Microsoft continues trying to kill XP

Computer Help and Discussions The Lounge
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That won't last long though. Once XP users have no choice they will change operating systems so they can continue to use the programs they need. The only reason they still hang on to XP is because they can. Once all the programs drop it XP users will upgrade. I am sure there will be people who refuse to but they will be in the minority.

Are you kidding? :P

Driver backup programs exist for XP. You can run High Def Audio in XP. You can Visual Style XP. XP works with programs that 7 dies on.

What programs are you thinking they will have to upgrade XP to 7 because of? I can't think of any...

22

The beta of windows live essentials, and presumably the release, require windows 6.x

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials-beta

Tack that on to the list of software microsoft is dropping from the XP scene.

Oh well, never really cared about MS bloat. IE is a walking malware invitation with it's active X vulnerabilities.

I'd never use IE for web surfing anyway. Firefox is much more secure. Office? There is Open Office & it is free!

I can't think of a reason to update. Anything you can do in 7, you can do in XP faster, leaner, & prettier! Of course, the default Visual Style with XP is ugly, but that is why Royal Visual Style in addition to 3rd party ones exist to make XP any way you want.

7 is a joke, & kills programs off with that dreaded error that a program stopped working, blah, blah, then it terminates the program instead of just letting it load. XP never had this problem.

23

Oh well, never really cared about MS bloat. IE is a walking malware invitation with it's active X vulnerabilities.

I'd never use IE for web surfing anyway. Firefox is much more secure. Office? There is Open Office & it is free!

I can't think of a reason to update. Anything you can do in 7, you can do in XP faster, leaner, & prettier! Of course, the default Visual Style with XP is ugly, but that is why Royal Visual Style in addition to 3rd party ones exist to make XP any way you want.

7 is a joke, & kills programs off with that dreaded error that a program stopped working, blah, blah, then it terminates the program instead of just letting it load. XP never had this problem.

Please either read about IE, ActiveX, Win7, try Win7 with modern programs, and think before posting, or don't post in this thread. Seriously.

24

I could careless what happens to XP or any other windows versions. I'm not a windows user any longer.

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I could careless what happens to XP or any other windows versions. I'm not a windows user any longer.

And the point of you posting that was...?

26

And the point of you posting that was...?

And yours was what.

Read first part of my post.

27

And yours was what.

Read first part of my post.

I'm not trying to start a brawl here, so forget it.

On topic:

I don't know what Microsoft is up to. They can't make up their mind, or so it seems. They keep extending their support to XP and it goes the other way too. I think they are just waiting for XPites to migrate to Se7en, but their methods are failing. They should provide reasonable upgrade facilities.

Anyhow, Se7en has XP-Mode which helps in compatibility of ancient softwares in times of need. I know it will cost a lot for people to upgrade but Se7en is the next XP, XP's successor. XP was really good but its aging now and its time it bit the dust.

28

Are you kidding? :P

Driver backup programs exist for XP. You can run High Def Audio in XP. You can Visual Style XP. XP works with programs that 7 dies on.

What programs are you thinking they will have to upgrade XP to 7 because of? I can't think of any...

No I'm not kidding. What programs do I think they will have to up grade to Windows 7 to use? IE9, Windows Media Player 12, Windows Live Essentials just to name a few. As time goes on most programs will drop XP support. How many programs work on Windows 95 or 98? Well XP is a thing of the past and will end up the same way. So will Windows 7 as some point. That's life.

29

DirectX10+ is another thing that doesn't work on XP, which doesn't make it a viable system for a gamer either :)

Although there are unofficial mods that do give "some" of the features to xp, they dont even come close to the real thing

30

Anyhow, Se7en has XP-Mode which helps in compatibility of ancient softwares in times of need. I know it will cost a lot for people to upgrade but Se7en is the next XP, XP's successor. XP was really good but its aging now and its time it bit the dust.

XP mode only helps people on Windows 7 run old programs. The problem is going to be XP users finding out that the new programs coming out don't support XP and many of the current ones will stop supporting XP. I have read there is talk of FireFox dropping support for XP. They just dropped support for Macs running non Intel chips and those machines are about 4 or 5 years old. Once the programs stop supporting XP it will die off quick.

31

And if all this hasn't convinced you and you still want to argue over the XP vs 7 issue, Google it.

Link 1

Link 2

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And if all this hasn't convinced you and you still want to argue over the XP vs 7 issue, Google it.

Link 1

Link 2

Sorry, but...benchmarks aren't real-life situations.

Besides, most of those "benchmarks" are quite obscure (your first link mentions SunSpider...that's a browser benchmark...).

However, the new things introduced by Win7 and backported to Vista are awesome.

For example, DirectCompute can dramatically speed up effects on large images - in Paint.NET, the DirectCompute implementation of some blurs is up to 310x faster (no typo) than the CPU implementation of said blurs. But this can't be shown in a benchmark, since benchmarks are forced to use software working on all platforms the same way.

33

Sorry, but...benchmarks aren't real-life situations.

Besides, most of those "benchmarks" are quite obscure (your first link mentions SunSpider...that's a browser benchmark...).

However, the new things introduced by Win7 and backported to Vista are awesome.

For example, DirectCompute can dramatically speed up effects on large images - in Paint.NET, the DirectCompute implementation of some blurs is up to 310x faster (no typo) than the CPU implementation of said blurs. But this can't be shown in a benchmark, since benchmarks are forced to use software working on all platforms the same way.

Those are just few of the links.

I think I have come to the conclusion that it depends on what you need. If you're comfortable with XP and what it has to offer, stay there. Why spend unnecessarily. On the other hand, if you want to stay up-to-date, get the latest softwares and if you're on-the-go... Upgrade.

34

I'd add "If you want to stay with XP, don't complain about not having new software". ;)

35

I'm on XP, and I've no intention of changing unless I buy a new computer, and even then I would be happy to transfer what I already have to that computer.

I have absolutely no desire to change. Not because I'm a dinosaur, not because of the cost, not because I'm stuck in the past, not because I feel trepidation about anything new.

Simply because it does everything I want, and I have all the programs I need.

I can play and rip CD's and DVD's. I can access the internet. I can manipulate and organize my photographs. I can tag my MP3's with Metadata, and I can sync my Walkman with Windows Media Player. I can convert audio and video to any format.

Changing to a new OS wouldn't improve any of what I already have.

When support for XP is dropped by MS, it won't make the slightest difference to me. And there isn't any new software out there which would improve on what I already have.

There are an awful lot of people who change for changes sake, or have to have the latest and most up to date of everything, or believe that changing will somehow improve on what they already have, or folk who know for sure that a new OS will enrich their computing experience.

All fine and legitimate reasons, but there are people who just aren't swayed in the least by all the arguments about changing. And I'm one of them.

I really have absolutely no interest in which Operating System I have as long as I can carry out the things I mentioned above.

Check with me in 12 months or even two years time, and I'll still be on XP unless some unforeseen circumstance forces me onto something different.

Just my two penneth of course.

36

I'm on XP, and I've no intention of changing unless I buy a new computer, and even then I would be happy to transfer what I already have to that computer.

I have absolutely no desire to change. Not because I'm a dinosaur, not because of the cost, not because I'm stuck in the past, not because I feel trepidation about anything new.

Simply because it does everything I want, and I have all the programs I need.

I can play and rip CD's and DVD's. I can access the internet. I can manipulate and organize my photographs. I can tag my MP3's with Metadata, and I can sync my Walkman with Windows Media Player. I can convert audio and video to any format.

Changing to a new OS wouldn't improve any of what I already have.

When support for XP is dropped by MS, it won't make the slightest difference to me. And there isn't any new software out there which would improve on what I already have.

There are an awful lot of people who change for changes sake, or have to have the latest and most up to date of everything, or believe that changing will somehow improve on what they already have, or folk who know for sure that a new OS will enrich their computing experience.

All fine and legitimate reasons, but there are people who just aren't swayed in the least by all the arguments about changing. And I'm one of them.

I really have absolutely no interest in which Operating System I have as long as I can carry out the things I mentioned above.

Check with me in 12 months or even two years time, and I'll still be on XP unless some unforeseen circumstance forces me onto something different.

Just my two penneth of course.

That is worth all the argument in the World Wide Web.

37

I'm not trying to start a brawl here...

Me neither, still, there is tension in the air... :o .

I read everything in those 2 links, ishan_rulz...good information, thank you. Couple of comments (Oh Dear, Here We Go...).

- IMHO, WXP looks pretty derned good on all the comparisons except DirectX and networking.

- The statement on page 4 at MaximumPC (link 1) is a good summary: "...W7 was a few percent slower than XP SP3, but faster than Vista SP2" :)

- New functionalities = none ??, improved functionalities = a few, dropped functonalities = a few.

- Interestingly, nobody mentioned durability over time. Every Win I've ever used slowed down over time. Wonder if W7 will also?

- When you throw out the quantified measures you are left with opinion like "feels snappier" or "apps seem to load faster". That's not intended to belittle, its a good enough reason to buy something. But not me, and I wish not my tax money.

- Must agree w/ DenninD, for me cost must be justified by need, not coolness.

Microsoft seems to show a pattern: Release a good OS, then a pig, let the users tune it up, then a good one, then a pig, etc. For example, (with a couple left out):

w3.1 = great start > W95 = OK > W98 = good > WME = ouch > WXP = good > Vista = ouch > W7 good...W8?

A prediction: Users will adopt W7 more slowly than any other Win OS in history. Because of the Vista debacle, and the present economic situation.

Going now to hide under a rock with the dinosaurs.

38

The machine I'm typing on is XPx64. Web browser, movies, burner, audacity, laser printer etc.

What would make me move to a newer OS would be a killer app that wouldnt run on XP.

I run one linux box for a killer app that wont run on MS.[too lazy to go linux whole hog]. :)

39

A prediction: Users will adopt W7 more slowly than any other Win OS in history. Because of the Vista debacle, and the present economic situation.

You are already wrong on that one. Windows 7 is doing very well and is blowing away Vista at this point in Vista's release.

As for the rest of the comments on not upgrading from XP. I am reading a lot of excuses for staying with XP and I don't buy any of them. Having said that it's your choice so do what you want. One thing I know for sure is that sooner or later you are going to update from XP weather you like it or not or you will simply be left behind. Your computers will die or something else will happen but you will need to upgrade at some point. In the mean time you fall further behind in knowledge and I don't see how that benefits you in any way. Most of you have an interest in computers or you wouldn't be on this forum. You will be of less and less help as time goes on. You already can't be helpful with Vista or W7 questions and by the sounds of it you will stay with XP even after W8 comes out so you won't be any help with that either. You can't be into computers and not keep up it doesn't make sense.

40

The machine I'm typing on is XPx64. Web browser, movies, burner, audacity, laser printer etc.

What would make me move to a newer OS would be a killer app that wouldnt run on XP.

I run one linux box for a killer app that wont run on MS.[too lazy to go linux whole hog]. :)

Compiz Fusion only runs on Linux, its the one thing I miss the absolute most from my Ubuntu days. :(