Windows XP Pro Full Retail, Need to buy..

[Mem]

I have to disagree with you on that one. Microsoft forces people to adopt new operating systems and must re-buy the software to go with it.

If you enjoy tweaking windows, you'll find that WIN 7 is less configureable than WIN XP. Less tweaking and safer for the ignorant, but it stifles creativity for the learned.

IMHO, I'm far more content with WIN XP than with WIN 7.

Win7 is like 100x better then XP,if you are that concerned about software you should of went Linux and used free software rather then spend $$$$$$$ ,even Windows based software by many well known publishers is updated for newer operating systems so saying you are forced is not true.

Remember technology moves forward,you can't hang on to XP forever.

Sooner XP is dead and buried the better IMHO.

 

[Motorheader]

The thread has been hijacked and I feel bad.🙁

I wasn't referring to just XP though. I realize that the argument in the thread has been beat down pretty bad multiple times in many places. My time in computing goes back decades when bloat meant you likely didn't do proper coding no matter the resources given.

I really don't see how Win7 is so much better than XP. Most things done on a computer are OS agnostic.

 

[Nothinman]

Most things done on a computer are OS agnostic.

Maybe your things, but not mine. For work I have to work in a Windows-only ticketing system, SSMS 2005, VS 2005 for SSRS, Excel with PivotTables to SQL 2005, remotely manage 99% Windows machines for my company and our clients, etc. The few things that I don't need Windows for I do in Linux, but there's no way I could delete my Windows VM and actually get work done.

 

[Motorheader]

But that is a specialty situation and for most people how you arrive at output is invisible to what you used to get it. I have a friend that is using a 20+ year old client database and billing system. They see no reason to change - the output is still the same.

Through all my decades of computing one of the most important things that ever stuck with me - and the mantra of most clients - is they don't care how it works (that is what I pay you for) but that it does work.

 

[Nothinman]

But that is a specialty situation and for most people how you arrive at output is invisible to what you used to get it. I have a friend that is using a 20+ year old client database and billing system. They see no reason to change - the output is still the same.

Through all my decades of computing one of the most important things that ever stuck with me - and the mantra of most clients - is they don't care how it works (that is what I pay you for) but that it does work.

But there's more to it than that. Support is a huge aspect that you seem to be skipping over. What happens when the output stops being the same and you need help with that 20+ year old system? Chances are you're SOL and your business will suffer if you can't generate invoices.

 

[Motorheader]

I'm not skipping over anything, especially the support aspect. It's free will - you can't force someone to do something they really don't want to do.

 

[Nothinman]

I'm not skipping over anything, especially the support aspect. It's free will - you can't force someone to do something they really don't want to do.

Same goes for the manufacturer of the software and it's in your and your company's best interest to stick with supported software. Doing otherwise is reckless and stupid.

 

[Anteaus]

I'm not skipping over anything, especially the support aspect. It's free will - you can't force someone to do something they really don't want to do.

This is the whole point. Ms isnt forcing anyone to stop using XP, nor are thet preventing develpers from supporting it. If someone chooses not to upgrade and stay with xp, they cant then complain about being left behind. Everything has an opportunity cost and this is no exception.

 

[Jeff7181]

You are a smart guy. I love XP. I hate Windows7. Six months ago I bought 5 Thinkpad laptops with XP Pro and I had to work hard to find them. They have 2 gigs of DDR RAM and a dual channel Pentium Processor running at 2.20 Gigahertz. They were returned from lease to business and all appeared good as new. I don't know how they cleaned them up so well. I pulled out the 100 gig hardrives and installed 750 gig hardrives in all. They rock. The laptops were $350 each and I paid $100 each for the new hardrives. Seagate's free utility Diskwizard comes with a free edition of Acronis True Image. This made the install of new drives a dream.

I know the experience. I've got $20,000 of XP software. It won't run on WIN 7. I did what you're doing, I looked all over for Win XP Discs and they were very rare. Check out FleaBAY and Google the hell out of Windws XP Pro install discs. I really empathize with you seeing as how this is what I was doing in May. BTW, F*** Microsoft for forcing new operating systems on us. I'm looking for WIN 7 Pro Discs now to replace WIN 7 Home Premium so that I can use compatability mode for my XP software.

For some reason these posts anger me. Like, actually makes me want to hit something. I simply can't understand why anyone would discourage the development and advancement of software. My dad is the same way... but I get his reasoning... he's cheap - he doesn't want to spend $100 on a new OS. But to say that XP is better than 7? Really? How can anybody in the IT industry make that argument?

*EDIT* Also, I haven't found a single piece of software that ran in Windows XP that won't run in Windows 7. I'm sure they're out there, but I have a feeling most are custom apps that were poorly written, hence the incompatibility.

 

[Googer]

Anyhow, reagardless of the differences between XP, 7, and what could have been. I am still looking for the SKU for THE FULL RETAIL VERSION OF XP PRO.

Thanks.

 

[ViRGE]

Anyhow, reagardless of the differences between XP, 7, and what could have been. I am still looking for the SKU for THE FULL RETAIL VERSION OF XP PRO.

Thanks.

I would think by this point we've established that you're not going to find a retail SKU for XP Pro that has SP3 integrated. Like I said before, SP3 came out rather late for a retail product; SP3 was released to manufacturing on April 21, 2008, but Microsoft discontinued retail sales on June 30th. Heck, SP3 wasn't even released to the public through Windows Update until July 10th.

 

[Googer]

I would think by this point we've established that you're not going to find a retail SKU for XP Pro that has SP3 integrated. Like I said before, SP3 came out rather late for a retail product; SP3 was released to manufacturing on April 21, 2008, but Microsoft discontinued retail sales on June 30th. Heck, SP3 wasn't even released to the public through Windows Update until July 10th.

Yeah, good to know.

This thread was starting to drift off topic, which is why I made my reply.

 

[Nothinman]

Yeah, good to know.

This thread was starting to drift off topic, which is why I made my reply.

It's drifting off-topic because even though we already established that you won't find a retail XP disc from any reputable retail outlets and biting the bullet and moving on to Win7 is the real answer, you and many others don't want to hear that answer.

 

[roguerower]

I don't understand why you feel that it is your "right" for Mircrosoft to support your inability to move forward with technology. They extended support after Vista flopped but now they have a legit successor with Win7 and there's no reason to keep an old OS around because there are existing machines with it. There's very little new software being written for XP so there's no need to keep updating the OS. What's there is there and if you wish to use it, go for it, but understand that you are using an old, discontinued product.

Anyways, why do you want a Retail key over an OEM key?

 

[Nothinman]

Anyways, why do you want a Retail key over an OEM key?

Probably because if you're actually abiding by the agreement, OEM keys are tied to the computer/motherboard they sold with/first installed on.