[LiveBrianD]

waldojim, on 15 April 2012 - 06:01 PM, said:

Windows 8 runs great on my AMD Athlon -XP for what that is worth.

Yes, but are most people willing to endure that TERRIBLE metro interface? Look, I'm not saying that interface is bad everywhere. For instance, I tried out a Windows Phone 7.5 device yesterday and found the UI was pretty good there (and it's similar to windows 8's metro side). On a tablet, that sort of UI would work well enough. But on a desktop PC, it's incredibly bad. Windows 7 will be the new XP at this rate...

[LiveBrianD]

mrdr, on 15 April 2012 - 02:16 PM, said:

Honestly, to support XP until 2014 is quite generous. Why doesn't Microsoft provide a service that customers can purchase for support from 2014 onwards for XP ?
Oh, well I guess the point is to sell as many new copies of the latest version of Windows and the big bucks that that provides to MS.

Honestly, once XP user share really goes down, malware writers will stop targeting it. For instance, most malware nowadays probably doesn't run on Windows 2000, and thus you don't really need to worry about security anymore.

[Tinman1957]

MichaelPfeiffer, on 16 April 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:

Excellent Article.

I have 3 old computers in the house running Windows XP and they don't have more than 1GB ram and the highest processor on these computers is a Pentium 4. Upgrading to Windows 7 would not only kill the performance of these computers, but completely waste my time waiting for things to happen. I might have to put Linux on the computers once the XP security nightmare begins.

Microsoft needs to make another OS that is extremely low-cost performance wise leaving plenty of ram and CPU for tasks.

I agree. I have an old computer made in 2003 that I inherited from my dad. I upgraded the computer by upgrading to XP from ME (joke), doubling the CPU to 2.8 ghz, upgraded GPU, 2.1 USB card, sound card, HDD, DVD writers, RAM, power supply, etc. Basically the only original thing about my computer is the case, keyboard and motherboard. It's faster than greased lightening now, does everything that I need it to do, including newer high def games. Now why would I want to have to replace the whole computer just to run Win 8 MetroCrap, which I wouldn't do anyway. Once they drop support for XP, I'll be loading up Linux and continue to use this souped up computer for another 10 years.....

[KHFleischer]

I agree with the basic premise of the article, except for making Windows XP an open-source product, as there are probably copmponents of it that Microsoft definitely does not desire to dislose to the public. However, it ought to be made available, or at least serviced and maintained by some organization for the purposes outlined in the article.

I do have a nice, pretty-new, very capable computer that runs Windows 7 (most of the time). It also runs Ubuntu (seldom) and Windows XP (regularly). I use Microsoft Word for DOS, which runs under XP, but not under Windows 7, except in "XP Mode." I can do things in that word processor that I cannot do in Office 2010, which I also have installed. I'd love to be able to receive support for these older products indefinitely.

So, how about Microsoft allowing a company or non-profit to handle XP after Microsoft is done with it? I'm all in favor.

[XENO77777]

This is ntoo short for complex presentationz on importantissues; it is more suitable for Non-Serious Joking/Fooling Around of the sort thatRoger Sherman would never have been involved or wasted time fooling around with!
Try Open BSD or Linux!

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 16 April 2012 - 03:49 PM, said:

waldojim, on 15 April 2012 - 06:01 PM, said:

Windows 8 runs great on my AMD Athlon -XP for what that is worth.

Yes, but are most people willing to endure that TERRIBLE metro interface? Look, I'm not saying that interface is bad everywhere. For instance, I tried out a Windows Phone 7.5 device yesterday and found the UI was pretty good there (and it's similar to windows 8's metro side). On a tablet, that sort of UI would work well enough. But on a desktop PC, it's incredibly bad. Windows 7 will be the new XP at this rate...

That is your opinion. Enjoy it. I happen to LIKE Metro.

[FreddieHambrightJr]

Well,windows should at least come out with an operating system to take its place.I know that Vista is a joke.Windows 7 is mediocre.And Window 8 is alright if you are in preschool.They owe people who bought their products a legitimate OS.Guess that you could go to Linux and have something worth the cost.

[zeth006]

kjohn034, on 15 April 2012 - 10:28 AM, said:

wsmacl, on 14 April 2012 - 01:27 PM, said:

Great idea. But it'll never happen. MS is way too selfish. (although perhaps less so than Apple).
BTW - I am happily running XP and Office 2003. It works just fine thanks! More powerful than I need actually.

You do know that Microsoft is a company right?
And a company needs to make money to pay thousands of employees right?
And giving away a multi-million dollar piece of software to a bunch of cheap-asses doesn't pay the bills right?
I'm guessing you get a paycheck for whatever you do right?
Maybe your company should open-source you and how would you pay your bills then?
Maybe you are selfish for not open-sourcing yourself to the community?

Perhaps Microsoft should sell a maintenance agreement to those who wish to buy it...problem solved.

Kind of sad how some people, especially the adults posting here, think Microsoft is a charity organization. I'm not cheerleading for the corporations against the little guy, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. Microsoft is a publicly traded corporation with employees to pay and shareholders to satisfy. Cracks me up how adults still running Windows XP are having entitlement issues.

[bobc4012]

waldojim, on 16 April 2012 - 12:29 AM, said:

Grump, on 15 April 2012 - 07:31 PM, said:

JoshMiller, on 14 April 2012 - 06:01 PM, said:

rosoft (and many other tech companies) I would vehemently object to this strategy.

Good for the free-loaders. Bad for business. I care way more about business than I do that people who can't come up with $350 every decade don't have up-to-date software.

Josh...you seem to have missed the point here. We here don't give a hoot about M$ continuing to provide support but wish to continue using a familiar interface & hardware rather than having to first fork out your "$350/decade" then struggle with new dumbed-down re-named items in increasingly bloated menus.

Some old dogs don't want to be forced to learn new tricks every few years, We just want PCs that function to our requirements, not M$'s bottom line.
We ignored Vista entirely & our newest impulse purchase, a W7 PC here has been collecting dust for the past 6 months as we continue using our XP systems.
From what I read about W8...no thanks! M$ would have to pay me to even consider switching to an OS designed more for tablets than desktops. The only way M$ could retain us as customers would be to include the option for classic interface/menus from previous versions every time they come up with their "Latest & Greatest" Crap.

As things stand its BYe Bye M$, this households future direction is XP then Linux.

Seriously, you go through a row of posts, and downvote based on you can't handle a different opinion? Seriously? What are you, five? And All I did was mention that I have an Athlon -XP machine running Windows 8 well. So you can't even handle a personal experience with a FREE product?! WOW.

I would also like to point out, that the only flavor of Windows even close to $350 (for the home user), is ultimate edition, at $219 for a full copy. Second, even though support has been discontinued, that doesn't mean you cannot keep using your old machines. I still have Dos, Windows 98, and Windows 2000 machines in active service. I just know better than to try and make them do things they aren't designed to do.

If you actually try Windows 8, you would find that it is meant to run on anything. It isn't designed for any one platform. The performance, and scheduling enhancements allow Windows 8 to run like a dream on newer machines. The Metro interface actually keeps software in check, and is why Windows 8 runs so well on a freaking SINGLE CORE AMD that is 10 years old! All the latest tech, including 1080P movies on a 10 year old PC - thanks to Windows 8. Try things before dismissing them, you might be surprised.

From what I've read, like Windows 7 not supporting XP mode unless you shell out the big bucks for the top level systems, Windows 8 is going to do the same to Windows 7. Another migrations. I did download both the Developer Preview and the Consumer Preview of Windows 8. I have not been able to successfully install either (using Virtual Box on WIn. 7). Now I have seen forums where some people have installed dual-boot and also some who claim they had successful installs using Virtual Box. Anyway, The is a Linux Distro called Zorin_OS and version 5.2 allows you to select one of 3 desktops Classical Gnome 2, Windows XP and Windows 7. Admittedly, if you have some apps that are totally unique to Windows and WON'T run under WINE, it could be a problem. However, you could install Virtual Box or VMWare and install XP into the VM for those specific Windows apps that have no Linux counterparts and won't run under WINE. BTW, you sound like someone who works in Redmond.

[bobc4012]

zeth006, on 17 April 2012 - 12:04 AM, said:

kjohn034, on 15 April 2012 - 10:28 AM, said:

wsmacl, on 14 April 2012 - 01:27 PM, said:

Great idea. But it'll never happen. MS is way too selfish. (although perhaps less so than Apple).
BTW - I am happily running XP and Office 2003. It works just fine thanks! More powerful than I need actually.

You do know that Microsoft is a company right?
And a company needs to make money to pay thousands of employees right?
And giving away a multi-million dollar piece of software to a bunch of cheap-asses doesn't pay the bills right?
I'm guessing you get a paycheck for whatever you do right?
Maybe your company should open-source you and how would you pay your bills then?
Maybe you are selfish for not open-sourcing yourself to the community?

Perhaps Microsoft should sell a maintenance agreement to those who wish to buy it...problem solved.

Kind of sad how some people, especially the adults posting here, think Microsoft is a charity organization. I'm not cheerleading for the corporations against the little guy, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. Microsoft is a publicly traded corporation with employees to pay and shareholders to satisfy. Cracks me up how adults still running Windows XP are having entitlement issues.

It is not a sense of entitlement - after all, Microsoft owns that XP system they sold you - remember the fine print on the box! I have no sympathy for, IMO, a predator company who royally screwed over other companies and uses FUD to badger users and businesses (small and large). Of course nothing is stopping people from continuing to use XP - just keep the virus and malware checkers and the like up-to-date and ignore the MS FUD. BTW, now that they own AOL's patents, I can see tons of frivolous lawsuits coming - probably most malicious, just to impede any competing product. Personally, I'd just as soon see some courts throw out all software patents. Most are based upon prior art in the first place and do not meet the "non-obvious" requirement.

[YellowEagle]

You know it really doesn't matter what a person does here, you can complain, argue, debate or say any Comment about Microsoft's plans on what they are going to do with their Software. They won't read it here. People need to go and register in their forums, and air what they think. Yeah they have forums for that. When they get enough people saying hey I'm not buying that, or hey look extend this support then they might and i mean might make changes. People are the bottom line of any Company, even Microsoft believe it or not. Just like here they need those opinions on what the general public needs and wants in a operating system.

Now me, I don't plan on using Windows 8 myself. I'm comfortable with XP and Windows 7, I will continue to use them both for many Years no matter what Microsoft wants to put out and sell. And yes I'm a beta tester on some of their Operating Systems. I haven't had the Time to really Beta test this new OS but from what i have, I'm not impressed. Don't use tablets or phones on the net. So those apps don't mean anything and are just dead weight to me just like the Twitter, tweet and social apps they have. And i will mosey over to the their forums myself, and leave my thoughts on this and the why and the what of it to.

They will have many people that will buy Windows 8. Even if it comes on a New system. Much of the sales they have are to large Computer Corps and big Business. Dell, HP, E-machines, Acer, Gateway and dozens of others that put out a lot of machines to the public at large. This is were they show most sales but group it altogether in such a way as to make it look like this is what the general customer wants by those sales that their marketing puts together to look like individual sales.

These company's I'm sure will use the same business model to on if you don't want Windows 8, and want Windows 7, their will be a hefty fee just like they did with Vista to downgrade to XP. The best thing to get their attention is to let them know with your wallet what you think and in the forums they use to get public response on what they are putting out. Me i will use what i like to use that does the things i need to and I don't need Windows 8 to do that, at least not for quite some time, probably when they come out with something that at least resembles a operating system for PC's both in functionality and ease of use. Though i will have a system on a test bed. I'm sure some customer will have it come across my bench. And i have a test bed set up with the preview now, Reason I'm not impressed.

What most people don't remember is this is one of the forerunner's of the Bare-Bones Operating System that Microsoft was talking about for peoples systems. This is were the Cloud really comes into play. They had talked about Everything in the Cloud. You would have just a Very Very Basic Operating System and all your tools would be downloaded, this is just the interface of these tools like Media Player and Office Products, you would store anything but the most basic on your system, everything else would be in the Cloud. Your Pictures your Music what your working on at work everything. This was some of the things they said they would be working towards in the near future back when Vista came out. This system ( Windows 8 )is really aimed at the tablet and Phone markets and PC's as more secondary. This was in and article a month or two ago. Their already setting up the App store now.

[waldojim]

bobc4012, on 17 April 2012 - 12:15 AM, said:

From what I've read, like Windows 7 not supporting XP mode unless you shell out the big bucks for the top level systems, Windows 8 is going to do the same to Windows 7. Another migrations. I did download both the Developer Preview and the Consumer Preview of Windows 8. I have not been able to successfully install either (using Virtual Box on WIn. 7). Now I have seen forums where some people have installed dual-boot and also some who claim they had successful installs using Virtual Box. Anyway, The is a Linux Distro called Zorin_OS and version 5.2 allows you to select one of 3 desktops Classical Gnome 2, Windows XP and Windows 7. Admittedly, if you have some apps that are totally unique to Windows and WON'T run under WINE, it could be a problem. However, you could install Virtual Box or VMWare and install XP into the VM for those specific Windows apps that have no Linux counterparts and won't run under WINE. BTW, you sound like someone who works in Redmond.

Not sure why everyone is so hot on pushing Zorin lately. But I will say this: I refuse to PAY for a copy of linux where the only thing you get are MORE OPEN SOURCE TOOLS that I already have in Windows or other versions of Linux. When I bought SuSE PRO, I got more PRO tools. Mostly custom tools. Zorin is a farking rip-off.

Oh, and before you accuse people of being shills, you should probably take the time to consdier what was actually said first, not just what you imagined them saying. I use Linux, Unix, and Windows daily. I know the strengths and weaknesses better than most.

This post has been edited by waldojim: 17 April 2012 - 05:36 AM

[ZacharyFerreira]

Some of you have valid points, giving xp away to open source is a bad business move for Microsoft as is keeping developers on the project constantly giving support to a dying OS. But even though it IS a bad business decision but they should release xp to the open source masses anyway. I'm a developer and i can say windows vista was a joke that isn't funny. Win7 is expensive and there still is that unstable reliability that vista had. Win8 is tablet based everyone and their mothers know it. Win is difficult to adjust to and i'm running it on my Acer Aspire so i understand the dilemma.

As a developer working on projects with Microsoft i can say that the developers AT MICROSOFT prefer xp to any other system.

I had a Toshiba satellite that i loved that had Win XP SP3 installed and the hardware finally died 2 years ago. Looking for a new PC i found my Acer, the only system that had everything i wanted, GB of ram GB hard drive and a 20 inch screen. Acer charged me $899.99 for the hardware with win 7 basic, so i had to spend the $125.00 to upgrade to the premium win7 then since i needed an office suite office 2010 cost another $200.00. So I spend over a thousand dollars to get the same result from my win7 PC that i had on my xp. Now JoshMiller, why would it be wrong to set xp free? Setting it open source allows developers that would never had a chance to develop for Microsoft a chance to learn the code, relieves Microsoft developers from the extended support and who knows? Maybe the xp OS will become as popular as Ubuntu in the Linux world and strengthen the popularity of Microsoft for developers and programmers who don't like windows as it sits today.

[YellowEagle]

ZacharyFerreira, on 17 April 2012 - 11:07 AM, said:

Some of you have valid points, giving xp away to open source is a bad business move for Microsoft as is keeping developers on the project constantly giving support to a dying OS. But even though it IS a bad business decision but they should release xp to the open source masses anyway. I'm a developer and i can say windows vista was a joke that isn't funny. Win7 is expensive and there still is that unstable reliability that vista had. Win8 is tablet based everyone and their mothers know it. Win is difficult to adjust to and i'm running it on my Acer Aspire so i understand the dilemma.

As a developer working on projects with Microsoft i can say that the developers AT MICROSOFT prefer xp to any other system.

I had a Toshiba satellite that i loved that had Win XP SP3 installed and the hardware finally died 2 years ago. Looking for a new PC i found my Acer, the only system that had everything i wanted, GB of ram GB hard drive and a 20 inch screen. Acer charged me $899.99 for the hardware with win 7 basic, so i had to spend the $125.00 to upgrade to the premium win7 then since i needed an office suite office 2010 cost another $200.00. So I spend over a thousand dollars to get the same result from my win7 PC that i had on my xp. Now JoshMiller, why would it be wrong to set xp free? Setting it open source allows developers that would never had a chance to develop for Microsoft a chance to learn the code, relieves Microsoft developers from the extended support and who knows? Maybe the xp OS will become as popular as Ubuntu in the Linux world and strengthen the popularity of Microsoft for developers and programmers who don't like windows as it sits today.

I can answer some of that for you, Mainly it's about Patents and Licensing, and Contracts and many other deals with other company's over the last 10 to 14 years. As well as Microsoft letting go of proprietary software. The NT Kernel is tied up in XP as well. And the Cost of just letting it go. It would be nice if they did, but in reality it would be very costly to them. It would be a Legal nightmare just to make it Free and open Source. And if they did do it, they would want their fingers in the Pie anyway.

This post has been edited by YellowEagle: 17 April 2012 - 08:26 PM

[jazzy007]

What the author of this article and most everyone commenting on it, is that Microsoft will stop supporting this old software. It does not mean the software will stop running. You can still use Windows XP until the 31st century (if you live that long). Only bloggers keep telling people to upgrade and cheapskate keep crying for this.

Microsoft learn long time ago that security patches can go so far and they needed to start with a clean sheet of paper to make a new OS that can take care of security for the future. I know that some of the underlying of XP is on Windows 7 and 8, but there is a point where you cannot make any more changes unless you rewrite everythig again. It's like having a 6 volt car. You know that 6 volt does not cut it and you need to go to 12 volts. So why not make a new car design for 12 volt instead of try to keep making the 6 volt car. Sooner or later the market is going to leave you behind and those who does not want to upgrade will also abandon you. If Microsoft had stay with XP in front of all the advances is happening in the tech world, they will be a forgotten company. It will be a wall garden Apple giant or a know everything about you Google giant.

For those Linux fans, it has been over 10 years of free Linux and still a geek OS. Beside if you know XP and your hardware run fine on it, why change to Linux and learn a new thing, wait for someone to write a software or drivers for you old devices? If you are thinking to change your XP to Linux, might as well go to Windows 7 and 8. It will be less of a learning curve than Linux and at lease have support.

The thing is, you can keep using XP until you die, but don't think you can leave it to your children or grandchildren. They will believe you are the biggest cheapskate these ever live.

[jazzy007]

As for giving XP to open source is the worst idea. Beside the kernel is part of their secret ingredient (just like Coca Cola), who is to say someone will try to suit Microsoft because the software is a Microsoft product even if open source has change the product. It only takes one person to do this and in the land of the lawyers it could bring a company down to his knees.

[justplanebill]

What about the question no seems to be asking?

Why can't MS bolster security and support in XP and the drum roll please:

Re license XP?

At half price I would jump at it.

At half price I would upgrade my

HP DV 8000.

Think of all the business it would generate for HP and others.

I want to refurbish my DV 8000 because it is a great computer and
I like my system the way it is.

[waldojim]

justplanebill, on 06 May 2012 - 03:56 PM, said:

What about the question no seems to be asking?

Why can't MS bolster security and support in XP and the drum roll please:

Re license XP?

At half price I would jump at it.

At half price I would upgrade my

HP DV 8000.

Think of all the business it would generate for HP and others.

I want to refurbish my DV 8000 because it is a great computer and
I like my system the way it is.

Why would they want to?