Windows 8 is the new XP

[tweakboy]

http://www.zdnet.com/windows-8-is-the-new-xp-7000006095/

:thumbsdown:

 

[corkyg]

No way! XP is still straight forward with no intervening layers between me and my programs.

 

[Nothinman]

That's a crap comparison just meant to generate hits. People hated the default theme, but not the overall functionality of the UI like they do with Win8.

 

[mikeymikec]

Most people I've met seem to be fine with XP's default theme. Most more-technically inclined people prefer the classic theme in my experience (not intended as a "if you prefer Luna, you're obviously not that technically inclined" statement).

I seem to remember ZDNet being raaaather Microsoft friendly though. I can't remember particular instances of bias, it's just a feeling.

 

[Vdubchaos]

OP's sarcasm meter is broken?

 

[nemesismk2]

Windows 8 is just like Windows 7 if you ask me because I prefer Windows XP

 

[SimMike2]

Windows XP is OK, that is if you don't consider how easy it gets viruses and breaks. My group of family and friends were always having trouble with XP getting viruses and basically trashing the install. Windows 7, hardly any. The difference is startling. Windows 7 is so much more reliable and stable than XP that it continually surprises me when people say they prefer XP.

 

[dagamer34]

Windows XP is OK, that is if you don't consider how easy it gets viruses and breaks. My group of family and friends were always having trouble with XP getting viruses and basically trashing the install. Windows 7, hardly any. The difference is startling. Windows 7 is so much more reliable and stable than XP that it continually surprises me when people say they prefer XP.

Yep, in the era of Windows 7, heck, even Windows Vista, malware has become less about OS exploits and exploits of Java, Adobe Reader, Flash, and social engineering, because while the operating system will update itself on a VERY regular basis, those 3rd party platforms do not.

 

[Zaap]

As per the original article: contrary to popular myth (talk about how quickly people forget, and think everyone else does too) people did NOT in great droves predict that businesses wouldn't use XP. Many early adopters weren't too happy with the default theme at first, and preferred to keep the start menu in classic mode.

But there weren't mass threats of boycotting it for business use the way Vista was and Windows 8 soon will be. That myth is getting tired already and is just a shill 'argument' to distract from the fact that the crap interface formerly known as Metro remains a terrible idea on the desktop, and that businesses and power users aren't all that jazzed about fighting with it/disabling it/installing 3rd party work arounds just to get back to 'half-assed Windows 7' when they can just keep "Real Windows 7" for free.

 

[Zaap]

Windows 7 is so much more reliable and stable than XP that it continually surprises me when people say they prefer XP.

I'd wager the majority of those people are people that either never tried Windows 7, or are people that hated Vista so much (which was easy to do at first compared to XP) that they still carry that hatred over to Windows 7 because it looks similar to them.

But meanwhile every machine I've ever run Windows XP and Windows 7 on- including some pretty darned old systems- Windows 7 has put XP to shame. It's a far superior OS. MS's finest work. Hopefully Windows 9 gets back on the right track after the next spectacular round of FAIL.

 

[goobee]

Au contraire, many people including myself hated Aero and immediately disabled it in Vista and Win 7 and ran classic. Other than a couple unavailable drivers for my older hardware, Win 7 runs flawlessly for me. I won't be moving off to Win 8 until there's no life left in Win 7.

 

[nemesismk2]

Windows XP is OK, that is if you don't consider how easy it gets viruses and breaks. My group of family and friends were always having trouble with XP getting viruses and basically trashing the install. Windows 7, hardly any. The difference is startling. Windows 7 is so much more reliable and stable than XP that it continually surprises me when people say they prefer XP.

You have made some good points. I use both Windows 7 and Windows XP on different computers but always do my work and gaming with Windows XP

 

[mikeymikec]

Yep, in the era of Windows 7, heck, even Windows Vista, malware has become less about OS exploits and exploits of Java, Adobe Reader, Flash, and social engineering, because while the operating system will update itself on a VERY regular basis, those 3rd party platforms do not.

There certainly seemed to be a lot less OS trashing by malware with the release of Vista/7, but I'm noticing through my work that it's starting to come back into fashion - things like the Base Filtering Service being deleted, which takes the firewall offline and (IIRC) Windows Update as well (or the classic boot sector job by Alureon).

In my experience it is hard to say what the attack vector was in a lot of cases, possibly because people don't like owning up to doing something silly (which IMO has got to be the most common attack vector). A lot of people say they have no idea how the malware got in.

 

[Vdubchaos]

First off XP was never bad, quite the opposite. It was MS's most successful OS and still ranks as #2.

It was very popular amongst business and many didn't even switch to Win7 until recently!!!

You guys are making it sound like XP was ME or something.

 

[Nothinman]

Windows XP is OK, that is if you don't consider how easy it gets viruses and breaks. My group of family and friends were always having trouble with XP getting viruses and basically trashing the install. Windows 7, hardly any. The difference is startling. Windows 7 is so much more reliable and stable than XP that it continually surprises me when people say they prefer XP.

The point was that the perception of the UI changes was loud and outrageous while the effects were minimal once people got comfortable with them. He's implying the same is true of Win8 and that after a few months people will quiet down and move on to using it like any other version of Windows.

 

[dguy6789]

The point was that the perception of the UI changes was loud and outrageous while the effects were minimal once people got comfortable with them. He's implying the same is true of Win8 and that after a few months people will quiet down and move on to using it like any other version of Windows.

I strongly agree with that. The Windows 8 hate that I read about(and I pretty much only see it on enthusiast power user forums like this, around the web articles paint a much more reasonable picture of 8) is ridiculous. I've been using Windows 8 in some form for months and it's just fine. Windows 8 is faster than 7 and is extremely stable. The new touches in the desktop interface are very nice. The Metro UI is different but you don't have to incorporate it into your daily use(although it does have some nice benefits such as integrated email and calendar notifications). It does not in any way get in the way or slow you down when using the traditional desktop(If you think it does then you're one of those people who never bothered to learn how to use 8 before deciding you can't do stuff on it)

I get the feeling that 99% of the Windows 8 haters on this forum have either A. Never used it at all B. Never used it for more than 5 minutes or C. Are stubborn nerds who hate any kind of change at all and are unwilling to give something that is different a shot. People who automatically associate different or foreign with bad. I've seen people complain that Windows 8 doesn't boot to the desktop and that you need to click the desktop button in the Metro UI to get to the desktop. That's the most nitpicky BS I have ever read

 

[PokerGuy]

We still use XP at the office and I don't see any problems with it at this point. It does everything, works smoothly and is nice and peppy. At some point over the next 6 months or so, we'll probably end up migrating to Win 7, but we will DEFINITELY not be going to Win 8 - ever.

 

[Nothinman]

I strongly agree with that. The Windows 8 hate that I read about(and I pretty much only see it on enthusiast power user forums like this, around the web articles paint a much more reasonable picture of 8) is ridiculous. I've been using Windows 8 in some form for months and it's just fine. Windows 8 is faster than 7 and is extremely stable. The new touches in the desktop interface are very nice. The Metro UI is different but you don't have to incorporate it into your daily use(although it does have some nice benefits such as integrated email and calendar notifications). It does not in any way get in the way or slow you down when using the traditional desktop(If you think it does then you're one of those people who never bothered to learn how to use 8 before deciding you can't do stuff on it)

I get the feeling that 99% of the Windows 8 haters on this forum have either A. Never used it at all B. Never used it for more than 5 minutes or C. Are stubborn nerds who hate any kind of change at all and are unwilling to give something that is different a shot. People who automatically associate different or foreign with bad. I've seen people complain that Windows 8 doesn't boot to the desktop and that you need to click the desktop button in the Metro UI to get to the desktop. That's the most nitpicky BS I have ever read

I would say I'm a mix of B and C. I've only used Server 2012 a little bit and while some of the changes are nice, the metro look itself is ugly as hell and the start screen is a huge step backwards which makes me want to rip someone's arms off everytime I see it. The fact that you have to use a practically magical incantation to get to the shutdown button is utterly retarded.

 

[Kuschelweich]

From what I recall most people hated that default green color scheme, which was quite a change from the regular old gray since 95'. Don't recall any particular hate for how it functioned. Easily solved with a different theme, really liked and still use the Energy blue theme from media center when it came out.

At the time the only other consumer oriented options were 98' or ME. The article mentions 2000 (I'm guessing Professional?), which I did use for short while, however it was really more of a business/professional oriented operating system and didn't come pre-installed on consumer type computers you'd find at best buy.

Not sure if anyone remembers but 98, even SE, was pretty bad. I'd say horrible. I recall having to reinstall multiple times a year for no particular reason, it'd just stop booting or become otherwise unusable. Never used ME, but I've heard it was just as bad if not worse.

 

[C1]

As long as you protected the WIN X systems from malware, and maintained them, then they had indefinite life spans (exclusive of forced obsolescence).

At work, even from Win 3.1 thru XP, I never needed to reload any. It was always upgrade because of forced obsolescence. Also this whole business about WIn ME being so bad is just tripe. Ive still got Win 98, ME and XP OSes available and running as boot selections. Ive got massive massive mileage on the XP OS too. Have done and constantly accomplish many many major projects involving multimedia, photographic work, brochures, signs, posters as well as special projects of all kinds (experimental & otherwise).
=========================
Analysts, PC industry cool on Windows 8

"The sentiment around Windows 8 was overwhelmingly negative," he said after meetings with suppliers. "We believe the PC industry is headed for a muted December quarter and well below the ramp expected with new products."

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/17/analysts-pc-industry-cool-on-windows-8/

 

[daveybrat]

I strongly agree with that. The Windows 8 hate that I read about(and I pretty much only see it on enthusiast power user forums like this, around the web articles paint a much more reasonable picture of 8) is ridiculous. I've been using Windows 8 in some form for months and it's just fine. Windows 8 is faster than 7 and is extremely stable. The new touches in the desktop interface are very nice. The Metro UI is different but you don't have to incorporate it into your daily use(although it does have some nice benefits such as integrated email and calendar notifications). It does not in any way get in the way or slow you down when using the traditional desktop(If you think it does then you're one of those people who never bothered to learn how to use 8 before deciding you can't do stuff on it)

I get the feeling that 99% of the Windows 8 haters on this forum have either A. Never used it at all B. Never used it for more than 5 minutes or C. Are stubborn nerds who hate any kind of change at all and are unwilling to give something that is different a shot. People who automatically associate different or foreign with bad. I've seen people complain that Windows 8 doesn't boot to the desktop and that you need to click the desktop button in the Metro UI to get to the desktop. That's the most nitpicky BS I have ever read

I agree and disagree. The Metro interface is god-awful. But with Start8 i've come to actually really like the OS. It IS faster and very responsive, and stable!
And to purchase a program for only $4.99 is not a big deal to me.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Installed W8. Wife left me, dog died, gold fish went belly up and zombies tried to eat my brain. Didn't see that one coming. Uninstalled, won the lottery, boinked my hot neighbor and won a free Ipad. What a day....

 

[poohbear]

You have made some good points. I use both Windows 7 and Windows XP on different computers but always do my work and gaming with Windows XP

lol huh? i HATE XP for work, it is insanely inefficient & completely unreliable!!!! and for gaming u use XP??? what kind of gaming is that?? its not even an option for BF3, so it doesn't exist for gaming as far as DX10/11 titles are concerned.

Win7 is the new XP, its gonna be around for another 10 years easily cause its just that good.

 

[mikeymikec]

lol huh? i HATE XP for work, it is insanely inefficient & completely unreliable!!!!

There's something wrong with your computer and/or its configuration, not XP.

 

[Super56K]

Installed W8. Wife left me, dog died, gold fish went belly up and zombies tried to eat my brain. Didn't see that one coming. Uninstalled, won the lottery, boinked my hot neighbor and won a free Ipad. What a day....

Moral of the story: Without Windows 8 you'd still be stuck with your wife.