XP's End Will Do More For PC Sales Than Win 8, Says HP Exec 438
dcblogs writes "Hewlett-Packard executives say that the coming demise of Windows XP next year may do what Windows 8 could not, and that's boost PC sales significantly. 'We think this will bring a big opportunity for HP,' said Enrique Lore, senior vice president and general manager of HP's business PCs. Lore was asked, in a later interview, whether the demand for XP replacement systems could help sales more than Windows 8. His response was unequivocal: 'Yes, significantly more, especially on the commercial side,' he said. Lore said 40% to 50% of business users remain on XP systems."
It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:4, Insightful)
There is some credibility to that theory. After all, if you have to install an entirely new system anyway, it makes it easier to jump to a different OS family. especially if it has a similar UI. I hardly think the majority of businesses switching will do this, but I'm sure at least some of them will, and Linux numbers will reflect it. Hell, if you're so focusesd on saving money or maintaining stability that you've used XP for this long, something like Debian GNU/Linux might be perfect for you.
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Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Insightful)
Because there are actually things that Word / Excel / Powerpoint are better at than Libre office, and few examples of the reverse.
Also, because there is still some degree of continuity within Office 2000-2013 whereby you can move between versions with substantially less headache than moving from Office 2003 to LibreOffice-- even with the Ribbon to deal with.
After writing a single term paper and trying to unravel the thought process behind footnotes / endnotes in LibreOffice, I found myself pining for Word.
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Informative)
Unfortunately for you that is not true. There are very few features that are better in MS suits, and the vast majority of people does not use them.
Footnotes. Endnotes. Pagination. Cell merge. Conditional formatting. Macros. Anything at all related to powerpoint. Mail merge.
I could go on, but these arent niche features.
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Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Informative)
I use both Libreoffice and MSoffice. To say that libre office is any way a competitor to MSoffice is foolish. It's like saying the gimp is a real competitor to photoshop. Libreoffice, like the gimp, gets the job done when professional tools are not available but they lack the support and integration that the professional tools have.
The biggest issues of using libreoffice in a real office is compatibility of the documents. While it is true that both office and libreoffice can read and write each others native formats, these formats are not 100% perfect. I have written simple documents in libreoffice, saved them in docx format, and then loaded them in office 2010. The result was readable and even usable, but look completely alien to what I had on typed up under librewrite. The reverse was also true. If I had submitted the document I wrote in librewrite it would have been rejected for poor formating.
I'm not saying this because I love Ms office. I actually prefer to work in librewrite because of its simpler interface. I'm saying this because its true.
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Informative)
As a programmer I rarely have to deal with the types of document scenarios you paint.
However, my wife (who is NOT a technocrat) is an honors grad student at a California State University and has been using OpenOffice for the entirety of her educational journey. She has had to give many presentations and turn in a ridiculous amount of homework papers and in all that time, has never, not once, ran into a compatibility problem.
She gives her OO Impress presentations on a shared computer running some flavor of MS Office/Power Point and has no chance to "preview" to make sure it "looked right" and has still never been disappointed. No, not even one time. I offered numerous times to buy MS Office and she declined, saying that "it works fine" and didn't want to "change anything", especially if it cost $$.
I'd happily grant that she's not getting a degree in the Graphic Arts (actually, Psych) but to say that OO gives "completely alien" results is simply absurd.
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I have written simple documents in libreoffice, saved them in docx format, and then loaded them in office 2010. The result was readable and even usable, but look completely alien to what I had on typed up under librewrite [...] it would have been rejected for poor formating.
Cannot stress this enough. We're savvy people, but not immune to conversion issues between the two. When are they the worst? When sending out a resume that we cannot preview in the real Office. Why? Office requires Windows, or a Windows-only viewer*. You definitely won't lose your current job over a misformatted word file, but when looking for one, some interviews will not happen due to the glitches that were invisible to us.
Some slashdotters on principle DO NOT touch Windows. Others have only a Mac* and/or
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent post fails badly. In point of fact, the only intrinsic advantage between Photoshop and the current version of The Gimp is that Photoshop offers arguably better support for CMYK than The Gimp does.
What Photoshop has going for it is a micro ecosystem of student discounts, training sessions for college teachers, exclusive license deals with colleges that limit art students' exposure to any other image manipulation software, and workshop junkets to exotic locales that can be tax write-offs for Arts Departments. None of this "professional" support adds any value to the artwork created by Photoshop. It does create a circus of fanbois, many of whom have a vested interest in Photoshop's continued dominance.
Meanwhile, The Gimp is adding new features and improvements constantly, at no cost to its users other than the bother of downloading and installing the upgrades. Photoshop takes a few years between version releases, primarily because as a for-profit business, it needs to milk every dime it can get from the current version before replacing it with something better. Also, see other comment, below.
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My resume is in latex, and I've always sent PDF files. I've gotten every job I've ever appiled for.
Easy solution if you don't want to use MSO. Hell, you can even make a PDF from your LibreOffice files!
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:4, Informative)
Pure nonsense. Working with PS is an order of magnitude easier than working with The GIMP. It's quite simply a better program in every sense.
I slogged along with The GIMP for a couple of years after switching to Linux, figuring it was good enough for my needs. When Adobe offered the "free" downloads of Photoshop CS last year I installed that under WINE and was pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised with how much easier it was to do almost everything.
Now, whether it's better enough to be worth a thousand bucks is another question entirely.
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OpenOffice has provided the ability to save as a PDF for years now. Why didn't you save your CV as a PDF which is known to display correctly pretty much everywhere?
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Funny)
PowerPoint is the key. It's the most-used Office product among people making purchasing decisions, and (not coincidentally) the Office product with the most new features in the past 10 years.
Does LibreOffice have Smart Art? (I've never had a need for PowerPoint away from work, so I've never even looked.) Do not underestimate Smart Art!
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Insightful)
Long-time Linux user here. I gotta disagree. MS Office is tangibly better in a lot of ways (mostly the ones that the GP posted as a sibling to this post) than LibreOffice.
You would do the free software community a service by not trumping up free software and simply describing it as it is. LibreOffice has a lot of use cases, but Office is still a very well put together set of productivity apps.
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Would that be the FUD whereby someone claims that WIndows software works "just fine" on Linux, despite needing hacks, losing the ability to scan into applications, and in many cases not getting beyond installation screens?
Wine has steadily improved over the years, but youre lying to yourself if you want to claim that as a general rule its a good alternative to a native environment.
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Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Insightful)
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The keyword here is "Back in the days".
Precisely nobody wishes to go back to those days.
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I'd say for regular users, they are equivalent, but for more advanced things, calc doesn't compare to Excel, for example.
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Then, when confronted with the reality of just how shitty Windows always has been, they run and hide behind Excel.
I've been using Linux as a primary desktop and enterprise server since 1993. Never had a single problem. I built a 30-person business and four companies on it.
It's a better operating system, and it always will be.
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Whenever I see one of these screeds all I can think of is a ten-month old in a high chair screaming with a full diaper.
Stop using the docx format.
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They just upgrade the way Microsoft tells them to
Seems like an excellent idea! Or not...
LibreOffice has very poor support for these legacy formats.
Your definition of "legacy format" is apparently the newer office format. Libreoffice import actually very well older formats. It has a lot of more problems with newer Ms problems.
And in the enterprise, Microsoft has provided an adequate solution, and LibreOffice is simply a non-starter.
Nah, MS has provided a solution for some companies, which is not necessarily the best one even for them, and that is why Office use has been losing ground in US, Europe and most of the world in the enterprise market, and for some time now.
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:4, Informative)
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1 - I doubt it's true even just looking at the offcial information; (Or, in other words, I'm quite sure you didn't look)
2 - Lots and lots of software that claim not work on Linux do work.
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:4, Insightful)
One of the chief marks of being a geek is that, knowing what is possible and having a mind for connecting things together, one tends to understate obstacles and complexity.
So, a geek who understands that they can probably get a piece of software to work on Linux tends to miss that it may involve hours of work and break on the next upgrade, and that it probably will work badly with the USB scanner, and with a workflow which involves another piece of software, and that the entire thing is to complicated for most users.
The reality is that moving your whole computing life to Linux is more complicated than just "pop the disk in". When I moved from XP to Ubuntu 7.04, I had to get wine up and running for WoW. I had to switch a bunch of config files to make it use OpenGL. I had to adjust a bunch of settings to turn off poorly supported features. Then WoW worked. Next I had to get Barry-Utils to make my blackberry work. Then I had to get a custom mouse driver for my G9 to work. Then I had to fiddle around with Ventrilo to sort of kind of get it working (it immediately broke on upgrade to a new release).
Most things required a lot more tinkering once I upgraded again, particularly in the sound arena. Ventrilo never worked again after an upgrade, and is considered non-working on Ubuntu.
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When I moved from XP to Ubuntu 7.04, I had to get wine up and running for WoW. I had to switch a bunch of config files to make it use OpenGL. I had to adjust a bunch of settings to turn off poorly supported features. Then WoW worked.
Given that 7.04 was half a decade ago, you might want to use a more up to date example.
Last week I installed Steam under Linux. It was as simple as './winetricks steam'. Admittedly, I still had to know to use winetricks and download a more recent version of it, but that's a significant improvement over 5 years ago, especially as all you need to know for any piece of software now is:
a) use (the latest version of) winetricks
b) check the Wine AppDB if it still doesn't work
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe it's time to buy Software Suits that are Cross-Platform eh. It's a Company's own fault for locking themselves in to one OS.
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd rather guess it will work miracles in Apple sales.
Take my dad. He's ... well, let's say not too tech savvy. But then again, all he wants is some email, some web research for his hobbies, organize his pictures and writing documents. Open office took care of the latter and for the rest, there's an iBook.
It's easy, it's simple and it's something he can use without my aid (which is equally important to him as it is to me, he's a bit of a control freak).
So unless MS relents and lets people get some boxes with Win7, I kinda doubt that many will opt for Win8 and rather, if they have to learn a completely alien interface anyway, go for an Apple.
MS "relents" on the corporate side (Score:5, Informative)
So unless MS relents and lets people get some boxes with Win7
"Pro" versions of Windows 8 come with downgrade rights. Many businesses have been "buying" Windows 8 Pro but installing Windows 7.
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd rather guess it will work miracles in Apple sales.
Take my dad. He's ... well, let's say not too tech savvy. But then again, all he wants is some email, some web research for his hobbies, organize his pictures and writing documents.
Ubuntu Linux is a cheaper alternative to Apple OS/X covering every use-case you've stated as relevant to your father. Then again maybe a Google ChromeBook would be the ideal solution for him if he prefers "the cloud".
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I know, you know, but my dad and Linux just doesn't mix. Because for Linux you need to be a geek. Period.
You don't? Ok, you try to convince my dad, I spent enough time trying.
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Funny)
Just put it on there and tell him it's Windows L.
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Afaict at the moment you can still order new computers (and not just new old stock ones) with win7 licenses.
I suspect what MS will do when they end that is allow companies to sell machines pre-downgraded for a while. So you will be able to get machines with win7 but you won't find them in places like PC world, it will count as a win 8 sale, you will have to pay the extra for the pro edition and you may have to select from the "buisness" range rather than the consumer range.
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:4, Informative)
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Sounds like he'd be looking for ChromeBook. It's a lot easier to use than Apple OS.
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:4, Insightful)
if they have to learn a completely alien interface anyway, go for an Apple.
Microsoft screwed up here. If you're the incumbent with over 90% market share, never EVER push your customer into having to make a decision to do anything other than the status quo. Windows 8 should have been Windows 7 with the "Metro Marketplace" add-on for free. Then, nobody would have had any reason to hate it. Everyone would have just upgraded like cattle going through a gate.
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Because you might be a tech-illiterate and want to be CERTAIN that no matter what you do, it's virtually impossible to fuck up?
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So a pet rock?
Re:It'll do a lot for pre-installed Linux too... (Score:5, Funny)
I'm fairly certain that some users could set one of those on fire in under 5 minutes.
You can pry XP from my cold, dead hands (Score:5, Insightful)
For the business users still running XP, I don't see them flocking to buy new Windows 8 hardware. They are still on XP because either the software they run won't run on anything else, or they are small businesses that don't have an IT budget. As long as the hardware and software works, they aren't going to go out and buy new systems.
Re:You can pry XP from my cold, dead hands (Score:5, Informative)
For the business users still running XP, I don't see them flocking to buy new Windows 8 hardware. They are still on XP because either the software they run won't run on anything else, or they are small businesses that don't have an IT budget. As long as the hardware and software works, they aren't going to go out and buy new systems.
Until the first big virus hits that exploits a security hole that won't be fixed. When you realize you machines that can't be patched and will continuously be infected you may think differently about corporate security.
Re:You can pry XP from my cold, dead hands (Score:5, Insightful)
just because microsoft wont support it does not mean the antivirus vendors won't i can see them making lots of money off of xp support.
Re:You can pry XP from my cold, dead hands (Score:4, Informative)
Re:You can pry XP from my cold, dead hands (Score:5, Informative)
It depends. A/V software can hook large parts of the OS.
Most commercial A/Vs these days hook into the network stack at the packet-driver level (below the TCP stack), into the keyboard driver (anti keylogger, the hardware driver is hooked, and an encryption routine hooked. When a browser extension, or supported tool detects confidential data such as access to online banking, the encryption hook is enabled, and the key presses are encrypted at hardware driver level, and then decrypted by the browser extension; any keylogger running at anything higher than hardware driver will see only encrypted data).
For kernel bugs, it would likely be possible to hook the calls into the kernel at the appropriate point, and block "suspicious" activity. Similarly, for remote network attacks, an A/V system could simply drop packets known to contain an attack, before they get very far into the networking stack.
This probably won't fix all vulnerabilities, but pro-active A/V companies could certainly reduce the attack surface significantly.
Then, don't forget modern firewalls with deep packet inspection - many are capable of sophisticated protocol or application specific filtering.
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just because microsoft wont support it does not mean the antivirus vendors won't i can see them making lots of money off of xp support.
Corporate users will upgrade to windows 8 pro (or 8.1, soon) with windows 7 downgrade and install that. Home users who won't pay for Windows 7 won't pay for antivirus, either.
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While I don't disagree with that statement, you'd think by now that all the security holes would be fixed on XP. I mean they've had what 11 years to get it right.
Maybe the can security through obscurity?
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Are they still finding vulnerabilities in Linux 2.4 after all these years?
http://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-33/product_id-47/version_id-19616/Linux-Linux-Kernel-2.4.31.html [cvedetails.com]
Oh look at that, they are.
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Re:You can pry XP from my cold, dead hands (Score:5, Insightful)
Please enlighten me, how exactly does Microsoft's security support matter? No on even remotely sane uses a version of Internet Explorer that works on XP, and all other browsers will keep security support for foreseable future. The only element that's not trivial to seamlessly replace is SMB, and that's relevant for the local network only.
Other vital protocols:
* DNS: when the shit hits the fan, clueful admins for some and "Security Suites" for the rest will install a reasonable resolver and tell Windows to query 127.0.0.1
* sNTP: kill Windows Time Service; if you want replacement (I'm afraid most won't), you know what to install instead
* ARP: this is harder, but a low-level firewall can detect and block packets that would kill Windows
So folks will just continue the current state, slowly replacing Microsoft software. And in enterprise, block all SMB traffic other than to/from the domain controller and file servers, none of which need to run XP, or Windows for that matter.
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Please enlighten me, how exactly does Microsoft's security support matter? No on even remotely sane uses a version of Internet Explorer that works on XP
Except for big corps that still have large proportions of machines with XP.
Re:You can pry XP from my cold, dead hands (Score:5, Insightful)
At which time you discover that continuously re-cleaning the machines is STILL easier and less work and money than replacing the poorly written proprietary corporate dreck resembling a Rube Goldberg machine that only runs under Windows XP.
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At which time you discover that continuously re-cleaning the machines is STILL easier and less work and money than replacing the poorly written proprietary corporate dreck resembling a Rube Goldberg machine that only runs under Windows XP.
Tell that to your sales staff making $150k a year that you need to re-image or clean their machine twice a month. Better yet, watch their machine go down on the last day of the quarter causing you to miss your quarter. Stock tanks. Now your cost just went through the roof because you want to take the route of additional downtime versus fixing the problem outright. I would hope most people in the corporate environment know we use Windows 7 as well. This article discusses the pushing of new machines but
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Stock tanks. Now your cost just went through the roof because you want to take the route of additional downtime versus fixing the problem outright.
Then your dog dies, you contract Ebola, and your wife leaves you.
All because you didnt upgrade to Windows 7. When will people learn?
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If we haven't learned this by now, what makes you think it will change any-time soon?
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For the business users still running XP, I don't see them flocking to buy new Windows 8 hardware. They are still on XP because either the software they run won't run on anything else, or they are small businesses that don't have an IT budget. As long as the hardware and software works, they aren't going to go out and buy new systems.
Until the first big virus hits that exploits a security hole that won't be fixed. When you realize you machines that can't be patched and will continuously be infected you may think differently about corporate security.
Please explain that to the folks who purchase/load software on the machines in my office - I have no less than 3 business-critical programs I use daily, that are only compatible with XP.
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Please explain that to the folks who purchase/load software on the machines in my office - I have no less than 3 business-critical programs I use daily, that are only compatible with XP.
If you're like us, you are probably just headed to virtual machines. Your new computer will be Win7 and you'll click on your link to your program and it will run. It'll probably look like it used to, perhaps have some weird printing issues, and will be running on some server someplace in a closet although that bit will be mostly hidden from you.
Re:You can pry XP from my cold, dead hands (Score:5, Insightful)
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You have a receipt printer attached to a computer that is assumedly used as a cash register. Now it is quite possible that said cash register is cash only (perhaps you work at a towing company?).
That being said the overwhelming majority of cash registers are used with credit cards. Credit cards are subject to PCI audits and if your processor performed an audit you would find your contract rate jacked sky high or your contract terminated. This would remain the case until you were brought into compliance, whi
That's FUD but still correct in a way .... (Score:5, Insightful)
If a big virus hits that exploits a security hole that's unpatched, SOMEONE will offer a patch. I'm 99.999% certain. Why? Because regardless of Microsoft's wishes for XP to just go away, there are still too many people using it every single day (many of whom aren't even computer savvy enough to be able to tell you for sure which version of Windows they're actually using). A serious virus infection would #1, make Microsoft look really bad if they take a stance of "Too bad... we can't fix it.", and #2 would likely put entire networks at risk with the infected files getting copied onto shared drives on servers, uploaded to cloud shared storage locations, and more. It's quite possible such an infection would need an unpatched XP machine to secretly get installed in the first place, but newer OS's would have problems too if the users open attached files sent from the originally infected XP boxes.
If Microsoft stubbornly refused, some 3rd. party computer security firm would seize on the opportunity to get 15 minutes of fame with a free patch they'd circulate.
Re:You can pry XP from my cold, dead hands (Score:4, Informative)
For the business users still running XP, I don't see them flocking to buy new Windows 8 hardware. They are still on XP because either the software they run won't run on anything else, or they are small businesses that don't have an IT budget. As long as the hardware and software works, they aren't going to go out and buy new systems.
Exactly. Even large companies cut their IT budget over the last few years. We were doing 3 year leases where we got a new computer every 3 years. They extended the current leases to save money so I am stuck on XP until the replacement program starts up again this summer. My X200 laptop only supports 3GB of RAM, so simply upgrading is not an option.
Well, I guess that's one way ... (Score:5, Insightful)
"Pulling the rug out from under 40-50% of our clients should really shake things up and boost sales"
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"Pulling the rug out from under 40-50% of our clients should really shake things up and boost sales"
Unfortunately there's no rug pulling going on. Microsoft announced this end of life 3+ years ago. That's the lifetime of a many business pc's so this should come as no surprise to anyone.
Would I use old software? (Score:2)
Would you use a circa 2001 ver of linux or macos?
I'm assuming you are talking about "PCs" as we normally thing of them, not special-purpose boxes, embedded systems, etc.
The answer is yes, if either
1) I had to, because my applications wouldn't run on the newer versions (think PPC-only binaries that I don't have the source for - okay, that's mid-2000s-era, but still).
or
2) it got the job done without any negative downsides and the cost to upgrade (license fees, new hardware, training, etc.) was too high. Think isolated (no Internet) systems OR the mythical
Re:Well, I guess that's one way ... (Score:5, Funny)
Would you use a circa 2001 ver of linux or macos?
I run debian stable you insensitive clod!
the fun part is other programs/websites (Score:2)
http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/to?iso=20140407T115959&p0=1244&msg=Windows+XP+End+Of+Life [timeanddate.com]
i wonder how many websites and programs are now NOT supporting XP??
in 300 days i bet a lot of them won't
XP machines can run Google Chrome` (Score:2)
As long as Google Chrome supports XP ,it can use a modern secure browser....
Wishful Thinking (Score:5, Insightful)
Just because XP reaches its official "end of life" doesn't mean that people will throw out their computer and go buy a new one. For most people- and businesses too - as long as existing units still get the job done there is no compelling reason to buy a new computer. The fact that Win 8 is crap is also a factor.
Re:Wishful Thinking (Score:5, Insightful)
Many large institutions cannot legally continue using an out of support operating system.
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You sound really smart!
You don't.
For example financial institutions cannot expose themselves to the risks related to running internet-facing operating systems for which there are no security fixes.
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Replied to fast... "legal" in this case probably means contract law. ie they are constrained by existing contracts and other legal obligations to exercise resonable and well documented security practices.
I realize this is not the case in your basement/attic/living room/bedroom.
Security issues (Score:2)
still get the job done without being an unacceptable security risk to their employees, their data, or the rest of their network there is no compelling reason to buy a new computer.
There, fixed that for you.
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there is no compelling reason to buy a new computer
You'd think the idea of a permanently vulnerable OS connected to the net (sending your passwords, credit card numbers, or just about anything, to botnet owners) is not a reason compelling enough?
And who the fuck moderated this +5? Am I still on Slashdot?
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there is no compelling reason to buy a new computer
You'd think the idea of a permanently vulnerable OS connected to the net (sending your passwords, credit card numbers, or just about anything, to botnet owners) is not a reason compelling enough?
And who the fuck moderated this +5? Am I still on Slashdot?
Like home users give a crap about botnets or their own security.
/. who think the bank gives them free money. I mean a bank, the most merciless profit oriented organisations on the planet... handing out free money?
Most are utterly convinced the bank will automagically protect them from all the baddies.
Hell, there are people on
Son. People are naive, if this needs to be explained to you at this point, you are one of those people.
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Unless your computer is actually 10 years old from when XP was current, it will run win7. If you are on a corporate standard 3-year replacement program, odds are your last two computers came with a "Windows 7" sticker on them and was only rolled back to XP to be compliant with the rest of the infrastructure. You don't have to sell somebody a new PC for them to solve the problem of XP hitting EOL.
#define Win7 XP (Score:5, Insightful)
Win7 is the new XP.
Wrong question (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Wrong question (Score:5, Interesting)
This. A billion times this.
A lot of people don't really separate OS and hardware. They don't see the difference. To them, a computer comes with an OS and that's just something that is on the HD when they buy that thing. They don't even consider that they are essentially two very distinct things.
So when they consider "I need a new computer", they rarely really consider buying a new OS. The OS is simply something that is already on the box when they buy it. To them, this means that "new computer" invariably means "Windows 8". Because it has become near impossible to get complete hardware+OS bundles with anything but Win8.
And not wanting Win8 essentially means for them that they cannot buy a new computer now and have to wait until MS "fixes" this (with a new OS). Or they turn to different OSs. It might be interesting to check how Win8 affected Apple sales.
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well... (Score:3)
Re:well... (Score:4, Insightful)
Given the XP holdouts clearly don't like Microsoft's current offerings, and Mac is growing faster in percentage terms, and Linux appears to be finally getting somewhere - i don't think these XP holdouts will be migrating to another Windows box any time soon.
If the XP holdouts still prefer XP to Win7, they certainly are not going to gravitate to Mac or Linux. (Well some will, but the bulk are just too afraid of change to do anything that drastic.)
I migrated my parents off XP... (Score:5, Interesting)
to Windows 7 this year.
Windows 8 was just too much of a learning curve for them even if it were the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Windows 7 is similar enough to XP that I can sit them down at it and not have to reteach them everything. I can even make it look
like XP If I really need to. I cant do that with 8 unless I buy add-ons.
Also Windows 7 pro includes an XP virtual machine...so why bother with 8?
Windows 7 is barely 3 years old its not like its going anywhere anytime soon.
Wishful thinking ... (Score:3)
Businesses continue to use XP for a variety of reasons, and in a variety of environments. In some cases, they will be willing to upgrade their systems. I will suggest that does not hold true in most cases.
These businesses have invested a lot into their existing systems: hardware, software, and training. They are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of what they have, which reduces the burden of supporting them. Their systems are also in production, fulfilling roles within their operations.
Depending upon the state of their existing systems: replacing XP would involve reinvesting in hardware, software, and training. They will be unable to make effective use of the strengths of their new systems, and will also fall prey to the weaknesses of them. It will take a considerable amount of time to document those changes. Changes also involve pulling systems out of production, meaning that they are unable to fulfill their roles in their operations. All of this represents a liability.
I'm predicting that a most of those businesses will continue to use XP. They will mostly depend upon their strengths internally in order to maintain them. They will also contract out to third parties when they need to. New policies may pop up when it comes down to maintaining systems that are no longer receiving security updates, but they will justify them by claiming that those policies should be in place either way.
I think that HP would do a lot better by servicing those businesses.
and if.. (Score:3)
Move to Win 8 doubtful (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know if this is any sort of indication about the popularity of Windows 8, but I got my daughter a new Acer laptop with Windows 8 for a graduation present. She asked my to put Ubuntu on instead. Interestingly, she prefers Mate to the default Unity desktop. Aside: boots in seconds because I put /boot and /usr on the SSD drive. Very nice.
xp usuage (Score:2)
Windows 8 is beyond salvation (Score:3)
There is no salvaging Windows 8. Even Classic Shell doesn't fix a lot of Windows 8 problems - it just makes Win8 tolerable for a home user.
I see this more as an opportunity for improvement of heuristic engines in anti-malware programs, and the selling of more security-related licenses.
Or, possibly, big corps finally embracing either Linux or Macs.
Re: (Score:3)
There is no salvaging Windows 8.
Nonsense; they just need to peel back the silly touch UI and restore the old desktop parts.
Yes, it's a trainwreck of a PR issue, but no, it's not un-recoverable. That's just silly FUD.
XP's retirement won't shake PC slump (Score:3)
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The looming retirement of Windows XP won't stem the dramatic drop in PC sales this year, but it may help bolster Microsoft's revenue, analysts said today. Although experts expect some business laggards to buy new hardware as they try to replace the 12-year-old XP before it's retired in April 2014, the quantities won't be enough to move the PC shipment needle to the positive side of the meter. "Replacements for Windows XP won't be enough to offset the declines on the consumer side," said David Daoud, an analyst with IDC.
Re: (Score:2)
XP is that thing a lot of productivity software and hardware drivers still work on.
There is Windows 7, but shh shh is Legend.
Tales tell of other Microsoft operating systems that basically restrict your computer to phone level functionality, but it's a bitch to hold a tower with one hand while using a 22" touch screen in the other.
Re:XP? What's that? (Score:4, Funny)
Must be incredibly popular with chiropractors.
Re:"An offer you can't refuse" (Score:5, Insightful)
Whatever you call it, people were excited about Windows XP because of what it brought to the consumer desktop, and people actually upgraded to it on purpose. Same for Win2k vs. Windows NT on the corporate side. Which upgrades since have not been dreaded? Windows 7, which is just Windows Vista Unfucked Edition. How about on the server side? I haven't had to go there in a while, thankfully. Regardless, only a few delusional cases clung to Windows 3.1, or Windows 95, but Windows XP is fairly compelling even today with its low resource requirements and unparalleled compatibility.
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