old people who will have difficulty learning a new OS, businesses with proprietary software, poor people who can't afford a new computer could be rolled out every day in the media.

Plus, it this hits the media big the general perception that Win8 sucks will also be talked about a lot. The logical thought procession will be MS is cancelling WinXP support because no one wants to buy their crappy Win8

This could really be a public relations disaster for MS, possibly.

I see this thought a lot on these forums. The most probable reality is no one will care. XP hasn't been available to buy for a very long time and thanks to three versions of Windows that replaced it the only people who might care, outside of the MS FUD makers, don't have a clue how software versioning works. Those people are the ones that no software company cares about as they'll never understand a damn thing in the first place.

 

[OCGuy]

Hopefully. XP did what it was supposed to, and was a great bridge over Vista to Win7. People who still cling to it for anything other than a legacy machine are sad.

 

[techs]

Windows 7 came out almost five years ago. Not really new. And not radically different for grandma to use from XP.

However, Win8 is vastly different and its whats being sold almost exclusively.

When I myself have to use another computer to figure out how to shut down Win8 during my first usage, there is a pretty big problem.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I had to reimage my machine at work today with the corporate image.

Yep, windows XP.

Right now is actually a tricky time for companies, because MS is probably on the verge of wanting to phase out 7 too, so as a company, do you wait for 9, and hope it wont be a collosial disaster like 8, or do you go with 7, and hope MS will do the same thing as XP and keep extending support.

Upgrading computers and OS serves zero purpose from a corporate standpoint and cost lot of money, so it's not something companies do unless they absolutely have to.

 

[techs]

Frankly, MS has a de-facto monopoly on OS'es. MS should be forced to put expiration dates on their software, in big letters, imho.

 

[BladeVenom]

If you want patches go buy them. Quit expecting Microsoft to give your free patches forever when you dropped a "massive" $25-$200 13 years ago.

MS didn't stop selling XP to people until 2008, and to OEMs until 2009. So there are computers out there less that are only 5 years old that came with XP. 5 years < forever.

How long it's supported should be based on when they stop selling an OS, not when they first started.

 

[Skel]

MS didn't stop selling XP to people until 2008, and to OEMs until 2009. So there are computers out there less that are only 5 years old that came with XP. 5 years < forever.

How long it's supported should be based on when they stop selling an OS, not when they first started.

Which OEMs are still supporting those 5 year old machines for free?

 

[techs]

MS didn't stop selling XP to people until 2008, and to OEMs until 2009. So there are computers out there less that are only 5 years old that came with XP. 5 years < forever.

How long it's supported should be based on when they stop selling an OS, not when they first started.

Absolutely. I am surprised no one else mentioned this.

 

[lxskllr]

Frankly, MS has a de-facto monopoly on OS'es. MS should be forced to put expiration dates on their software, in big letters, imho.

That's not a bad idea. Make it clear, and make it firm. No "we'll extend it another year just this once" nonsense. You get support for a fixed amount of time, and then use something else, or go without support if you insist on keeping it.

 

[imagoon]

Frankly, MS has a de-facto monopoly on OS'es. MS should be forced to put expiration dates on their software, in big letters, imho.

They do. Since around windows 2.0. They however can't force you go read the manual. They extend it for all the people that can't grasp that software has a finite life for some reason.

 

[xSauronx]

When I myself have to use another computer to figure out how to shut down Win8 during my first usage, there is a pretty big problem.

you kinda arent supposed to have to that often...but when you have to, it is really, really stupid. 8.1.1 makes it easier, 8.1.1.1 should put the icing on the cake

/seriously, kinda like 8, but they were also kinda assholes about pushing it out

 

[ViRGE]

MS didn't stop selling XP to people until 2008, and to OEMs until 2009. So there are computers out there less that are only 5 years old that came with XP. 5 years < forever.

How long it's supported should be based on when they stop selling an OS, not when they first started.

When MS was selling XP to those OEMs, it was made very clear at the time that XP was still slated for retirement as scheduled. They were being sold XP on the expectation that it would only be used on short lifespan machines (such as netbooks).

 

[pmv]

That's not a bad idea. Make it clear, and make it firm. No "we'll extend it another year just this once" nonsense. You get support for a fixed amount of time, and then use something else, or go without support if you insist on keeping it.

I think perhaps this wasn't nearly such a big issue back when home machines were not, as a matter of course, connected to the internet. That's what really makes EOS a very important date.

I don't recall being very bothered by the EOS for Windows95, say (even now not sure when it was, in fact) as I didn't have internet access at home back then, so it didn't seem that important (I don't think I ever downloaded any 'updates' for 95 or even 98, as neither of those machines were ever on the net).

XP maybe is the first OS to 'expire' in the age of mass internet connections?

 

[ViRGE]

I don't recall being very bothered by the EOS for Windows95, say (even now not sure when it was, in fact) as I didn't have internet access at home back then, so it didn't seem that important (I don't think I ever downloaded any 'updates' for 95 or even 98, as neither of those machines were ever on the net).

XP maybe is the first OS to 'expire' in the age of mass internet connections?

Windows 95 was sent to the grave in 2001. Windows 98 and ME in 2006 (98 was basically extended to match ME's 5 year lifecycle since they were so close on a technical level).

 

[BladeVenom]

Which OEMs are still supporting those 5 year old machines for free?

Some companies fix manufacturer's defects past a 5 year period, especially if it's safety related.

I'm not talking about them offering customer support, or writing new drivers. I'm talking about them fixing their own mistakes that were in the original software.

 

[Skel]

Some companies fix manufacturer's defects past a 5 year period, especially if it's safety related.

I'm not talking about them offering customer support, or writing new drivers. I'm talking about them fixing their own mistakes that were in the original software.

There becomes another debate.. MS would say that they fixed the mistakes with the newer Windows and in many regards they did. I'm not going to say the newer stuff is any good (or bad), but I will say it's better security wise than XP. You really can't say that they should continue to support a product they're retiring just because you don't like the newer versions. If you really don't like the new stuff, you change over to a different company, you don't attempt to force them into supporting what you do like.

You can and should switch over to something other than Windows if you don't like the newer versions. Now's the best time to do it. According to a lot of the complaints about Windows 8, there's a learning curve no matter what OS you use. Of course, maybe I'm the one who doesn't get it as I haven't blamed a OS because I didn't know how to shut it off, I figured I just needed to better learn it. I just find it so very odd that a lot of people are attempting to use the excuse that because they don't like the new stuff that MS should be forced to continue supporting XP.

I'll also say again (as there are really too many threads on this subject) you can still just use XP but take the risk, which as it's Windows you already live with.