Windows XP SP4?

linktoinsanity said:
Some home grown programs and other older programs still only work on XP. Also because of the fact that it is a capable OS at web browsing and at actually operating a computer, some people just do not see the need to change.

Ideally everyone would be running on Windows 7 and up now, but not everyone wants to stay up to date.
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It's a bit of a cope out to be honest,for browsing etc you can do that with any Linux and more so costs nothing and better security etc...
As to old software programs,in most cases there are newer versions(I know for a fact since I upgraded a few over the years).


What it boils down to really is cost for some companies and users, plus can't be bothered to change so that simple IMHO.
 
Quite right. 'Upgrading' (a weaselly term if ever there was one) to a new OS doesn't affect what the majority of ordinary people actually use their computers for most of the time ie. browsing, shopping, messaging and playing YT videos etc.

As pointed doing these things on any OS is barely any different. It is only when you get incompatibility issues with web sites, software or hardware, usually because they have been 'upgraded' that the age of the OS you're using makes any difference.

I know this very much myself: I was using the Sega Dreamcast with Dreamkey 3.00 browser (based on Netscape 4 I think) for a weekly shopping order from Tesco's from 2001 - 2003. I could use it for buying and selling on Amazon and Ebay and as late as 2006 I used it to order something from Argos.

Slowly as web sites 'upgraded'; ie. became more cluttered and filled with irrelevant garbage compatibility issues made its use impossible. In 2003 I swapped to another TV type browser using the NetGem iPlayer STB with a Linux based OS. I used that until 2010 before being forced to buy a proper computer for the same sort of reasons.

My point is XP isn't even close to that sort of compromised usability level, it still works just as well, particularly for those casual PC users purposes, as it ever did. There are no compatibility issues of significance and indeed it is more likely to be the new OS being incompatible with old software or hardware that is a problem. In other words there is actually a strong incentive not to 'upgrade' and that is why the stubborn 30% are still happy enough with XP.
 
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fallenangle said:
In other words there is actually a strong incentive not to 'upgrade' and that is why the stubborn 30% are still happy enough with XP.
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That figure will be comprised of businesses mostly, and it's got little do with them being "happy enough" with XP and more that it's a hugely expensive and complex operation to upgrade the OS that a company operates on. As far as the home user is concerned, XP is long gone so there's really no need for an SP4.

I also disagree with your initial point that the OS doesn't affect day-to-day usage; it very-much does. If you live your life in a web browser then perhaps less-so, but when it comes to ease-of-use XP is noticeably far behind more modern operating systems now.
 
A car with an automatic gear box is easier to drive than one with a manual shift but most people who enjoy driving still choose a manual shift because it gives them more control and just makes driving more interesting.

That might be a bit of a stretched metaphor but the (questionable) comparative ease of use of later Windows OSs is not the whole story.

Familiarity and with it the inate operating skills that years of experience teach you make 'ease of use' much less relevant to existing users. It is the difficulities and, as suggested by others here, the costs caused just by the change itself that are the prime factors.
 
fallenangle said:
My point is XP isn't even close to that sort of compromised usability level, it still works just as well, particularly for those casual PC users purposes, as it ever did. There are no compatibility issues of significance and indeed it is more likely to be the new OS being incompatible with old software or hardware that is a problem. In other words there is actually a strong incentive not to 'upgrade' and that is why the stubborn 30% are still happy enough with XP.
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Fair enough if your XP machine is offline or sat in a heavily restricted environment running some legacy application.

But for any 'average' home users out there still running XP, with their local administrator accounts expecting always on connection to the Internet their systems are going to be as compromised as you can get - there's no more security updates being released. Lets see how happy they are with XP when they fall foul of the inevitable vulnerabilities that are released in the coming months.
 
Thing is though most users only upgrade windows when they upgrade pc's no and mostly thanks to the problems with vista, xp was still being shipped by oems only 3 years ago, while I understand the need to upgrade you try tellings someone whos pc is working fine and is only 3 years old that they should spend 100 quid getting it upgraded plus costs for someone to do it.
In our world upgrading a pc every 3-5 years is part of the norm and to us techies re-installing windows is about as much hassle as taking the bins out and with ssds is sometimes less time consuming, lastly for the average user spent with a mix of amazon, opening dodgy emails and porn site is it going to matter what os its on? non techies are non techies and will fill their pc's with crap regardless
 
I will never give up my Xp install, best gaming os there is, a lot of games i play wont even run properly on 7 or 8, i just use xbox1 ps4 for new games now, all i have done is a fresh xp install, then all patched up with latest and final updates, and then made a backup image of it, i do have a laptop with 7 on thou for email and browsing.
 
fallenangle said:
But I have software and so on designed for a 32bit OS and any number of games that are easy to run on XP either because of its own backwards compatibility or because it was the OS of the time. Even with Win7's virtual XP and other alternatives I just don't see the point of throwing away something that still works well and has been paid for.

I'm not saying I want to use XP for everything, I'm building a Win7 64bit based machine to take over as my main computer but I'm not going to dump my old laptop, which can't run anything more than XP, just because MS want me to make them richer.

Wanting to keep that going as long and as easily as possible is not unreasonable.
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This is not an excuse, this is you living in the past.
XP is dead and has been for ages, get with the future or be left behind with a 101 issues that no one wants to help you with.

Even my work upgraded to 7 recently, and they are a shambles when it comes to technology!
 
It is not about living in the past it is, as at least Daytrader understands, about maintaining XP as a useful, working tool for just the sort of reasons described.

The IT world is obsessed with 'upgrading' always claiming that new is better (was Vista better than XP?). Lots of people here seem happy to buy into that, quite literally, I'm just not one of them.
 
linktoinsanity said:
Not really ever had any problems with XP myself (as in specific ones). Not sure what you mean?
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I'm exaggerating a little. But you have to admit, it's a bit of a clunker to use after any of the other modern OS's. It was hardly the last word in brilliant design when it was released, it's just been elevated by the Vista backlash. Or maybe Stockholm Syndrome after all these years for the people stuck with it!
 
Just unplug the Windows XP machine from the internet if an internet connection is not necessary, XP is still a fine OS it will just become a bit of a security risk once Microsoft stop patching it.
 
JRS said:
I'm exaggerating a little. But you have to admit, it's a bit of a clunker to use after any of the other modern OS's. It was hardly the last word in brilliant design when it was released, it's just been elevated by the Vista backlash. Or maybe Stockholm Syndrome after all these years for the people stuck with it!
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Yeah fair enough, you are quite right I guess. :)
 
fallenangle said:
It is not about living in the past it is, as at least Daytrader understands, about maintaining XP as a useful, working tool for just the sort of reasons described.

The IT world is obsessed with 'upgrading' always claiming that new is better (was Vista better than XP?). Lots of people here seem happy to buy into that, quite literally, I'm just not one of them.
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So don't, but don't expect an old product to be supported indefinitely when superior versions have since been released and are far more popular.
 
They *might* release a Rollout Update or whatever it was called, for XP like they did for Windows 2000. Basically a cumulative collection of all the patches available up the point support ended. It was still available from Windows Updates as of sometime last year when I booted up an ancient copy of Win 2000 (don't ask)
 
mmj_uk said:
Just unplug the Windows XP machine from the internet if an internet connection is not necessary, XP is still a fine OS it will just become a bit of a security risk once Microsoft stop patching it.
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I still have an XP machine on my network at home.
What I do is remove the gateway so it doesn't have a way out to the net.
It can still talk to all the other machines on the Local LAN.
I add the gateway back from time to time to use windows update, but when support is pulled and the patches dry up it will be cut off from the web permanently.

I will make an image to rebuild it in the future, containing all the updates.
 
gothic_hobbit said:
I will miss Window XP.
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Same here, my laptop runs it nicely and it does what I want it to with no problems.
I don't think I really want to spend money on windows 7 if its now on its last service pack
I don't like 8, I think it only really makes sense with touch screen! In all honesty if it comes to it I would just use my phone!
O well its not long now till I have to decide which way to go!!! Think I'm going to start off on a dual boot!
 
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