Discussion on:

End of XP support: Why so many CIOs are still not ready

Just how many programs might work well with something like DosBox or the like. I've seen it run a variety of programs quite well with Win 7, and hear it works well for Win 8 as well

> Just how many programs might work well with something like
> DosBox or the like

It's called Wine (http://www.winehq.org). Unless you're running something that needs kernel-level access, or direct connection to a USB device, it will probably do anything you need. And the USB support is being worked on.

It seems that companies that don't want to move to Win8 (or even Win7 if they happen to have licenses kicking around for it) should consider supporting the Wine and/or ReactOS projects, rather than continuously submitting to the dictates of MS.

I hope you like duct tape and bailing wire.

Windows XP was the first, and so far only, windowed operating system to absolutely dominate the marketplace. It continues to work well, and probably does upwards of 90% of the tasks that businesses require. So, in a time of fiscal restraint, why spend money to upgrade software, hardware, and training when any increased productivity may be negligible?

If dinosaurs like COBOL and Fortran can survive, Microsoft may just have to come to terms with the reality that XP evolved into an excellent operating system that still suits the needs of millions of customers.

I had a client make the switch to Windows 7 as soon as they found out they could still run their XP only archaic database application within XP mode. That was very nice that the vitalization technology was built into Pro. Windows 7 IMHO is the next rendition of XP in terms of lifespan. Windows 8 just isn't cutting it for me unless it's touch screen only. Can't stand Metro.

Unfortunately way too many things still do not work in XP Mode and for that reason alone I can not see a move from XP any time soon for most of my clients.

Col

XP Mode is free, easy to install, works reasonably well, and benefits from a nice integration with the Win7 Start menu. All to the good. My preferred virtual machine, however, is VMWare Player. It just seems to work better for me. Player does require an XP license, but you probably have plenty of those in hand.

The big drawback to the virtual machine approach to preserving XP is that you now have two PCs to maintain, and the user needs to have a good understanding of PCs in order to benefit from the hybrid. So, even though I have a VM on my own machine, most of the machines I support stay with one OS.

Remember, if Windows came installed on your computer you cannot transfer it to another machine. That is the licensing restriction. Buy the OS separately at the store and that is different. So unless you just happen to still be running 7 year old computers you probably don't have a bunch of licenses just laying around.

Why fix something if it isn't broken
MS Windows 7 (n) - A 64-bit extension of a 32-bit extension of a 16-bit shell of an 8-bit operating system for a 4-bit processor from a 2-bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition.

The security model is badly flawed. Microsoft is regularly patching flaws that could "allow a remote attacker to gain control over the system". They've mostly stayed ahead of the hackers. But once they stop patching the hackers have plenty of time to catch up and the risk to your data rises significantly.

After all in any business you shouldn't be having your Internal Workstations in Direct Contact with the Outside World.

You also make an Excellent Case for not using any Microsoft product because what you are saying about XP holds true for everything else that they make.

Many American businesses and hospitals are still using WIndows XP (VA Medical Centers that I have seen). Microsoft needs to wake up to the fact that Vista, WIndows 7 and Windows 8 all FAIL to meet the real world needs of most of the civilized world! Wake up Microsoft! People don't want the Microsoft Store pushed down their throats by making everyone go to Windows 8 and Windows RT!

XP Support is minimal anyways. The patches do nothing to prevent viruses or improve stability. And everyone knows the standard "support" is to format and reinstall.

Agreed. I am changing all my computers to Ubuntu. At least the upgrades are free and you can edit the code if you want and are not tied into MS' hard and fast useless ways. Open Office allows you to put in dates BEFORE 1900.

when support for an OS dies, the hardware manufacturers will begin to stop supporting the old OS usually prior to the end of the OS [why bother creating drivers for an OS that has say 3 months to live].
You also have software developers who may stop any support such as Google Chrome [guarantee they will do that!], Firefox, etc. AV/AM software will continue for the current version but no new versions.
Plugins such as Java [yeesh!] and Flash could be stopped as well.

It's a fairly recent thing that browsers stopped supporting Windows 98.
As I understand, Win7/8 only have a few new API's worth using, and apparently there is already a patch to make XP support them.

XP and Office 2007 were the last Microsoft products I ever voluntarily purchased. That was only because I could use a staff discount of a friend. I only ever asked Microsoft for support once and that was NOT a good experience. My laptop came installed with Windows 7 basic and Office 10. The first thing I did was uninstall Office 10 and remove it from my laptop. I then installed Open Office and have not looked back. Windows 7 will probably be uninstalled very soon and I will be installing Ubuntu.

Have you used Unity much? It's still pretty buggy and made my Ubuntu experience falter. I prefer good old Gnome 3, newest version of that shell is WAY better than Unity. As far as bad experiences, just wait until you update packages that break other functionality in Ubuntu...point is that all software & OS's suck, some more so than others.

I use it everyday outside of work and haven't run into any issues. To me it's a fantasticaly well designed interface. I think i haven't booted into win7 at home in like 2 weeks. I also installed it on an old core duo laptop from 2007 and there it wasn't as smooth as on a new system, but it was still very good.

I think that as the economic situation tightens for a lot of companies smaller outfits aren't going to be able to justify the cost of upgrading. I still say there needs to be a final SP created for XP to give it on last set of "enhancements" and then let it go the way of it's predecessors. I am always going to keep a copy (a VM) around just in case....;)