I knew this was coming, but this morning I awoke to find my computer had been hijacked by a special start up box with a link to the page displayed bellow: So, my options are: upgrading to Windows 8.1, which I know is beyond the capacity of this machine, and which I will have to pay for, so fuck you Micro$oft for obsoleting a product I was happy with. buying a new computer, but this one works just fine for my needs, as I'm not a power user, and again, why spend money to replace something that works except that the succesors to Bill Gates can suck a dick and die in a fire? fly solo, throwing all caution to the wind. I'm going to go with the third option, at least for now, but I probably need some advice on where to find resources for continued maintenance and protection. So, computer experts, give me your knowledge! And anybody who says pick one of the first options? That will be viewed as trolling.
Upgrade to Windows 7. It's almost as intuitive as XP. Tuckerfan (I think) recommended it to me as a transition from XP, and if I can use it, anyone can.
Go off the grid - use an abacus, hand crank-up Victrola for music, manual typewriter, string and cans for commo.
They're using their monopoly power to obsolete a perfectly functional operating system and force you to buy a new one. There was a time and place when governments cared about such things. Absurdly strong patent laws and total nonenforcement of anti-trust laws is a bad combination. If Microsoft wants to stop supporting Windows XP it should automatically lose any IP rights in the product.
I can use other releases. I prefer not to, because XP handles my needs just fine. Agreed. They should open source it.
Bollocks. Name me one other reasonably major OS business supporting a 13 year old system? Answer? None. Apple will be expiring Leopard shortly, and Red Hat and the like only support a few versions back. I'm hardly a champion of M$ (despite making filthy lucre from them), but expecting them to support something so old a fucking pedo wouldn't touch it is just silly.
That's a complete non-sequitur. What, pray tell, is your point? IP should be, at the very least, tied to continuing use and support. If XP is truly obsolete then there's no one else who will start supporting it, and it if isn't obsolete then someone else should have the chance to support it. The fact that everyone does something doesn't make it right. Microsoft, and other operating systems producers, shouldn't be able to sit on old IP to force you to buy a new OS.
Actually, I believe M$ will continue to support it, but by subscription only. Seems some large institutions do not wish to do a mass upgrade at this time.
I'm not sure whether I read it or caught a news report on the matter, but I think one big issue is that ATMs are almost exclusively XP systems. The law is idiotic, IP law especially so.
ATMs are mostly Windows CE or Windows XP Embedded. Support for these OS's will run another 5 years. Similarly POS (Point of sale "cash registers") and other merchant devices are Windows CE or Windows XP embedded. I don't think there are any proprietary or linux based merchant systems (I could be wrong) regardless of the manufacturer. Fujitsu, Toshiba (IBM), NCR, Verifone all run Windows. Pin-pads, the devices where you swipe your card and/or enter your debit PIN are on proprietary software and have their own encryption both inside stores and at the gas pumps. So the April fools joke is mostly on end consumers and businesses that run XP on their work stations. Businesses can pay for continued support for these machines. For the home market I really wouldn't worry about it. Much. Browser security isn't part of the OS (I'd refrain from using IE and instead use Chrome or Firefox), but a windows vulnerability could leave you open to keystroke loggers and other malware. Keep your antivirus up to date. I found a licensed full win7 home premium copy for sale for $60 but this was a couple months ago. I'm sure prices are going up now. It does perform better than XP on a 6 year old Core 2 machine so it's worth upgrading for performance and features alone.
it's still available for $63 (google coupons for snaggstuff and it may be less). Warning: the copy for this price is the media normally included when you opt for it with an HP or Dell PC. The install wasn't faultless on my machine (it doesn't matter if you have a Dell or HP); upon trying to register, I had to call MS to get an activation key, which their automated service did provide. My guess is it had been installed once already, and maybe the machine was no longer in use. Otherwise full copies Win7 Home Premium (you can't upgrade from XP) without any screwing around are still $100. If you're not sure whether to get 32bit or 64bit, go with whatever you have using XP (check "my computer" if you're not sure). 64bit is only a clear advantage if you want more than 4GB memory. My moldy old Core2 machine is quicker running win7 64bit and it came from XP32bit (but I don't know how much, if any, can be attributed to 64bit architecture vs a better OS).
Um, you know what a non sequitur is right? So you'll cheerfully show me how rebuking your claim M$ are abusing their monopoly power, by displaying that other sellers of OS's have similar policies, is an example of one? Go ahead, this ought to be good. This I can agree with. However, it still wouldn't apply to XP. No new M$ OS is built entirely from the ground up - in the interests of backwards compatibility, and to make use of existing codebases, you'll find pieces of code in Windows 8 that hark back to the 80's. The file saving routine hasn't altered much in two decades, just had some new wrappers placed around it. It's why you'll find a vulnerability that'll have an effect on a whole raft of their OSs. So yes, when you buy Windows Vista, 7 or 8, guess what - you've got a chunk of XP's IP in there, being used and supported. Maybe if you ask nicely they'll open source the Search Assistance Dog though, I'm assuming that block of code got shitcanned in the new versions.
I remember digging through Windows XP and finding DOS commands. You can still find that stuff in Windows 7, too. Yeah, Microsoft builds on each version.
You're right, Microsoft should be forced to provide upgrades for it's products, for free, forever, or else forfeit it's intellectual property, much of which has been built into newer versions of the operating system, that seems totally fair.
As a former Mac owner, that just isn't so. I like Apple, I do, but the whole "trouble free" thing is baloney.
I already have almost no problems with my computer. And I've been using XP since it came out. It has always been an incredibly solid OS, hence my continued attachment.
What John said. Because I, too, loved my XP, but it took me less than a day to get the hang of Windows 7.
Microsoft are still supporting XP, however it's just that after 12 years on the market they are essentially ending the free warranty period.
