Microsoft XP are to stop support

[3offTheTee]

does not sound too good if you have XP.

What is the way forward if you have XP please?

 

[Siren]

What support do you need?

Ive got win 7 and its rubbish if im honest

 

[Deleted member 15344]

The way forward is to buy a MAC

 

[Vice]

It's 12 years old, in technology years that's like a century

it's time to move on

what's frightening is how many companies that are still running exchange 2003, it's life cycle ends in April and they're starting to panic lol

 

[brendy]

The applications and operating systems hitting end of life soon won't stop working, they are simply not getting any new security patches and fixes so it isnt immediately a problem. I would suggest upgrading to windows 7 at some point though, or a new pc/notebook with it (W7) already installed. I am not a fan of Windows 8 or 8.1, I find it awkward and still order all of my users notebooks and desktops with a W7 downgrade as the first couple of users had a real problem adjusting (1st world problems eh?) to the newer metro interface.

 

[stevie_r]

I honestly thought they had stopped supporting xp a few years back.

 

[MadAdey]

You can't keep supporting old operating systems, it has to end at some point because of the cost of constantly writing the patches to keep it going to it's best.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

What support do you need?

Ive got win 7 and its rubbish if im honest

What's wrong with it, probably the best OS Microsoft have produced

Returning to xp , it's not going to suddenly stop working, just Microsoft aren't going to write any further updates for it
Any machine running XP will be at least 7 years old and will be slowing down

Certain programs like Internet explorer won't work beyond v9 while the rest of us are on v 11 and office 2013 won't load on XP
The only reason to keep xp now is if you have a mission critical program or hardware that only works on xp
For instance I have a customer with a huge 15 year old plotter that makes tail plane stickers for large jets, it lives in a barn and would cost £90000 to replace and the only drivers available are W 98 or XP

 

[chris661]

The applications and operating systems hitting end of life soon won't stop working, they are simply not getting any new security patches and fixes so it isnt immediately a problem.

Um. It will be, there are quite a few folk working on getting round it and at college we are told to use it for testing security stuff as it already pretty easy to get through (all done in a virtualised environment )

 

[harpo_72]

Just go to Linux and have that run your operating system. The only issue is the latest printers not being supported until someone converts them. If its a Sony item forget it they are just so far up microsofts back side you'll get little or no Linux support.
I have to say the phrase "life" is not correct, a specified amount of time I.e 5 yrs of support starting from 1/1/2001 would be a fairer statement.

 

[Vice]

Every Windows product has a lifecycle. The lifecycle begins when a product is released and ends when it's no longer supported or sold. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps you make informed decisions about when to upgrade or make other changes to your software. Here are the rights and limits of the Windows lifecycle.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/lifecycle

also referred to as EOL

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-of-life_(product)

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Just go to Linux and have that run your operating system. The only issue is the latest printers not being supported until someone converts them. If its a Sony item forget it they are just so far up microsofts back side you'll get little or no Linux support.
I have to say the phrase "life" is not correct, a specified amount of time I.e 5 yrs of support starting from 1/1/2001 would be a fairer statement.

With the best will in the world, you cannot promote linux as a viable alternative to Windows for the masses

Fine if you are PC savvy,and know about command lines, but most arent.

 

[Jimbooo]

With the best will in the world, you cannot promote linux as a viable alternative to Windows for the masses

Fine if you are PC savvy,and know about command lines, but most arent.

You've not tried Ubuntu then? If my mum can use it....

 

[MadAdey]

With the best will in the world, you cannot promote linux as a viable alternative to Windows for the masses

Fine if you are PC savvy,and know about command lines, but most arent.

Got to agree there Phil. Windows is not the best OS out there by a long shot, but for the majority it is. Got quite a few amtes at work that are seriously into there PC and they say they would never run an MS, but I just like the ability to click on something and the PC responds, not having to mess around writing command lines etc.

 

[Vice]

A lot of the newer versions are fully GUI driven from install to use. It's a lot more user friendly than it used to be and the support is getting better

With the best will in the world, you cannot promote linux as a viable alternative to Windows for the masses

Fine if you are PC savvy,and know about command lines, but most arent.

 

[stevie_r]

You've not tried Ubuntu then? If my mum can use it....

My PC is dual boot, W7 and Ubuntu, if my printer was supported under Ubuntu I would probably never bother with windows; I know nothing about command lines either.