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Five Reasons It's Time to Switch to Windows 7 (Tomorrow is D-day for Windows XP SP2 users)
PC World ^ | 07/12/2010 | Tony Bradley

Posted on 07/12/2010 7:58:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Tomorrow is D-day for Windows XP SP2 users. Granted, Windows XP SP2 will still work, but tomorrow is the last Patch Tuesday for the venerable OS which means it will become more unstable and less secure as time goes on. Simply applying SP3 will suffice to continue running a supported platform, but here are five reasons to consider switching off of Windows XP entirely.

1. Hardware Support. Windows XP is archaic, and it is designed to run on outdated hardware. As new technologies are introduced, it is unlikely that Windows XP will be compatible or able to take advantage of them. Windows 7 provides support for multitouch displays, and also has greatly improved memory and power management features.

2. Improved Drivers Installation. Windows 7 has a superior system for automatically detecting and installing drivers. Windows XP sort of has this capability, but more often than not the search for drivers yields nothing and requests that you insert a driver disc from the vendor. Install a new piece of hardware in Windows 7, and most of the time it will automatically be added along with the correct driver without any additional user interaction.

3.Security. Windows XP lacks many of the crucial security controls that have been introduced in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Looking at the vulnerabilities that have been discovered since the launch of Windows 7, the Windows 7 operating system is frequently unaffected, or when it is affected by the same flaw as Windows XP, the result of an exploit is minor while the Windows XP system will be completely owned by the attacker.

(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...


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KEYWORDS: microsoft; operatingsystems; pc; windows7; windowsxp
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To: BipolarBob

Windows 3.11 is still available for download for MSDN and Microsoft Technet subscribers.

...that and DOS 6.22


41 posted on 07/12/2010 8:24:33 AM PDT by MediaMole
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To: circlecity

Kindle reader was $400 , now $180. They call the act of chasing technology a “bleeding” edge for a reason.


42 posted on 07/12/2010 8:24:46 AM PDT by urtax$@work (The best kind of memorial is a Burning Memorial.........)
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To: BipolarBob
"So long as they’re not doing away with Windows 3.1, I’m alright. "

I was thinking about going back to DOS 2.2

43 posted on 07/12/2010 8:24:50 AM PDT by An Old Man
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To: SeekAndFind

OK- S&F trying to understand this. Sp2 will no longer be supported, but SP3 will. How do I find out if I have sp2, or sp 3? And how do upgrade to sp3 if I don’t ? The article says it’s an easy upgrade, but it doesn’t say how to do it.

Thanks !!


44 posted on 07/12/2010 8:25:22 AM PDT by Red Boots
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To: libh8er
Ubuntu

I can't tell if that's Obama's Kenyan name, or if it's what the baseball manager tells the next batter after the previous one successfully sacrificed.

45 posted on 07/12/2010 8:25:55 AM PDT by TruthShallSetYouFree (Only a liberal would expect the grasshopper to be as well prepared for winter as the ant.)
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To: libh8er
There’s only one OS worth switching to. And that’s Ubuntu 10.04.

In spite of being free it still has a tiny market share. There must be a reason for that.

46 posted on 07/12/2010 8:27:35 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Politicians exist to break windows so they may spend other people's money to fix them.)
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To: dleach
Also, I may be mistaken, but I don’t think you can do a direct upgrade of XP with W7 which would complicate things on an upgrade.

Yes, I think you are correct. You could upgrade to Vista, though, and then to W7.

47 posted on 07/12/2010 8:27:48 AM PDT by Red Boots
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To: Reaganwuzthebest
"I expect millions of businesses will do the same."

For a little while perhaps, but MANY of those XP machines are going to become effectively obsolete in a few more years. Clearly, when upgrading machines, you'll want to select a OS that is fully supported. IOW, while the "death" of XP may be a bit premature today, it still is eventually unavoidable, just like 3.1.

FTR, I have 7 installed on all of our home machines, our family business machines, as well as the 28 machines at a not-for-profit I help to run. I don't have a single complaint. The transition was effortless.

48 posted on 07/12/2010 8:28:43 AM PDT by OldDeckHand
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To: SeekAndFind

I’ll wait for Windows 8


49 posted on 07/12/2010 8:29:48 AM PDT by Wilderness Conservative
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To: dleach
Better to wait till it is time to replace your HW and then get W7.

That's what I'm doing. I'm *hoping* to buy a new PC (Core i7, ASUS MB), and plan to run 7. I've already checked with the companies that produce the software I use the most to make sure they'll run on 7, and got back affirmative replies, so I should be good.

Now when Diablo III comes out I should be good to go! Old Blue Bessie here will croak if I even attempt to install a program that big.

50 posted on 07/12/2010 8:29:54 AM PDT by Kieri (The Conservatrarian)
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To: softwarecreator

Mint 8.04

I have Mint, and I have brought all of my old computers back from the dead. No keys, No pirated software. Mint is stable and good for most needs. No virus threats to speak of. I recommend it highly.


51 posted on 07/12/2010 8:30:55 AM PDT by bluecollarman (Soccer reminds me too much of my sex life lately. Boring and not much scoring.)
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To: dleach
"Also, I may be mistaken, but I don’t think you can do a direct upgrade of XP with W7 which would complicate things on an upgrade."

Yes, you have to off-load your data to another drive of some kind, as it's a "fresh install" process, which will delete all existing data on the drive containing the OS.

52 posted on 07/12/2010 8:31:18 AM PDT by OldDeckHand
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To: randomhero97
I’m still a Linux geek through and through.

We run Debian on half of our machines. I was phasing out MS. After meeting Vista, I was even more motivated to do so, but having extra boxes around, I decided to be Fair and Balanced™. W7 is not a difficult transition from WXP, but Linux is less comfortable for them. A shame, but that's human nature.

53 posted on 07/12/2010 8:33:35 AM PDT by Gorzaloon (CNN:AP:etc:Today, President Obama's stool was firm and well-formed. One end was slightly pointed. ")
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To: FunkyZero

>>more Microsoft propaganda. it’s nothing more than a push to get you to buy a new operating system. I’ve tried vista, Iv’e tried windows 7.
every time, I end up going back to XP. It’s just too stable and fast.

sooner or later they will win though. When manufacturers stop developing drivers for XP, I’ll switch. Until then, MS can keep pushing, I don’t care. I’ll start running ubuntu before I pay 300 bucks for an OS.
****

BINGO!! Enuff’ of the MS propaganda. I will still and buy XP machines UNTIL MS quits sending me updates. I dont like being dictated by MS to buy their products. W7 is a DRM machine and they couldn’t even get their compatibility updates right. I have BOTH XP and W7, and prefer XP.


54 posted on 07/12/2010 8:33:55 AM PDT by max americana
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To: randomhero97
Yep, I’ve written a few scripts with it. PS is pretty straightforward. I guess that’s what MS is pushing now because it’s built in with server 2008 as well.

They've actually changed their whole management strategy. The base management platform will be CLI, based on Powershell. They will also provide a subset of management capability with a GUI (MMC) interface, with the GUI doing the work via Powershell in the background.

It's still a work in progress, but Exchange was the first app to do this. You can use the GUI for more mundane, single instance tasks and it will show you the PS code it will use to perform the task. You can just copy and paste that into a script and use that as the starting point to automate or modify it to make bulk changes.

55 posted on 07/12/2010 8:34:58 AM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: OldDeckHand
For a little while perhaps, but MANY of those XP machines are going to become effectively obsolete in a few more years.

That's typically how businesses upgrade, when they buy new computers. I've got several older P4s and Windows 7 works good enough on those with a little more RAM. Also no problems getting older printer, network, and Intel chipset drivers to install.

So many can upgrade that way if their boxes are still good enough to use. In that case they could hold off until XP is no longer supported or wait until Windows 8 is released. Or even worse for Microsoft take a serious look at Linux as it continues to mature.

56 posted on 07/12/2010 8:39:04 AM PDT by Reaganwuzthebest
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To: throwback

I got a free copy of Windows 2000 pro when it first came out but didn’t install for well over a year. When I did, my computer would not work because it was not compatible with my video card.

No problem,by then there had been a couple of SPs released and one specifically called out a fix for my card. I downloaded in safe mode, installed, and it worked fine ever since.

The only way I would buy a “brand new” operating system is if it came with my new computer, ensuring compatibility. But I always build my computers so that option is out.


57 posted on 07/12/2010 8:39:45 AM PDT by RobRoy (The US Today: Revelation 18:4)
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To: BipolarBob
So long as they’re not doing away with Windows 3.1, I’m alright.

You use Windows? :0)


58 posted on 07/12/2010 8:40:34 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Obama is the least qualified guy in whatever room he walks into.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I’ve disliked almost all Win releases since they started.

Win 7 is finally a winner.

Solid, much faster, easy to use, good looking.


59 posted on 07/12/2010 8:40:43 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie (Arizona: Just doing the job 0bamacrats won't do!)
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To: Frantzie

>>XP Pro is still better.<<

Baloney! Nothing beats DOS! Only weenies use a mouse!


60 posted on 07/12/2010 8:41:10 AM PDT by RobRoy (The US Today: Revelation 18:4)
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