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1 in 7 WinXP-using biz bods DON'T KNOW Microsoft is pulling the plug
The Register ^ | 11th March 2013 14:34 GMT | Gavin Clarke

Posted on 03/12/2013 2:55:18 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

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1 posted on 03/12/2013 2:55:18 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

It shoud be illegal for Microsoft to withdraw support.


2 posted on 03/12/2013 3:01:55 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

People clinging that hard to the past don’t really care about current events. It’s gotta be tough to stay on XP, there’s a lot of stuff that dropped support for it, actively rejects it even.


3 posted on 03/12/2013 3:01:57 PM PDT by discostu (Not just another moon faced assassin of joy.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

I guess it’s time for me to upgrade to Vista.

If I only ran XP in a VM and didn’t use it while online, would I be fairly safe?


4 posted on 03/12/2013 3:03:17 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( ==> sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
The sky is not going to fall. WinXP is sufficiently robust now to be plugged directly into an unfiltered Internet connection. Whoever was likely to click on every link on the screen already got his due and now knows better. There are antivirus packages, lots of them, that do a pretty good job on identifying harmful content.

On top of that, the percentage of WinXP customers will keep dropping as computers that XP runs on are failing, or otherwise removed from circulation. This will be a low interest target for hackers.

On top of that, what are those shops who run XP and are blissfully unaware? Those are car mechanics, pizza places, dry cleaners, and similar small businesses. They are not an interesting target for a hacker anyway, because they contain no c/c data and because they are connected to the Internet via the cheapest and slowest link; this makes them poor candidates for a zombie box.

My prediction is that those XP boxes will remain in use until their date of natural expiration - because the computer fails, or because the user buys a new accounting package that doesn't run on XP anymore. Boxes at homes will also remain in use because there is nothing wrong with XP as it is. As matter of fact, Win7/8 does not buy you anything. Win7 is a bit faster, but it runs on newer hardware too. Many XP boxes cannot be upgraded. Win8 is a poor choice for anyone, unless you are capable of finding and installing 3rd party software that restores usability.

5 posted on 03/12/2013 3:05:14 PM PDT by Greysard
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

I would be happy if Microsoft just released a decent file manager (like XP had, that Windows 7 doesn’t have) that doesn’t jump around when one tries to use it.

That piece of crap in Win7 is a piece of crap.

And dump the ribbon menuing and go back to the XP type menus and buttons.

Newer is NOT always better.


6 posted on 03/12/2013 3:05:44 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Ever tried getting hold of MS 'support' ?

It's unlikely to be missed.

7 is better at picking up hardware .. otherwise XP is quite solid.

As with Vista, I'll most likely be skipping 8.

A good NAT router, Malwarebytes, MS Security Essentials, CCleaner, and not clicking on every link thrown in one's path = a happy box.


imho

7 posted on 03/12/2013 3:05:52 PM PDT by tomkat
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Thank you Ernest, I really enjoy your article submissions, If you got a ping list could you add me.

Isn’t Vista being dropped also at the same time as XP?


8 posted on 03/12/2013 3:06:01 PM PDT by corbe (mystified)
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To: Sacajaweau

Spoken like a true BIG GOVT socialist dictating what a company should do with its’ products.


9 posted on 03/12/2013 3:08:06 PM PDT by newfreep (Breitbart sent me...)
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To: newfreep

People bought the program “for life”...


10 posted on 03/12/2013 3:10:21 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: tomkat
Ever tried getting hold of MS 'support' ?

I have been using Windows and other MS products since about 1990.

I think I called their tech support ONE time only -- about 2004 -- because I had a problem with the purchased disk serial number being recognized by Microsoft during the installation.
11 posted on 03/12/2013 3:13:43 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Sacajaweau

And they can use it for life. Doesn’t mean MS should be spending the money to patch it or train techs how to support it. How far back should they go? By the time they finally end support it’ll be a 13 year old OS. Should they still be supporting Win98? 95? 3.11? How about DOS? My company supports 2 versions and 5 years whichever goes longest. Users that don’t want to stay in that grouping are free to keep using the product, but they’re on their own.


12 posted on 03/12/2013 3:14:10 PM PDT by discostu (Not just another moon faced assassin of joy.)
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To: Sacajaweau
It shoud be illegal for Microsoft to withdraw support.

Funny.

13 posted on 03/12/2013 3:14:49 PM PDT by Stentor (Shhhh!)
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To: smokingfrog
I guess it’s time for me to upgrade to Vista.

HUSH YO' MOUF!


14 posted on 03/12/2013 3:15:13 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: Sacajaweau

Your answer is irrelevant.

The core issue is MSFT chooses what products it supports.

BIG GOVT socialists like you have NO RIGHT to dictate to a company what products it chooses to support.

Clearly, a consumer is free to choose other products.

Now go back to your fellow socialists on DU!


15 posted on 03/12/2013 3:15:17 PM PDT by newfreep (Breitbart sent me...)
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To: TomGuy
I think I called their tech support ONE time only --

. . . and prolly needed to shave again by the time ya got off hold !     LOL

16 posted on 03/12/2013 3:15:58 PM PDT by tomkat
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Wife just had some auto updates to her Windows 7 machine that has made it almost unuseable. The browser simply refuses to go to some non-controversial websites and refuses to return some pages searched for.

If this continues to get worse, she might actually let me install Linux on her computer too. That would stop all the nonsense. Except for our local ISP who forced us to use Gmail with an alias to the old address. That system sucks too.


17 posted on 03/12/2013 3:16:02 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
My daughter's laptop has W7 and my wife's laptop has W8. I seriously hate and despise W8. That GUI looks like it was designed by and for 8 year-olds. Also, I'm getting tired of having to buy (and learn) a new OS every 5 or 6 years just to run the apps I want to use. I'm tired of MS deliberately NOT making their browser IE and the latest DX available for "older" OS's in a thinly veiled attempt to force you to upgrade.

I will check out the Playstation 4 when it comes out and probably go with that. I can watch BluRay movies, surf the web, use email (gmail) and do documents (Google Docs) along with playing my favorite games, all at a fraction of the cost of a new PC, video card and OS just to run what I want. And let's not forget all the driver update maintenance that goes with it.

I never was a console "fanboy", preferring a PC with it's better graphics and much more in-depth games, but consoles are at a point where they can rival the PC, except for business and personal stuff, which is why my wife has a laptop.

/end-rant.

18 posted on 03/12/2013 3:16:49 PM PDT by jeffc (The U.S. media are our enemy)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

(1) Windows XP is superior in some ways to Windows 7, for example the XP Windows Explorer does a better job finding stuff on my PC than the Win7 Windows Explorer.

(2) Not all PC’s with XP can handle 7 or 8. Our older Sony VAIO with 1 gig ram was not able to be upgraded to Win7. But it is my business PC. And works fine otherwise. BTW Microsoft Office 97 is more trouble free than Office 2010. Despite a couple installs, when I open Word 2010, it insists on doing a very lengthy ‘activation’ of Office 2010, despite previous activations being successful.
(3) Be honest, Windows 8 sucks for professional-usage desktop PC’s. Win8 is a “One size fits all” OpSys that is annoying and awkward on a desktop PC. As a professional computer programmer, I find Win8 to be as satisfying to use as a toothache. Win8 makes Vista look great. And the saying was “Win7 was Microsoft’s apology for Vista”.

Anyway, Microsoft needs to keep forcing new OpSystems on the user base to keep its revenue stream up. New lamps for old and all that.

(4) WinXP came out in 2001 and it is now 2013...Microsoft has had how many years now to fix bugs and vulnerabilities in XP? One would think XP would be pretty bullet-proof by now. Assuming competence at Microsoft.........

Windows 8?! Barf! Who designed Windows 8? Was genius designers at Apple who wanted to drive users from Windows to Apple? Or did Microsoft hire the handicapped to design Win8? Yuck!


19 posted on 03/12/2013 3:17:03 PM PDT by OldArmy52 (The question is not whether Obama ever lies, but whether he ever tells the truth.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
A good NAT router, Malwarebytes, MS Security Essentials, CCleaner, and not clicking on every link thrown in one's path = a happy box.

But don't forget to make recovery disks on your old box, before the vendor decides to turn out the lights.

You will likely need them.

20 posted on 03/12/2013 3:17:51 PM PDT by cicero2k
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