Goodbye Windows XP

[Homer J Simpson]

A lot of us are probably like mechanics that have 6  old cars around the house.

We have 6 old computers. My QuadCore desktop has been Windows 7 since new but one other desktop and 3 laptops were still on XP Pro.

With April 8th around the corner it was finally time to pull the plug on XP. Amazing it has been in service for 12 years. It still ran great and did all I needed it to do.

My older computers can still run 7 just fine. By the end of the day today all systems will be on 7.

RIP Windows XP. 

Oh, and no thanks on Windows 8.

KT

[TVman]

You can still use WIN/XP but there will no longer be any updates.
Everyone starts ranting right about now....  

[Homer J Simpson]

and that's the issue.

No more security updates.

Their will be a flood hacks and exploits when they are found now.

Security software and firewalls most likely not enough.

[TVman]

and that's the issue.

No more security updates.

Their will be a flood hacks and exploits when they are found now.

Security software and firewalls most likely not enough.

There was A study that shows more people get hacked on win7/8/8.1 than on winxp....

If you want antivuris:http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/antivirus.php?track=2738&key5sk1=da5e59c0461c1679bf6695b4ac3ec29913d4867c&key5sk2=2128&key5sk3=1396456199000&key5sk4=2738&key5sk5=1396456205000&key6sk1=comodo&key6sk2=FF353&key6sk3=8&key6sk4=en-us&key6sk5=US&key6sk6=0&key6sk7=Google&key6sk8=10032&key6sk9=1024768&key6sk10=true&key6sk11=ceaf1c1c82d4abad2add8c1f93c8f188bfbfefc3&key6sk12=2034&key7sk1=2&key1sk1=ors&key1sk2=Google&key1sk3=comodo

great software!

[tjb1]

and that's the issue.

No more security updates.

Their will be a flood hacks and exploits when they are found now.

Security software and firewalls most likely not enough.

So use some common sense when visiting websites and downloading things.

[edavid]

and that's the issue.

No more security updates.

Their will be a flood hacks and exploits when they are found now.

Security software and firewalls most likely not enough.

Yes, it's going to be a disaster!  Y2K all over again!

[Homer J Simpson]

Here is another interesting article.

30% of PC's still running XP.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/03/17/end-of-windows-xp-facts/6511243/

[tjb1]

Here is another interesting article.

30% of PC's still running XP.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/03/17/end-of-windows-xp-facts/6511243/

Here is an interesting fact...

General availability - October 25, 2001

[electronics man]

my home computor is still running xp since early 2005

[T3sl4co1l]

I have a sneaking suspicion that M$ won't actually cut off hard, but come back a week after with all the patches for all those zero-day exploits that are about to be unveiled.

It's kind of funny that adoption of Win7+ is slow.  There's not much left to improve on!  XP is kinda sorta the first mainstream commercial "it's got it all" OS.  Every single computer science principle has been integrated: virtualization of memory and devices; SMP support, multitasking, multiuser; even a freaking supercomputer from the 70s or 80s could only dream of the feature set.  Let alone the astonishing support for 3rd party hardware and software.  (Something a supercomputer didn't have to worry about: expansion cards and software from someone other than, say, IBM or Cray -- good luck with that!)

Tim

[G7PSK]

I have put Linux on my computers, works fine for most things, I still have one or two windows programs which at present are on a dual boot but will eventually be run in a virtual machine once I figure out how to make USB's work on a virtual computer.

[edavid]

I have a sneaking suspicion that M$ won't actually cut off hard, but come back a week after with all the patches for all those zero-day exploits that are about to be unveiled.

It's kind of funny that adoption of Win7+ is slow.

Windows 7 has only cosmetic changes over Windows XP, but they are quite annoying... Microsoft kept all the same functions, but moved them around and renamed them, requiring relearning where everything is.  It's no problem for a new user, but definitely discouraged people from "upgrading".

[Rigby]

run a network firewall, incoming and outgoing, and be semi-apelike in intelligence with the sites you visit and the software you download and you won't have any issues because of this.

windows 7 truly is a superior operating system to XP, anyway.  I like Win8.1 even more, but I am not foolish enough to say that everyone is with me on that.

Windows 7 has only cosmetic changes over Windows XP

"only cosmetic changes."  that is 100% Grade-A bullshit, right there.  you don't know what you're talking about if you stand by that statement.

[Homer J Simpson]

and be semi-apelike in intelligence

I have not heard that one before but I like it.

It will be used at work tomorrow.

[T3sl4co1l]

For sure, the networking model is better in Win7 (seriously, how many times have you clicked on a network folder only to completely and utterly freeze Explorer.exe?), and probably things with security and user management too.  And probably many other things I've used that I can't think of right now.

Curiously, I don't see people screaming, "the sky is falling, get Win7+ now!!!!1", so it's probably not terrifically bad to keep on using XP, given responsible use and support (current updates; firewall at router, computer or both; don't download and run random EXEs, or Office files, or...).  Thoughts?

Tim

[Fraser]

A thought....... XP is so long in the tooth that its vulnerabilities should be pretty well identified. This should not be like an unsupported AV program. Now Win 7 and 8.x are relatively new and there are very likely to be many vulnerabilities that have yet to be discovered. Which OS is more vulnerable at the moment then   

I run XP on stand alone IT that is running non networked test equipment hardware. No reason to replace it as all is operating correctly and XP is suited to the older hardware platforms on which it is running.

When MS shout JUMP....... I say....... S*D OFF.

As for Winodws 8.x ......... I have yet to meet a colleague or friend who gets on with it. In fact I keep being asked how to retrofit Windows 7 to a brand new Win 8.x computer !  Apparently some New Old Stock Dell Win 7 computers are actually selling for more than new Win 8 Dell machines    This is unconfirmed by me though.


Now out of date AV definitions or patching on a mission critical network ..... that is a different matter, and I totally understand an organisation needing to maintain a supported OS and Apps. Accreditation and the associated RMADS require such for a non closed loop network with any form of data transfer capability.

[Rigby]

part of the beauty of this end of life is that little assholes who have exploits that work on fully patched windows XP systems will wait until XP isn't supported anymore to use them.

those exploits probably exist in Vista, Win7, and Win8, but have not been used because of the impending "death" of windows XP security patches, so they'll be unknown to MS.

I predict a few hotfixes coming out for Vista, 7, 8 in the next few weeks.

[SeanB]

I have put Linux on my computers, works fine for most things, I still have one or two windows programs which at present are on a dual boot but will eventually be run in a virtual machine once I figure out how to make USB's work on a virtual computer.

Virtualbox and the addons pack and you are good to go, with USB support that works for everything I tried with it. Of course the Linux side does work better with serial devices, but you can generally get drivers for the XP side easily enough.

[edavid]

Windows 7 has only cosmetic changes over Windows XP

"only cosmetic changes."  that is 100% Grade-A bullshit, right there.  you don't know what you're talking about if you stand by that statement.

OK, examples?

[Mr Smiley]

They've had 14 years, and they still couldn't get it secure 

 

[KJDS]

I've just put Win 8.1 on a newish machine, though my trusty XP machine is still the main one for now. I've yet to have any real issues with 8.1, starting to find my way round it without a struggle.

[Rigby]

OK, examples?

http://bit.ly/1pO6uhp

[GreyWoolfe]

I, for one, haven't been screaming that the sky is falling over the end of XP.  I have been giving advice quietly for the past year to consider upgrading.  I ran Win7 on Pentium 4 computers, so if asked, I would have helped in upgrading to Win7.  XP is gone here-4 computers on Win7 and 2 on 8.1.  Micro$oft has been announcing it for a long time and I have offered opinions, but we know what they say about that .  At the end of the day, If no one listened to me and their computer gets hosed and they want me to fix it, I will simply charge them more.

[dexters_lab]

i have a couple of old PCs running XP, a Dell Mini9 netbook and an old desktop.

I am not too worried about security updates, i am always very careful about where i go and what i do online, i also do almost no web browsing on these PCs anyway opting to use a Win7 desktop or Nexus7 tab.

Just because there are no new security updates does not mean you will be hacked within moments

One thing i do wonder though is how XP reactivations are going to be handled, say if you need to install XP either on real hardware or in a virtual environment?

[Fank1]

I only use W 7 on the network.
My real work horse is still X/P and it never gets on a network.
As for Windows 8 it just plain sucks.