Why does Windows XP refuse to die? - Page 10

[Tcll]

I like hacking my OS to make it even cooler, 7 won't allow me do that.
that said, it still has the same problem as Vista which had the 95 to XP support removed.
(meaning my drivers for my GCN/PS2/XBox controller converter don't work on 7)

UAC still sucks, Active Desktop (HTML Desktop BG) was removed, and alot of good support that XP had was also removed.
I can at least add the new 7 support to XP and get the best of both worlds.
though MS decided to bamf XP64 a bit and a few of the programs that worked on XP86 now don't work.

yea, I've used Windows since 95 to 7, and I STILL say XP is the best.

7's driver support CAN be added to XP, but if you think MS is gonna do it, you can think again...
all they want to do is push their sugar-coated monkey-poop forward and bamf the REAL gem of an OS.

why do they want to do this?
the simple answer is money...

money in which they don't deserve IMO.
just look at that horrid XBox One mocking them at every turn.
I want Bill Gates back =3=
he made the REAL stuff.

EDIT:
another article I threw a punch at MS on:
http://news.filehippo.com/2014/02/microsoft-users-help-friends-family-get-windows-xp/

[Palebushman]

As the 'Eleventh Hour' approaches, I can see this thread starting to get a little more exciting. Quite how Microsoft expects 2/3rd's of the MS Windows population to just suddenly switch from XP to..... Well, whatever! Is to my mind absobloodylutely laughable. Forget all the BS the Microsoft marketing people vomit, XP is the OS of "choice" and that's something those 'Marketing Plebs' have yet to get into their idiotic brains!

[ggeoff]

It would seem that MS do not want users to upgrade. If they did they could make upgrading from XP to 7 or 8 cheaper and easier. I upgraded a Vista to 7 using Windows Easy Transfer (WET) and it was a nightmare. The users' email was messed up. The OEM upgrade was not recognized as valid and I had to use the phone, twice, as several weeks later a message suggested that the OS was pirated. End result: client is going to buy Apple machines. Their opinion of Dell and its workstations, bought as second hand, has plummeted. A pity for Dell.

1. Microsoft could make upgrades cheaper
2. the license issue needs to be fair.
3. the upgrade operation needs to be foolproof
4. and/or extend support for XP to X years after sale of XP was discontiued

[[e-mail]]

One of the reasons XP has such a firm grip for its life is that XP has probably 90% of the CAD and CNC market firmly in its grip. There are now CNC providers who will supply you with a OS disc for XP because it is the only OS we trust.

The computers which drive my CNC machines are all isolated from the 'net so I am not too worried about bugs. My driver files are saved from the PC on which they were generated to a memory stick. Then the stick is scanned for all sorts of bugs. When the stick is clear, it is loaded into the computer driving the CNC machine.

There is no excuse that any sane client will consider that covers a Machine 70% on its way through a 4 hour job and then destroying the part due to a bug in the OS or APP software.

XP sets the gold standard for being reliable and crash proof. No "blue screen of death" ever

I even have three unused copies of the XP SP3 OS which I will be able to load into a new computer if the existing PC falls off its perch.

[Reverend Jim]

No "blue screen of death" ever

Then you have been very fortunate. I've never seen a version of Windows yet that has not crashed from time to time.

[Tcll]

I'll even admit to the BSoD... just got one last night on this compy, and this is only a 3-week old installation.
the problem was drivers...

any windows installation will whine and complain about the smallest fixable issues like that... heh
(that's why I like having my access to system32 and user directories)

it's just like Python with it's Traceback complaints.
(though I'm no windows expert and don't understand the dumps for the life of me)

almost any BSoD is easilly fixable, but it really depends on the extremety of the issue.

[Ancient Dragon]

any windows installation will whine and complain about the smallest fixable issues like that.

I don't know what you are talking about. The only problem I've had in the past 8-10 years is when some hardware went bad, such as a bad memory stick or bad hard drive. Of course if you try to run Windows on a computer that has insufficient RAM or hard drive Windows is going to crash. But that's not the fault of the os -- it's your fault.

[Tcll]

well then you've just been lucky, or have just delt with the drivers you got.

I've dealt with almost every type of BSoD there was, some not fixable due to a rootkit that compromized my system with XP Black x86, or my idiocy of deleting a required .sys driver.
(restoring it on a backup compy didn't work as the data was addressed in a different place)
^that one was a long time (years) ago (when I was stupid) with an XP Home installation

with this compy (XP Pro x64) the only BSoD I got was a driver conflict, easily resolved with a System Restore.

[AKsarben]

Long live XP! We still use it extensively at the winery, and I use it at home on myself and wife's computer. I can edit the registry, add too or delete things from the registry. Easy to get into services.msc and edit and change things. I dissable the Remote Registry on XP Pro installs. I delete the registry edit of checking network drives for task, and only leave search for printer.

[JenniferArden]

Its great to see how many people are fans of XP and still using XP. I also still use XP and still performs adequately for me on my Core2quad and i3 units. It all depends on the concoction of hardware you have in a system, for example XP is super fast on my core2quad and a bit slower on my i3 system and very stable on both systems. On the P4 HT system it is also quite fast and very stable. Only thing I do not like about XP is that you cannot have more than 4GB RAM / have to disable the rest to hibernate

[Reverend Jim]

I have XP Pro running on an IBM Thinkpad 40 with 512K RAM. The case is falling apart and the screen is glued in one position since the hinge broke. I'll keep it running XP until it crumbles.

[Tcll]

Only thing I do not like about XP is that you cannot have more than 4GB RAM / have to disable the rest to hibernate.

edit the boot.ini file and add "/maxmem=4096" (where 4096 means 4GB max (4096MB))
then you can hibernate with 4GB (or more if you set a higher value) RAM
it'll just take longer to save and load that memory to/from the HDD. (which is why it was disabled)

doesn't bug me any :P

EDIT:
only thing I hate about XP64 is Active Desktop was removed.
(setting an HTML as a desktop BG)
only x86 versions of XP have it. >3<

[Palebushman]

The only questions I would have liked to have put to the powers that be at Microsoft, regarding XP, would have been this:-
Why not just emulate the Apple style of creating service packs for their OSX operating system.
Giving them exotic feline names, was a brilliant stroke of genius by the then Apple marketing guru, Steve Jobs,
and it was beyond doubt, a very slick and painless way of generating revenue for the company too!
Why not just keep updating the Microsoft cash cow XP, with already acceptable style "Service Pack" updates and
also make them availbe for a moderate fee?
If Microsoft want to go off at a complete tangient, with alternative models or styles of operating sytems, do so
by all means, but don't interfere or meddle with your 'Cash Cows' because, doing so is complete idiocy and as
we are already seeing, the world's general opinion of Microsoft is slowly but surely slipping down.

[Tcll]

lol ever since Bill Gates retired, the only thing I've known MS for is to do nothing but take a big S*** on the public. :P

I've never gotten an XBox 360 and don't intend to get anything from them until someone comes along to pull their heads out of their butts.

I'm just wondering when the Gov't's gonna take an even bigger dump on them and shut them down for their stupidity.
but that's just me :P

[KiloKraveSarave]

The answer is simple. People don't have money for new computers together with new Windows 7. Remember what is a requirement: 1 GB. Sounds ackward, but I know many people use computers less than 1 GB.

[ggeoff]

Well I can give some the memory to anyone who only has 1GB. Well at least until I have got rid of it :)

[ggeoff]

At present the biggest turnoff for anyone wanting to buy a used computer is that it has no OS installed or XP. Even XP Pro. Great opportunity for those who want to continue to use XP.

[Tcll]

or get yourself a rewritable disk and download an XP ISO.
it's not like it's illegal, since nobody sells the OS anymore. :P

I'd reccomend getting XP Pro x64 SP2

[Reverend Jim]

it's not like it's illegal, since nobody sells the OS anymore.

As far as I know it is still illegal to pirate XP. Even if Microsoft won't sell you a copy it doesn't mean they have given up their copyright.

[Tcll]

oh, my bad then... sry :P

[Ancient Dragon]

You can buy Windows XP from amazon.com

[AKsarben]

A computer store in Holland, MI, "Computers N More" had 2 laptops I saw with Windows on it. One had Windows Home and the other had Window PRO on it.

[Tcll]

guys calm down, I admitted I was wrong, and appologized

T-guy:
now calm down, calm down...
don't get a BIG D!

[khakilang]

Even though Window XP is dead that doesn't mean third party software will stop supporting as long as there is demand for them. Even Window don't have any security updates than the user have to rely on third party security software.

[MidiMagic]

It SHOULD be legal to copy discontinued software, since the copyright holder is being a dog in a manger for discontinuing it. The law sho0uld be changed to require this, so companies would not discontinue products.

This process of upgrade or die costs you a lot of extra tax money, as government have to upgrade or die too. This is wrongdoing by Microsoft.

[Tcll]

well then I'm glad I use HxD to make a ISO of my WinXP disks and burn numberous backups in case something happens to the disks.

also... is it illegal if I got my WinXP Home copy from the trash??
(everyone raid your neighbors trash and see if they threw out a perfectly usable and valuable XP installation) :P

[Reverend Jim]

I would imagine that if you are in possession of an original disk with the activation number then you are legal. The means by which you acquired the disk may not be.

[LaxLoafer]

I would imagine that if you are in possession of an original disk with the activation number then you are legal.

Not necessarily. Simply being in possession of the original media and license key doesn't mean Microsoft has granted you permission to use it. Can you be certain the real owner is no longer using XP and has completely removed the software from their workstation? What if they have already exceeded the number of transfers permitted under Microsoft's end user license agreement? Although Microsoft is unlikely to come after you, I'd clear it with the neighbor first.

(everyone raid your neighbors trash and see if they threw out a perfectly usable and valuable XP installation) :P

That there's an incitement to commit a crime! Seriously though, in some countries you'd be committing an offence. Taking from a dumpster in the UK or Germany is considered theft. Italians, they don't care. But if you're in to dumpster diving it's always better to know where you legally stand. Do you run or put up a fight?

Anyone here got busted?

[Tcll]

lol I meant that as a joke anyways. :)
if I see a broke-down compy in the trash, I usually knock on the owners door first and ask if I can pick it up. ;)

if they have valuable data on it that they don't know how to remove,
I give them a +1 and recover it for them. :)

I only wish more people were like me and didn't try to raid their personal info when recovering it. >_<

[Ancient Dragon]

According to Law and Order (the gospel on legal matters) in USA anything left on the street is considered public property and can be taken by anyone who wants it. I've actually done that myself -- that is, I've left stuff on the street curb in front of my house hoping someone would take it, and sure enough, someone did within 24 hours. Also, a neighbor abandoned his house with stuff in it, the police came and tossed it all on the street for people to take if they wanted it. After four days the police had the trash collectors pick up all remaining stuff.

I draw the line, though, at rummaging through people's transh cans -- never know what you might find.