Windows XP retirement

[Fanatical Meat]

How will this effect games and how long will we continue to see games that still support XP? What are everyone's thoughts?

 

[darkewaffle]

I'm guessing that most games that support XP these days only do so incidentally and not really purposefully.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

My thought is that Microsoft is already developing a super virus to release on XP users. They will wait a few months until this news dies off and everyone forgets about it, then release it on the masses to force you to buy a new copy of 7 or 8. It just makes good business sense considering the huge mass of people still using XP.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

^^Nah some guy in Russia or China has already done that

 

[agfkfhahddhdn]

I still cannot believe any non-corporate users are still on XP. I kicked XP to the curb after five minutes with Vista. VISTA. XP is so preposterously outdated on all fronts. It feels like using Windows 3.11 at this point.

 

[Anteaus]

I still cannot believe any non-corporate users are still on XP. I kicked XP to the curb after five minutes with Vista. VISTA. XP is so preposterously outdated on all fronts. It feels like using Windows 3.11 at this point.

I think for some people it's about the principle of the thing. The whole "XP just works" philosophy has kept some people so entrenched that it has become a religion to them. The sad part is that the desire to be rightous means that many of them missed the greatness that was Windows 7 and will instead be dumped into Windows 8.

I was not one of those people.

 

[SMOGZINN]

My thought is that Microsoft is already developing a super virus to release on XP users. They will wait a few months until this news dies off and everyone forgets about it, then release it on the masses to force you to buy a new copy of 7 or 8. It just makes good business sense considering the huge mass of people still using XP.

It does make you wonder if with all the online connectivity that Windows 7 and 8 has build into it if Microsoft has put a ultimate kill switch into the OS in order to force upgrades...

 

[terpsy]

They didn't and will not put a kill switch in. That would make them vulnerable to lawsuits.
They can leave it behind, and let the community rip it apart, which is long overdue.

Imagine the REAL progress that can be attempted when you can leave having to write legacy code for a 12 year old OS behind.

I am not an Apple fan, but every 5 years or so that retire an OS fully.

time for MS to do the same.

 

[stahlhart]

I have an "old" Athlon / Radeon build running XP that I still occasionally like to run older games on. Now that I've gotten the last updates, I'm going to permanently disconnect it from the network, like I did with the even older PIII box running 98SE (and Aureal A3D) that preceeded it.

What I'm wondering now is if Steam is going to start to discontinue games that they don't officially support for OSes after XP, even though most of them will run in W7 anyway with a tweak or two. Act of War immediately comes to mind.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I have an "old" Athlon / Radeon build running XP that I still occasionally like to run older games on. Now that I've gotten the last updates, I'm going to permanently disconnect it from the network, like I did with the even older PIII box running 98SE (and Aureal A3D) that preceeded it.

What I'm wondering now is if Steam is going to start to discontinue games that they don't officially support for OSes after XP, even though most of them will run in W7 anyway with a tweak or two. Act of War immediately comes to mind.

I wouldn't be surprised if Steam adds some kind of XP visualization script to steam to keep games running. Seriously Gabe can pull off some really odd things.

 

[Dankk]

I still cannot believe any non-corporate users are still on XP. I kicked XP to the curb after five minutes with Vista. VISTA. XP is so preposterously outdated on all fronts. It feels like using Windows 3.11 at this point.

I don't understand it either. The only reasons I can imagine why anyone's still holding onto XP right now are:

1) They're misinformed
2) They have some seriously important, seriously outdated/old software that only works on XP

Unless you're one of the few people who belong in the second category, there is absolutely no reason to keep using XP. Even if you don't agree with some of the UI changes in Windows 8, you still have to admit that Windows 7 is an objectively better OS than Windows XP in literally every single way. Everything from features, performance optimizations, interface, security, usability... just... everything.

 

[Lonyo]

They didn't and will not put a kill switch in. That would make them vulnerable to lawsuits.
They can leave it behind, and let the community rip it apart, which is long overdue.

Imagine the REAL progress that can be attempted when you can leave having to write legacy code for a 12 year old OS behind.

I am not an Apple fan, but every 5 years or so that retire an OS fully.

time for MS to do the same.

MS ends mainstream support after ~4~5 years, and retires after 8~10.
Win8 will last longer but only if you upgrade to 8.1.
XP lasted longer, but only the service pack upgraded versions, and was kept alive a couple of years longer due to Vista being 5 years later rather than 3.

 

[Lonyo]

I don't understand it either. The only reasons I can imagine why anyone's still holding onto XP right now are:

1) They're misinformed
2) They have some seriously important, seriously outdated/old software that only works on XP

Unless you're one of the few people who belong in the second category, there is absolutely no reason to keep using XP. Even if you don't agree with some of the UI changes in Windows 8, you still have to admit that Windows 7 is an objectively better OS than Windows XP in literally every single way. Everything from features, performance optimizations, interface, security, usability... just... everything.

Most of the time they probably haven't used a more modern OS and don't realise how terrible XP is in the modern age.

 

[Revolution 11]

I don't understand it either. The only reasons I can imagine why anyone's still holding onto XP right now are:

1) They're misinformed
2) They have some seriously important, seriously outdated/old software that only works on XP

Unless you're one of the few people who belong in the second category, there is absolutely no reason to keep using XP. Even if you don't agree with some of the UI changes in Windows 8, you still have to admit that Windows 7 is an objectively better OS than Windows XP in literally every single way. Everything from features, performance optimizations, interface, security, usability... just... everything.

What if you have a particularly old game? What do you do then, not play it? There are some programs, not seriously important, which would only run on XP and older.

Yes, I think it is stupid to use XP online after end of support, but that does not reduce the utility of XP for certain users.

I myself am using Windows 7 64-bit but I still keep XP PCs for certain tasks. Those who are using XP either have ancient hardware or need old programs, performance optimizations doesn't matter for either. Practically, except for the 32-bit limit on RAM, I see no feature or interface downside to XP, and the only downside is security risk.

 

[Texashiker]

I still cannot believe any non-corporate users are still on XP. I kicked XP to the curb after five minutes with Vista. VISTA. XP is so preposterously outdated on all fronts. It feels like using Windows 3.11 at this point.

My 18 year old Toyota T-100 truck runs just fine. I see no reason to kick it to the curb for a Tundra. Sure the Tundra has new features, may get a little better gas milage, but I see no reason to get rid of my tired and true.

Windows XP works, and that is the reason people like it.

If windows 8 did not suck so bad, the story with XP may have been different. The honest truth is microsoft screwed windows 8 up, and that turned a lot of people off upgrading.

Why would anyone want to change their OS to something that is getting terrible reviews? The whole concept of dumping XP and going to windows 8 "just because" is idiotic.

I have been on windows 7 for about 3 years. With the way microsoft is screwing people over with their new interface, I see no reason to upgrade.

As for gaming, 64 bit OS is the future. Developers will slowly phase XP out. Steam will stop supporting XP just like they did windows 2000.

What is going to force a lot of gamers to leave XP is DX 11 support, 64 bit OS, and steam support.

 

[lupi]

I still cannot believe any non-corporate users are still on XP. I kicked XP to the curb after five minutes with Vista. VISTA. XP is so preposterously outdated on all fronts. It feels like using Windows 3.11 at this point.

blame microsoft, no one wanted to use vista.

just had my last xp drive swapped out today.

 

[mmntech]

I still cannot believe any non-corporate users are still on XP. I kicked XP to the curb after five minutes with Vista. VISTA. XP is so preposterously outdated on all fronts. It feels like using Windows 3.11 at this point.

The problem is during the mid-2000s, computers became good enough for what most people use them for. You don't need a powerful system to play FarmVille, shop on Amazon, and watch cat videos on YouTube.

Vista got a lot of negative press when it first launched in 2006. Some of it deserved, some not. Its bad reputation kept driving people to XP machines pretty much right up until Windows 7 launched.

Just because support is ending doesn't mean XP is going to go away for consumers. People still using the machines on regular basis for home use are most likely not the most tech savvy individuals. So they may not understand or care about the risk of not getting updates. As long as the computer still runs, they see no need to upgrade.

For gaming, the biggest advantage is the final death of DirectX 9. Especially now that the Xbox 360 is in its twilight years. Most devs have moved over to DX11, but there's still a few stragglers.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I work at a medical facility and trust me Win XP is still needed. There's a lot of "old" equipment that works perfectly fine but only has XP drivers for it. What we've done for these is just rip away any network access they have, and for the few that must have it, we've created a v-lan just for these XP boxes.

Of course this is hardly Microsofts fault and the blame lies entirely with the manufacture that won't even bother to make a driver for a $60,000 piece of equipment they made just 6 years ago.

 

[Bateluer]

blame microsoft, no one wanted to use vista.

Vista got a bad rep because of all the el cheapo 512MB RAM OEM trash that was cranked out. Oh, and Nvidia's lousy drivers. Anyone who had a decent machine for the time with 2GBs of RAM, mediocre even then, was quite pleased with Vista. Sadly, Vista is going to be remembered in the same company as Windows ME and 8, even though both of those OSs were so badly broken then can rightly be called unusable.

I work at a medical facility and trust me Win XP is still needed. There's a lot of "old" equipment that works perfectly fine but only has XP drivers for it. What we've done for these is just rip away any network access they have, and for the few that must have it, we've created a v-lan just for these XP boxes.

Of course this is hardly Microsofts fault and the blame lies entirely with the manufacture that won't even bother to make a driver for a $60,000 piece of equipment they made just 6 years ago.

Which really ticks me off. Its a 60,000 dollar piece of equipment. It should bloody well come with 60,000 dollars level support. My dad is an electrical engineer, multi million dollar machine tool equipment. And they're still working with MS-DOS and Windows 3.x based interfaces because the manufacturer won't update their controls for modern OSs. Its getting harder and harder for him to find new laptops with RS-232 and parallel ports on them. Its borderline negligence from these manufacturers.

 

[wanderer27]

I still cannot believe any non-corporate users are still on XP. I kicked XP to the curb after five minutes with Vista. VISTA. XP is so preposterously outdated on all fronts. It feels like using Windows 3.11 at this point.

Only reason I went to Win 7 is to have a 64 bit OS that was more mature, and only then for the additional RAM support.

I've been on Win 7 for a few years now, and to me there's more I like about XP than Win 7, and you can plain forgot about Win 8/8.1.

I'll probably still keep XP on a few older rigs just for compatibility and costs (both time & money).

Too me, it seems like MS is making each new iteration of their OS's less user friendly - I really hate what they've done to the Directory structure in 7.

They've terribly regressed in usability of their Office products as well - more difficult to find things now versus just dropping down a Menu.



.

 

[BoberFett]

Back when MS was pushing Win8 and selling the cheap Pro licenses I bought a couple, and installed it on my spare box. Only ended up switching over in the last couple weeks and making the spare box my main, my main was still running XP. I need to get files off of the old one, then I'll probably wipe it.

But some of you need to get over yourselves.

I don't understand it either. The only reasons I can imagine why anyone's still holding onto XP right now are:

1) They're misinformed
2) They have some seriously important, seriously outdated/old software that only works on XP

Unless you're one of the few people who belong in the second category, there is absolutely no reason to keep using XP. Even if you don't agree with some of the UI changes in Windows 8, you still have to admit that Windows 7 is an objectively better OS than Windows XP in literally every single way. Everything from features, performance optimizations, interface, security, usability... just... everything.

Fail. To the average user, how is XP inferior to anything else? XP does everything these newer OSes do. Why does grandma give a damn about performance optimizations? What features do new OSes have that XP doesn't? Most users don't know a thing about security, and your view on interface and usability is your opinion. Many people think those are both worse in newer version of Windows.

I still cannot believe any non-corporate users are still on XP. I kicked XP to the curb after five minutes with Vista. VISTA. XP is so preposterously outdated on all fronts. It feels like using Windows 3.11 at this point.

How is it outdated?It has a web browser, does it not? I can save and view pictures and movies of the kids, can't I? What exactly does the pain of upgrading the OS get the average user, beyond a learning curve of figuring out where MS moved all the basic functionality to YET AGAIN?

 

[Lonyo]

It's outdated because it has poor support for things like:
>4GB RAM
SSDs
USB devices (e.g. USB3)

Win7+ also offer:
Better multitasking
Better security. Both from a basic standpoint and in work environments things like Bitlocker.
Basic features are better, including super basic things like Windows Explorer.

etc etc.

 

[pmv]

The big question is - what is XP going to do after retirement? How is it going to keep itself occupied as it whiles away its time, eh? It can be a difficult transition after a busy working life.

Is it going to mooch around listlessly, constantly calling Windows 7 and complaining about how Windows 8 doesn't know its born, and worrying that it needs surgery to treat its peculiar lack of a start menu...while demanding all those pesky smartphone OSs get off its lawn?

 

[BSim500]

I have been on windows 7 for about 3 years. With the way microsoft is screwing people over with their new interface, I see no reason to upgrade.

Same here. I did switch from XP to 7 quite a while back, mainly for DirectX 11 & 64-bit support + lots of little things, eg, native UDF 2.5, EX-FAT (64GB flash drives) & tilt-wheel support, Disk Management correctly aligns 4k drives when creating new partitions, SSD TRIM, M4A tags now natively read in Explorer, etc, there were a few dozen things like that and a very noticeable all-round upgrade overall. But if Windows 9 is anything like Windows 8, I'll still be using Windows 7 in 13 years time, and 7 is fast going to become the new XP... Taking out the Start menu then trying to resell it in Win 8.1 as a "feature" is a joke. Like me stealing your car's tyres then giving them back a week later and telling you how "lucky" you are... :biggrin:

Microsoft's other problem is they've gone from having people demand they release new OS's every 2-3 years and fall over themselves to upgrade to keep up with rapid hardware development, to the exact opposite - the same 3 yearly cycles looking for reasons to encourage people to upgrade due to the massive slowdown in hardware development over the past few years. Three year cycles may have made sense 10-15 years ago when both hardware development (100MHz -> 3GHz CPU's, single-core to multi-core, MMX, SSE, SpeedStep & Cool n Quiet, C-states, USB 1.0 vs PS/2, parallel & serial ports, TWAIN, ISA vs Vesa Local Bus vs AGP vs PCI, native SD card reader / webcam / TV card / Bluetooth drivers, etc), UI development & OS architecture (Win95 pseudo-32 -> Windows NT true 32-bit was a big jump, etc) were coming thick & fast. These days, with the slowdown in annual hardware improvements and pretty much every bus being backwards / forwards compatible & stable (USB 1-3, SATA 1-3, PCI-E 1-3, etc), and W7 pretty much reaching UI perfection for non-touch screen devices, 4-8 years feels more natural for an OS upgrade to me with the minor tweaks (USB 2.0 -> 3.0, SATA 3.0 -> 3.2) barely warranting a Service Pack...

Same with Office software, 2003 -> 2007 was a "down-upgrade" (due to the unconfigurable forced ribbon interface, which took 2007 -> 2010 to fix). But 2010 -> 2013 = totally pointless for many. As so many people have said, Microsoft are just running out of incentives to keep the same rapid 3-year cycle going like its the same 1990-2005 era of rapid hardware development, beyond either breaking something then telling you to upgrade to fix it in fix-break-fix-break cycles, or relying on tacky gimmicks (Vista's Sidebar, Desktop Widgets, W8 Metro, etc), plus incremental DirectX & IE upgrade versions to swing it for gamers & the easily pleased...

And that's why XP users stuck with XP so long. And why XP 2.0 (Windows 7) users are doing the same vs Windows 8 (Vista 2.0). If MS gets a grip of themselves, and comes out with a refined Windows 9 based on Windows 7 UI with as much focus as keeping Windows slim and getting out of the way as much as possible, rather than become another attention seeking, all-singing, all-dancing monstrosity, they can probably encourage XP & Win 7 users to upgrade.

 

[BoberFett]

It's outdated because it has poor support for things like:
>4GB RAM
SSDs
USB devices (e.g. USB3)

Win7+ also offer:
Better multitasking
Better security. Both from a basic standpoint and in work environments things like Bitlocker.
Basic features are better, including super basic things like Windows Explorer.

etc etc.

Why do I need 8GB of RAM and an SSD for Facebook and email? WinXP had multitasking, and the basic features are not better.