Windows XP in Heaven

Deleted Account

So, what happens next April 9th, when there is no more support for MS Windows XP? I understand it doesn't just end with 25-38% of windows users trapped. But no new functionality from the later OS is being supported for OS earlier than Vista, after that date, is that it?

James Puckett

The important part of this is no XP security updates. That’s going to be the thing that forces corporate IT departments to upgrade the millions of old PCs running XP. But Windows 8 is widely disliked, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see tech journalists and big customers using that as an excuse to blackmail Microsoft into keeping XP on life support a little longer. Windows NT users managed to drag a lot more support out of Microsoft than anyone intended.

Eris Alar

My work (large non-profit) has been switching to Win7. I use a mac so don't really know details.

Tristan Bowersox

I use 7, but I definitely see why there are so many die hard XP users. It's still a viable OS and forgoes the unnecessary aesthetic enhancements of Vista and, to a lesser degree, 7.

John Hudson

I'm obliged to have at least one machine running the latest version of Windows, for testing purposes, but my main production computer is still running Vista. The hardware isn't up to Win7 or 8 standards, but I'm not about to junk a perfectly good machine in order to run an operating system whose new features I don't need.

I liked Windows 7, but find Windows 8 mostly annoying. In order to get to the place where I get work done, I have to wade past a bunch of stuff designed for people who don't use their computers for work. There should be a 'production mode' setting that completely disables the whole Metro memory-hogging distraction feed.

Tristan Bowersox

@JohnH: If you can run Vista, I'm sure you could run 7. It would be a big step up in performance (as would "down"grading to XP)

Deleted Account

I know there are a lot of permutations, thanks.

"The important part of this is no XP security updates."

Thanks James. But, e.g. could someone trivially set up a 7 machine to "guard" a gaggle of Xps off on a privte net? Or could a user xp forever hiding behind a more recent version on the same or a nearby machine that does all the networking?

James Puckett

But, e.g. could someone trivially set up a 7 machine to "guard" a gaggle of Xps off on a privte net? Or could a user xp forever hiding behind a more recent version on the same or a nearby machine that does all the networking?

What other machines are on a network don’t really matter; unsecure computers remain unsecure. A typical attack method is to bypass firewalls with malware installed via browser vulnerabilities or dumb users who just open anything attached to an email. Even on a physically isolated network computers are still vulnerable to a user bringing exploits in on physical media, which is probably how the US/Israel have been able to use malware against the Iranian uranium enrichment centrifuges. In the past this sort of stuff was often overlooked, but between Wikileaks, cyberwar, mafia extortion, and industrial espionage I think most organizations are cracking down. Given the history of serious IE vulnerabilities I can’t imagine too many organizations keeping XP around once Microsoft stops updating it.

Karl Stange

But, e.g. could someone trivially set up a 7 machine to "guard" a gaggle of Xps off on a privte net? Or could a user xp forever hiding behind a more recent version on the same or a nearby machine that does all the networking?

Everything but the word, "trivially". That said, XP up and running for the next 50 odd years should be nothing compared to the work these guys are doing: http://www.tnmoc.org/news/edsac/production-begins-recreation-edsac They are down the road from me at Bletchley Park and have some great stuff up and running.

Deleted Account

Oh no, I mean to add that there supposedly large numbers of xp machines with no users.

James Puckett

Microsoft has announced that enterprise users are migrating to Windows 7/8:

Reller said the firm has "now seen about three quarters of Windows enterprises moving to modern desktops" from Windows XP, with the last leg of Windows XP migrations being spurred by the imminent availability of Windows 8.1. However, Reller did not offer a breakdown of the enterprise uptake of Windows 8 compared to Windows 7, both of which are counted by Microsoft as modern desktops.

Of course that last quarter is still tens of millions of users. NetMarketShare.com’s August 2013 data is showing XP at 33.66% of desktop users, which could mean Microsoft was either referring to a lot of imminent moves or non-internet systems like retail POS or corporate/government intranets. But I’m taking this as an encouraging sign that Microsoft is telling big customers XP is not getting a support extension.

Unfortunately some sites report that Chrome usage is still growing, and the Chrome devs have no ETA on the old bug that causes all fonts to be rendered as aliased black-and-white text on some computers.

[Deleted User]

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