MS sees Windows 7 leap, but XP workhorse refuses to die

The Register ^ | March 31, 2010 | Kelly Fiveash

[myknowledge]

Most Windows 7 customers are satisfied with the new operating system, according to tech analyst house Forrester Research, but many stick-in-the-mud types still see no reason to upgrade from the OS that refuses to die - Windows XP.

Forrester published the results of its study (subscription required) about take-up of Microsoft’s old and new operating systems this week. It found that 86 per cent of 4,559 US punters who took part in the survey were happy with Windows 7.

However, the same research also reaffirmed that there’s still plenty of love out there for Microsoft’s aged Windows XP, with 43 per cent of respondents saying they could see no reason to upgrade to Windows 7.

[OCC]

Win7 is great, but the navigation takes some getting used to after years of using XP. I don’t really care for having to drill down to things in the start menu.

[Kenny Bunk]

Can anyone tell me why my Office 2003 Professional is now, after years of validation and upgrads by MS, now being deemed "not genuine?" It ain't stolen. It was part of a corporate 25-seat package bought by a company I owned?

what is this Bill Gates Hosshiite episode #3,346,248 all about, exactly? I paid for it. I like it. It's mine. Someone get this guy off my computer.

BTW, what is the computer word for "complete and highly extortionate hosshiite... again." Sorry boys, I agree with the laws of la belle France here. Windows is Windows and the Internet is the Internet ... just because Microsoft owns windows, it should not necessarily own the Internet.

[StormEye]

"Windows XP is a great operating system. I don’t know why Microsoft even considered Vista."

They thought they could rake more $$$$$.

[James C. Bennett]

Nice. However, natural is better!

[Dallas59]

I’ve got XP on three older computers, and 7 on two new ones. The new ones have 4 and 8 gig ram and 7 runs great on them. the older ones have only 2 gigs. XP is the tops for those.

[qam1]

but Win7 seemed to fix everything I hated about Vista.

Does Win 7 have an up folder button like XP?

I hate using the ribbon, especially when you get "trapped" in the user folder. Yes I know, but such a simple thing annoys me to no end.

[Trod Upon]

Out of curiosity, what did you hate about Vista? It’s been problem free for me (actually more stable than XP was), so I wonder what all the hate is about. People love to complain about vista, but I wonder if it was just too big a jump as an upgrade whereas us late adopters got it oem on machines with plenty of memory and cpu. Just curious.

[Lurker]

I use both Vista (at work) and XP (at home). IMO there was nothing 'wrong' with XP in the home environment. If you needed more horsepower for a business environment you should virtualize everything possible on VMware and dump the entire MS infrastructure.

Use Windows apps where you must, but for Gods sake never try to run it on standalone servers.

HyperV is a joke and Citrix ain't much better.

[Clovis_Skeptic]

Windows XP is a great operating system. I don’t know why Microsoft even considered Vista.

My thought as well. I am using xp right now on my tower. But, unfortunatley my laptop is Vista.....hate it! The next computer I buy will be apple I think.

[Mr. K]

if VISTA was released as XP service pack 3 there would have been rioting at microsoft headquarters

VISTA was all new, written friom the ground up, and a piece of crap.

& is beter, but it is just XP to me with everything moved around so yu cant find it.

[FlyingEagle]

I spent all day trying to upgrade Microsoft Windows VistaCrap to the new Windows 7 on the wife’s computer. Of course the Microcrap product will not upgrade Vista I have to wipe install and replace all data and programs. This is the last Microsoft product I will ever own. All the other PCs around here are Macs. I just bought this one a few years ago because it was heavily subsidized by the company where I work. Such a bad experience with unstable VistaCrap, I am sure Windows 7 from Microcreep will also be a piece of horse dooky too.

[GloriaJane]

I love my XP! Almost but not quite as much as my Windows 98. But I hate, repeat hate!... hate! hate! my Vista!

Nothing! None of my music making software works with Vista. And my Microsoft Picture It won’t work with vista. Pretty much none of my software will work on Vista. Did I say I hate Vista?! LOL

[DaxtonBrown]

knock on silicone...I won’t upgrade until I have to...”
You mean, silicon.

No, for some of us having two heaps of silicone behind our keyboards is our entire life goal.

[Windflier]

Still bitterly clinging to my trusty old XP. Besides, my tower is too old and slow to run Windows 7.

From all I’ve read about 7, though, it appears to be one of those legitimate, stable Microsoft OS upgrades. I feel that W95, W98, and XP are all in that same category, with ME, 2000, and Vista being somewhat abortive flops.

[TomGuy]

I have legacy software that might or might not work with a new upgrade and don’t want to start all over for a while yet...I will when I have to.

I have several old DOS programs and early Windows programs that work in XP. They don't have 'later' editions, as the authors quit updating them years ago. Some have no viable substitutes. Thus, I am staying with XP for the time being.

I have been toying with the idea of getting a new desktop PC. If I go that route, I would this have this old XP available.

I haven't really seen enough Win7 features that are must-haves.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

W7 is a worthy upgrade from XP.

I agree. Been using it for quite a while, very solid OS.

[TomGuy]

I hate using the ribbon, especially when you get "trapped" in the user folder. Yes I know, but such a simple thing annoys me to no end.

That is one reason I am apprehensive with Win7. Change for the sake of change isn't always better. I hate when a software upgrade moves a feature or deletes it, as that usually was my main reason for using that version of that program.

I downgraded from IE7 back to IE6 for that very reason. I need IE6 because I have some other programs that are dependent on it. IE7 was stripped down, features missing or hidden, and difficult to use.

[kitchen]

Was that an XP patch or Firefox specific?

[jessduntno]

“Was that an XP patch or Firefox specific?”

Firefox upgrade with add on upgrades, individually selected. You too?

[CodeToad]

I did find one rather annoying bug: Mirrored drives can fail without any hope of recovery. The drives were physically fine but somehow got out of synch and could not be re-synched. So, I paved the drives and reinstalled as a single drive and the other for an image backup of the first. Takes me about 4 hours with everything I have to re-install. The data drives were fine, though, so no loss of anything.