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Petition asking Microsoft to open-source Windows 7 sails past 7,777-signature goal
The Register ^ | Jan 29, 2020 | Richard Speed

Posted on 01/29/2020 2:30:33 PM PST by dayglored

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To: softwarecreator

It’s obviously only symbolic, and 77,777 while they would get there eventually, would take a longer time. This wasn’t meant to be taken entirely seriously, after all.


21 posted on 01/29/2020 6:28:45 PM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: softwarecreator
Oh, and BTW, Microsoft no longer HAS any Windows 7 customers that would buy new licenses, so it’s not like they give a damn about it.

MS will continue supporting it for security patches for a while, but only to high-paying, high-volume business clients with existing licenses. And even that is extremely expensive and will disappear in a couple years.

Or have you been living under a rock? Windows 7 has been Not-For-Sale for years, except through unofficial third parties and dodgy websites.

22 posted on 01/29/2020 6:32:52 PM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: cymbeline
> What do Apple and the Unix crowd do about security vulnerabilities?

Apple does what Microsoft -used- to do. They issue patches from time to time, mostly irregularly, when required by discovery of a new vulnerability.

Microsoft used to do that, but the much higher rate of vulnerabilities and thus patches for Windows (compared to MacOS) drove Windows datacenter and business IT managers crazy, because they have to roll out those patches after testing, to hundreds or thousands of client machines. It’s impossible to do that irregularly, so Microsoft finally got pushed to do monthly patch releases (hence, “Patch Tuesday”, the second Tues of each month). Each Patch Tuesday typically has between half a dozen and 2 dozen patches rolled up into it.

Linux distros issue updates to their packages constantly, so it’s up to the user (or IT manager) to decide when to update their machines. Everything is in the open, no secrets, so it’s easier to manage piecemeal.

23 posted on 01/29/2020 6:39:41 PM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: dayglored

German Government Paying Microsoft Nearly $900,000 for Extended Windows 7 Support

https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/228577/german-government-paying-microsoft-nearly-900000-for-extended-windows-7-support


24 posted on 01/29/2020 6:51:09 PM PST by McGruff
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To: Revel

Get a mobo that’s compatible with Win 7, and figure out the minimum number of drivers that you need. I’m running a Ryzen 5 with Win 7; it was kind of a pain, but there are sources online you can check to see how to do it.


25 posted on 01/29/2020 7:22:54 PM PST by wastedyears (The left would kill every single one of us and our families if they knew they could get away with it)
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To: dayglored

Yeah, not. Microshaft would never sell another copy of Windows.


26 posted on 01/29/2020 7:53:46 PM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: dayglored

Hey DGR, I found a CD I made umpteen years back that has Windows ME with all the updates. I think it was one of those platforms that didn’t require any interaction with Microsoft to activate, just the key I wrote on the case. Do you think it’s young enough to handle most of the current environment without extensive modifications? Not games, just seeing the internet and performing basic interactions.

And thanks for staying on top of stuff - your past postings have saved me time.


27 posted on 01/29/2020 9:11:23 PM PST by MikelTackNailer (Time is what no one gets more of.)
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To: MikelTackNailer
> I found a CD I made umpteen years back that has Windows ME with all the updates. I think it was one of those platforms that didn’t require any interaction with Microsoft to activate, just the key I wrote on the case. Do you think it’s young enough to handle most of the current environment without extensive modifications? Not games, just seeing the internet and performing basic interactions.

Not gonna work, in general, and highly unsafe.

WinME was the last of the MS-DOS family of Windows releases. The programs that are written for the NT family of Windows generally won’t run on the MS-DOS family releases.

MS-DOS family (major releases): 1.0, 2.0, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, ME.

NT family (major releases): NT3.1, NT3.5, NT4.0, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10.

The reason it probably wouldn’t work for you is that the two families are generally incompatible, and programs that are written for the NT family almost never work on the MS-DOS family.

The reason it’s highly unsafe is that the MS-DOS family releases were never designed for security. They are wildly, insanely, insecure. They are terribly unprotected against virtually everything.

Finally, WinME was the last member of the MS-DOS family, and was designed to fail. It was intended to drive users away from the MS-DOS family and into the NT family. And it was so bad, that strategy worked.

The only thing anyone should use an MS-DOS family release for, these days, is an ancient but beloved program that won’t run on the NT family releases, and then ONLY if the computer is NOT connected to the internet.

28 posted on 01/29/2020 9:28:25 PM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: dayglored
Wow, I knew ME was advanced DOS but not about all the vulnerabilities. It will be consigned to a non-internet POS for amusement with Doom and such. Thanks for the lesson and warning.

I've installed Linux Mint 19.3 on my other computer. What a long strange trip it is as my ability to learn has apparently shrunk with age (yeah, yeah...that's what HE said). But we're getting there with all the support it has. We now return to the normal channel...

29 posted on 01/29/2020 10:11:29 PM PST by MikelTackNailer (Time is what no one gets more of.)
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To: deoetdoctrinae

H&R Block is running fine on my Windows 7 laptop...


30 posted on 01/29/2020 11:21:42 PM PST by Old Forester
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To: McGruff
> German Government Paying Microsoft Nearly $900,000 for Extended Windows 7 Support

They’re not alone, either. Lots of businesses would rather stay with Win7 and pony up $200+ per computer per year, rather than suffer the higher cost of converting to Win10. If your business has 5,000 computers, all running Win7, it makes economic sense to spend $1M/year for support, rather than probably 10 times that much to upgrade the computers, rewrite your custom applications, and retrain all your users.

31 posted on 01/29/2020 11:49:15 PM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: dayglored

“Apple does what Microsoft -used- to do.”

I’ve never understood why the networking software seems to have so many security holes. Something’s wrong with the basic design it seem to me. Perhaps its because to get certain desirable features, there’s a byproduct of security holes. If that’s the case then the security holes are in there by design.

An invasion of your computer consists of an outsider injecting executable code in you computer and having it executed. It is simple for the operating system to recognize incoming data that is intended to be executed.
Its execution should be denied unless permission is granted by the user.

Come to think of it, there’s no telling what’s in the various software updates we get, even from Microsoft. Oh those rooms full of programmers, none of whom sees the total picture, trying to get stuff out on time.


32 posted on 01/30/2020 4:34:44 AM PST by cymbeline
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To: dayglored

win 7: Bring your own support. Win anything, as well.

Lazy company. Buy an Apple. (I have used MS garbage for 26 years. Learned everything I needed right here)

If you can’t provide your own third parties’ support, buy an Apple.


33 posted on 04/26/2020 1:09:03 PM PDT by Concentrate (ex-texan was right and Always Right was wrong, which is why we lost the election.)
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