retiring XP

[lxskllr]

I respectfully disagree. Running XP in 2014 will be like running 95 today. You won't get newer versions of IE, AV programs, productivity programs, many web APIs won't function, etc. Plus, hardware breaks down and needs to be replaced. An XP machine running today isn't going to still be running in 2014. Remember, we're talking about home user systems here, no server grade hardware or embedded devices. By 2014, the number of home users still using XP will be so insignificant as to be inconsequential.

I wouldn't find it unusual to see a 10yr old PC still going. Old parts are easy/cheap enough to come by for repairs. My daughter has parts in her computer that are 7 years old, with no sign of failure. A guy I'm doing some house work for is still running Win98. His daughter gave him an old XP machine, but he hasn't migrated yet. Next rain day or something I'm gonna give him a hand setting it up.

 

[Mem]

Its XP Pro for me untill I go Linux !!

What's stopping you 😉 ,you have plenty of free Linux Distro's to choose from 🙂 .

 

[Maximilian]

What cash machine did you see? All the ATM's I programmed for (NCR) were NT/2000/XP based.

Dont know, it was in glasgow in the city centre somwhere.

 

[Skott]

The toll will sound when the majority of businesses stop using it. The home user/enthusiast has zip to do with it.

I'll second this. Some places are still offering XP as a choice. XP won't go away as quietly or as quickly as MS hopes. Most businesses are refusing to touch VISTA and many are waiting to see how well W7 works out first.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Its XP Pro for me untill I go Linux !!

Pretty much here too. I *might* give 7 a try, but I see myself switching to Linux before I decide to get away from XP. Even if MS stops supporting XP nothing stops me from using it. What will stop me from using it is when newer hardware stops supporting it, and I probably wont be upgrading my PC for at least another few years.

I also don't see companies switching to 7 any time soon. It's just not cost effective. At most, I could see them slowly phase it in, like every time a new PC is purchased it would get windows 7.

 

[n7]

I retired XP over a couple years ago now.

 

[pmv]

people still use XP?
In Intel's name WHY?!

Because its good enough, because not everyone has money to burn buying a new OS for no reason (or even _with_ a reason, for some of us!) and because of the sheer work involved in wiping out existing working systems and installing Win 7, and because there will doubtless be some currently-used software or hardware that doesn't work with win 7.

I don't see there's presently any compelling reason to upgrade, _given it costs money_. It'll be very annoying if it ends up that upgrading is only required because of MS not providing security updates for XP any more - that's such an artificial reason, MS using their control over one platform to force you to move to another, it would be a form of market failure as far as I can see. But hopefully there will be more positive reasons before that happens - like USB3 or the need for a 64bit OS with proper driver support.

If I were buying a new PC I'd go with Win 7, but XP is perfectly good enough for my purposes at the moment.

 

[Nothinman]

I respectfully disagree. Running XP in 2014 will be like running 95 today. You won't get newer versions of IE, AV programs, productivity programs, many web APIs won't function, etc. Plus, hardware breaks down and needs to be replaced. An XP machine running today isn't going to still be running in 2014. Remember, we're talking about home user systems here, no server grade hardware or embedded devices. By 2014, the number of home users still using XP will be so insignificant as to be inconsequential.

And you'll be respectfully wrong, the hardware will still be running and XP or earlier will likely still be running on it. One of our engineers was just telling me that he was setting Win2K machines that were just now donated to a convent. The sisters there were "upgrading" from Win95/Win98 machines. Places like that take what they're given which usually means stuff that >5 years old.

 

[Zebo]

I still use w2k so....I suppose when games and apps I buy stop working and nvidia stops making 2k/xp drivers I'll have to.

I own a copy of windows 7 and tried it - gave it a week could not stand it a reghosted my 2k back on. I have the lastest modern hardware and 4gb of ram and everything works great even though system only sees about 3.2 GB due to huge video card.. Anyway 3.2 GB of ram is plenty for foreseeable future and it just plain works for me - why upgrade?

 

[C1]

What will be will be.

A call-in to the local computer radio talk show here asked about what they would stand to gain by transitioning to VISTA or WIN7. The show host told the caller about all the great new photo, media & file handling/management capabilities.

I had to remind myself that no one software house does everything well. For each of the aforementioned ideas I have third party software that I use because it looks & works the way I want. On top of that, take photos for instance. Im so inundated with disks of free photo applications (they seem to come with anything you buy like a camera or a DvD RW) that it seems like the numerous jokes about AOL CDs ( They are everywhere, not just my mailbox. In the grocery stores, at Wal-Mart on those turning stand things or on the wall as you enter .......).

The reality for me has been that VISTA not only didnt work that well in the hardware it came with, but that the supposedly required upgraded software needed (eg, NERO 8) was bloated & is a pain in the ass!

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[adlep]

people still use XP?
In Intel's name WHY?!

You don't work in IT, do you?

 

[Mem]

The reality for me has been that VISTA not only didnt work that well in the hardware it came with, but that the supposedly required upgraded software needed (eg, NERO 8) was bloated & is a pain in the ass!

I'm not surprised Nero had to bring out a new version ,Vista had some major changes under the hood compared to XP,Nero became bloated before Nero 8 IMHO.

Personally I use Ashampoo Burning Studio 9 for Vista/Win7 which works great and shows a lot of companies out there how to make non bloated software,Vista/Win7 has always been great to me in daily use,however when any new OS has a few major changes you can't expect all third party software to be compatible,bottomline plenty of good cheap and sometimes free software for Vista/Win7 to choose from so its not really a factor.

I'll also say some of the crappy OEM installed bloated software was the cause for a lot of issues in Vista too,I stripped that away from my brothers HP laptop and it was purring like a kitten after,now do you blame Vista or the OS in question for everything?..or do the OEM companies and third party software companies take responsibility too..You can't have it both ways.

 

[C1]

I wanted stay with VISTA, but it had some technical glitches with multitasking large file transfers. And for what I do, that was a "show stopper". No one could fix it.

Im constantly requested to help fix someone elses computer. Almost always the complaint is that it runs too slow. The problem I see always (pertains both to VISTA & XP) is an out of control system most often due to automatic updates across the board being left enabled. The machine sits on line for days downloading & installing trash for every application: AV, OS SPs, JAVAs, Browser updates, Mouse Driver updates, etc. you name it. Pulled in along is all kinds of additional trash. That along with bloatware & too much junk loaded at startup.

Doing this doesnt matter how big or powerful a machine you have. All this crap simply ruins the computing experience.

 

[VinDSL]

people still use XP?
In Intel's name WHY?!

LoL! Can't find fault with your impertinent questions.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating...

I'm sitting here, with my feet on the desk -- keyboard resting on my lap.

Within arm's reach :

1. Ubu 9.10 workstation
2. W2K Pro workstation
3. Slackware web server
4. Win98SE proxy server

... all running merrily in the background.

That said, I do have XP installed on 3 multi-booted lappies and a netbook - however, I never use XP, sooo...

By golly, I *think* you're right! :awe:

 

[JACKDRUID]

Thank GOD Win7 is really good. Vista had me worried that Microsoft had lost their marbles.

agreed! I had a windows ME/MS Bob flash back when Vista came out... almost switched to linux/mac...

w2k is still my fav though... lean and mean ;D

 

[GullyFoyle]

The reason many people run Window at all is for games. What will force people off of XP is the newer versions of DirectX (10+).
Already there is one game I want to try that requires it (Shattered Horizons), and another I am slightly interested in that will have some features enhanced by it (Battlefield Bad Company 2).