MS says one year left for support for XP SP3

What does this mean if you are running XP?

It means Microsoft will not supply any more updates for security holes
after one year. (maybe they will maybe they won't XP is a huge problem for MS)

What does it mean for you XP user?

Time to move on for many of us if you can.


This would be the place to comment on this and opine on what it all means.

Z

P.S. I know there are a ton of you folks here on this board. A year ahead is the time to
think about this. I quit XP about a year ago when a security person I respected said time
to get rid of XP.

I never had any major security problems with XP and we were running it on 300+ computers in the classroom and Admin when I was working pre-2005. Bought this computer from Rob in Ajijic over two years ago and 7 was not available here yet.

Eventually I'll move everything over to an external drive and buy a copy of something newer. No idea what yet

I haven't used Windows Update on XP for years, and regularly advise my customers to turn it off... same for Vista and now for W7.

Most of the holes the updates are supposed to fix are so esoteric that we will never see them used. And I've had perhaps hundreds of cases where updates have rained destruction on the operating system of the computer.

Also it should be noted that MS stopped updating system issues in XP some time ago; it's only the security stuff that's left. And I haven't had a single report of this turn-off policy causing any problems.

But at some point one does need to move on as SW support will go away also.
Sure you can keep it running for quite a while but at some point isn't it time
to move on for a variety of positive reasons like better hardware, features.
Going from XP to windows 7 wasn't that bad although I admit I still miss the
menus that went away. The OS is pretty good not like Vista which drove me back to XP.
I can understand the budget argument but for many of us isn't it a good time to move on?

Z

This xp issue is for the most part an issue with the older age group.

Oh, I wasn't arguing for staying with XP; not at all. Windows 7 is the best system they've ever had, and it is solid as a rock. W8 is getting on everyone's nerves, to the point where people like StarDock are selling tools that let you go back to the way Windows was in 7.

In fact, you are so right, Zed: older XP computers that still work are now suffering loss of speed... not because they are old (although old installs of XP certainly do slow down and can be sped up again), but because the programs are getting too big for the brains to handle. For example, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and MS Office are HUGE compared to what they were then... and if you install them, you will see a huge drop in productivity due to slowdowns.

espíritu del lago wrote:This xp issue is for the most part an issue with the older age group.

Absolutely correct, and many, many of my customers are in the "retired and older" bracket.

Its a shame as the newer technology is so much simpler and fun.

OK I took it wrong. Me bad. I do get a lot of pushback from folks about moving
on. I can do so much more with a quad i7/16 memory laptop than my 1ghz
Compaq XP Tablet. Integrated HD camera, SSD disk drives and all the other
goodies make it a great time to upgrade in my opinion.

Another question? What do you buy if time to upgrade your hardware?
Laptops have never been better even fingerprint scanner for ID on my
new laptop. Good Quality All in Ones (AIO) have never been better and I
think unless you need card slots these are the new towers or desktops. I
have touch on my AIO but I had to turn it off as the bobos were clicking
on applications and opening them. So much for the new touch technology
and an open Hacienda style house in Ajijic.

Z

I will say, once my new old laptop die I see no need to ever buy a laptop or desktop. My next purchase will be a Samsung tablet and I after that a Samsung smart tv. With my smartphone and I these devices I will be satisfied. O and when the time comes a computer ready car.

espíritu del lago wrote:I will say, once my new old laptop die I see no need to ever buy a laptop or desktop. My next purchase will be a Samsung tablet and I after that a Samsung smart tv. With my smartphone and I these devices I will be satisfied. O and when the time comes a computer ready car.

Very good point regarding Tablets. I missed that.

Z

Is Win7 gonna be hard to buy with 8 out

Don't know how long it will last, but Amazon and places like that still sell W7. From what I can see, MS does not.

However, given the rancor W8 has generated, things may change...

I remember maybe 5 to 7 years ago when they said they were only going to support Windows XP for a short period more, maybe a year or so. I don't remember. And gosh they are still supporting it. :)

Oh. When I was up north in January, I picked up the cheapest Windows 8 touch screen I could at Costco, Seattle. And I began to get a little used to it. Gosh some of the apps I have one my iPhone are the default apps on Win 8.

It didn't take long though, until I stopped trying to get even better acquainted using it, because windows 7 is just fine