Users Fight to Save Windows XP [You're gonna buy Vista whether you like it or not!]

www.physorg.com ^ | 04/13/2008 | By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer

[mad_as_he$$]

If you have never lost a printer on a Mac hard wire you are thexecption. No, I am not a MS stooge. This started further back and really has nothing to do with Apple. Don't get your panties wadded up until you check the context.

[TXnMA]

"Dang! I lost my baggage once in an Airport! Just you wait! Your printer will end up in Mumbai one day!............."

~~~~~~~~~~

LOL!! And my panties will get wadded up while going the way of your luggage!! ROFLOL!!!

Seriesly, mad_as_he$$, I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm on my 11th Apple computer, and, until this month, all my printers were hard-wired (or , at least wire-networked) -- and, I've never had one "disappear"...

Are you sure you're not confusing "Mac" (the computer) with "MAC address"? If it is not Apple's fault, whose fault is it -- the printer driver's?

You've got me going on this one. I write custom 3-D graphic data-visualization software for archaeologists on the Mac - and I've never heard of "disappearing printers"... What gives?

[SES1066]

Sorry, my bad, I should have said ‘previous 12 year court case’. After such a lengthy ‘trial’, I too would have been leery of starting a new entry for the potential domination of the PC market. Thanks for the catch!

[discostu]

Necessary policy, supporting software is expensive. Do you think MS should be supporting DOS 3.1? Everything needs to get end of lifed eventually, appliances use years, cars use years or miles, software uses replacement versions.

[pctech]

You'd have to remove your old hard drive and put the new one in it's place. If you're savvy enough, you can even make your old hard drive a slave drive to the new master drive.

After you put XP on your new one, copy all your files from the old hard drive to the newer hard drive. Don't forget your Favorites! It might even be a good idea to run Microsoft Backup on your old drive and keep the .bkf file in a safe location just in case.

After you transfer over all the files, format the old drive and use it as extra space for files that you don't really need on a consistent basis.

Freepmail me if you have any questions.

[TexasRepublic]

As a side note, CUPS is also used as the printing system in Mac OS X.

Yes, I know that, and for that reason I wonder why Linux does not handle printers as well as Mac OS. At least I am assuming that compatibility issues do not plague Mac OS as they do Linux. However, I did finally achieve some success -- I borrowed an old HP Laserjet 6P (parallel cable interface) and Ubuntu recognized it and printed just fine. It's a shame Linux can't handle all printers the way Windows can. Sure, I could buy an Apple, but the allure of free open source software is very strong.

[Swordmaker]

If you have never lost a printer on a Mac hard wire you are thexecption.

I have never "lost" a printer on any of my Macs... and also none of the Macs in any of the Mac networks I administer have every "lost" a printer. None. None of my friends or family who own Macs have lost printers.

There is a very small number of very vocal Mac users who have had an issue ... most likely with the USB hubs or a specific printer they are using.

[mad_as_he$$]

I know for a fact that the problem goes back to Apple talk days. It drove me crazy in the 90’s.

[Golden Eagle]

I just think these whiners are acting like a bunch of liberals...There is no problem with Vista except people too uninformed to do what was initially required...I tried all of this Linux stuff and dual booting and decided I wasn’t going to live in the past.

Good for you. There's many more people who have tried Linux on the desktop and ditched it than they have current users now. The ones that stick with it are usually the ones who strongly support the "copyleft" movement, and make their fundamental software decisions or preferences based on that alone. Else most of them would have ditched it by now too.

[Golden Eagle]

It's a shame Linux can't handle all printers the way Windows can. Sure, I could buy an Apple, but the allure of free open source software is very strong.

What allure? The goal of seeing the US titans of the software industry replaced by free clones often coming from questionable sources from around the globe? Replace every Bill Gates with a Linus Torvalds, and every Steve Jobs with a Richard Stallman?

[TexasRepublic]

What allure?

Having free alternatives to monopolistic, predatory, manipulative (ever hear of FUD?), proprietary operating systems companies. While I don't wish to see American companies be replaced, I don't like being limited in choices, either.

questionable sources

That's the beauty of open software. The source code is freely available for inspection. I don't care who wrote the code if it works and has reviewed. Have you seen any Microsoft source code lately?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

People seem to think the Windows XP will become instantly obsolete and unusable on 6/30/2008. That’s assertion is disingenuous, I know people who are still running Windows 98 and 2000. I WILL NOT buy Vista. When XP becomes unworkable, which will take a good while, I’ll look at other options such as Linux.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

We had Mac at my work in 2003-2004 and it was an utter disaster. Macs don’t crash, eh?! OS X crashed more often then it was up and it SUCKS. It was so unworkable we switched to Windows XP and it’s been a billion times better.

[CodeToad]

If Microsoft in any way kills XP without producing an OS worth a grain of salt, I’ll be a Mac guy. I can easily do my work on a mac.

[adorno]

I’m just itching to give a mac a try.

That sounds like a double change or double upgrade.

The problem at hand is not the PCs which are for the most part, INTEL based, which the MACs are too.

The problem at hand is the OS and the phasing out of XP. If XP were not being abandoned by MS, then the problem would not exist.

I for one will not be looking to upgrade my PC, but I will look to "upgrade" to Linux. Yes, I know that Linux has many problems and is still not as easy to use as XP or Vista. But, I think I've finally had enough of Microsoft's dictation about when my OS will be obsolete, even when that OS still does most of what I want or need quite well.

Linux is free. And all upgrades are free.

So, for the first time in my life, I'm looking to "upgrade" to Linux. I've already downloaded the Kubuntu version of Linux to my PC, but I'm having a hard time copying the iso file to a CD. The iso image file has to be on CD before it can be opened for installation. It's some 713 magabytes and for some reason, my system ejects the CD before completing the copy of the file. But, once I figure it out, I will be on my way towards declaring my independence from Microsoft. And, I had been very happy with MS and have even defended their products in many threads. Not anymore!

[Grizzled Bear]

Does this mean I finally have to give up my “Windows for Work groups 3.11?”

It's my all time favorite operating system!

[Red Badger]

Does this mean I finally have to give up my “Windows for Work groups 3.11?”

Believe it or not, WE still have a copy on a single computer (386sx 10 MHz) here at work! It still comes in handy for a few things!..........

[Red Badger]

If MS would just do what they say they are going to do, it would be a vast improvement. Remember Vista was supposed to be “bulletproof” when it comes to security, but now it seems they just did away with the XP security holes and added a whole bunch of new ones to take their places.