Windows XP was released 20 years ago today

[dainthomas]

Damn crazy to think it's that old.

Lot of companies (especially banks and hospitals) rely heavily on it even today. It's the Abrams tank of operating systems.

My old employer (a utility) had to be dragged kicking and screaming from XP. People still bitched about moving to 7 even though it had been out for years at that point.

 

[Muse]

My old employer (a utility) had to be dragged kicking and screaming from XP. People still bitched about moving to 7 even though it had been out for years at that point.

Now that 7 isn't supported can I install it without needing to verify? I have an XP midtower that I was hoping would successfully suspend if I run W7 on it instead.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I remember some kind of controller I used to use or service that had XP Embedded, but I'll be damned if I can remember what it was.

 

[MtnMan]

And 20 years before XP, there was MS_DOS 1.0, released in August 1981.

 

[Captante]

 

[mikeymikec]

Now that 7 isn't supported can I install it without needing to verify? I have an XP midtower that I was hoping would successfully suspend if I run W7 on it instead.

XP still needs activating to use, let alone Win7

 

[Captante]

XP still needs activating to use, let alone Win7

However both versions CAN be activated pretty easily using "other means".

 

[dainthomas]

Now that 7 isn't supported can I install it without needing to verify? I have an XP midtower that I was hoping would successfully suspend if I run W7 on it instead.

That's a good question. Couldn't find any info on it.

 

[PingSpike]

What? You think the last update removed activation? LOL...no. But expect them to shut down the activation servers at some point so it cannot be activated at all. They already shutdown the update servers so you can't update new XP installs.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I think I have SP3 somewhere.

 

[Kaido]

My computer crashed just loading that picture.

iloveyou.exe

 

[mikeymikec]

Start or Please Stop? Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

'People wanted a cleaner and simpler Start' said Microsoft, but not everyone's happy

www.theregister.com

IMO, just like when Windows 8's Start was 'the result of feedback', this is what the form of feedback took:

I bet so many millions of Microsoft users told Microsoft, "please MS! Get rid of all of these options and features! And under no circumstances do we want an old-style Start menu because that's what we're used to!".

And then the UX designer's hand puppets made out.

 

[Kaido]

Start or Please Stop? Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

'People wanted a cleaner and simpler Start' said Microsoft, but not everyone's happy

www.theregister.com

IMO, just like when Windows 8's Start was 'the result of feedback', this is what the form of feedback took:

I bet so many millions of Microsoft users told Microsoft, "please MS! Get rid of all of these options and features! And under no circumstances do we want an old-style Start menu because that's what we're used to!".

And then the UX designer's hand puppets made out.

It's a marketing gimmick:

1. Microsoft needs to sell software & hardware to stay in business
2. The rule is that every other OS is garbage. ME, Vista, 8, 11
3. This generates negative buzz, which Microsoft then responds to by releasing a "new better OS", thereby selling more software & hardware as people get the relief of getting off a crappy OS

 

[Torn Mind]

Microsoft is the company that can make good stuff that works well but they are either late to the party or people hold their duds against them. Windows Phone is a lamentable loss as a pure phone OS.

I'm still holding on to Windows 8.1.

 

[YuliApp]

I feel old now.

 

[Captante]

I'm still holding on to Windows 8.1.

I played around with installing 8.1 about 6 months ago and while I was able to make most things work conveniently (after installing Start-8!), the lack of up to date drivers makes gaming rough and the menu systems just suck.

Beyond that, again 8 did/does work and was mostly stable, also extended support is in effect until 1/10/23 so have at it.

Windows 10 however is exponentially better and free with your 8.1 key ... not sure what the attraction to 8 is.

11 OTOH is really starting to look like a bad joke... time will tell.

 

[Kaido]

I played around with installing 8.1 about 6 months ago and while I was able to make most things work conveniently (after installing Start-8!), the lack of up to date drivers makes gaming rough and the menu systems just suck.

Beyond that, again 8 did/does work and was mostly stable, also extended support is in effect until 1/10/23 so have at it.

Windows 10 however is exponentially better and free with your 8.1 key ... not sure what the attraction to 8 is.

11 OTOH is really starting to look like a bad joke... time will tell.

The TPM 2.0 requirement is so dumb!

 

[Captante]

The TPM 2.0 requirement is so dumb!

Microsoft does and doesn't want you to know it won't stop you manually installing Windows 11 on older PCs

Or not?

It seems MS doesn't really care.

 

[YuliApp]

My second workstation still uses 8.1 but kind of thinking about upgrading it. For some reasons all programs run worse and worse without apparent reason.

 

[Kaido]

Microsoft is the company that can make good stuff that works well but they are either late to the party or people hold their duds against them. Windows Phone is a lamentable loss as a pure phone OS.

I'm still holding on to Windows 8.1.

I played around with installing 8.1 about 6 months ago and while I was able to make most things work conveniently (after installing Start-8!), the lack of up to date drivers makes gaming rough and the menu systems just suck.

Beyond that, again 8 did/does work and was mostly stable, also extended support is in effect until 1/10/23 so have at it.

Windows 10 however is exponentially better and free with your 8.1 key ... not sure what the attraction to 8 is.

11 OTOH is really starting to look like a bad joke... time will tell.

Just a reminder that the Free Windows 7/8/8.1 upgrade to Windows 10 is still working! Direct link from Microsoft:

https://download.microsoft.com/download/7/a/a/7aa0472b-49a0-46d1-b651-e8a2c53f1fe4/Windows10Upgrade9252.exe

 

[PingSpike]

I played around with installing 8.1 about 6 months ago and while I was able to make most things work conveniently (after installing Start-8!), the lack of up to date drivers makes gaming rough and the menu systems just suck.

Beyond that, again 8 did/does work and was mostly stable, also extended support is in effect until 1/10/23 so have at it.

Windows 10 however is exponentially better and free with your 8.1 key ... not sure what the attraction to 8 is.

11 OTOH is really starting to look like a bad joke... time will tell.

Well, 8.1 has the advantages of being able to actually turn off updates and the UI isn't constantly being "updated" since MS lost interest in it. I hated it when it came out but its possible to fix its UI to be passable. I disagree on 10 though, I don't think it really has much going for except that its better supported.

As far as drivers, well I'm not familiar with all drivers but I recently learned you can install the newer AMD Windows 7 GPU drivers even though they aren't officially supported anymore. It was sort of informative how little support actually means when Windows 8.1 was dropped by AMD while they kept coming out with Windows 7 drivers well after it was EoL.

 

[Captante]

Well, 8.1 has the advantages of being able to actually turn off updates

Being exempted from the majority of MS's recent update related woes is about the ONLY advantage 8/8.1 has over 10. In EVERY other meaningful way it totally sucks in comparison.


As I said however .... feel free to have at it with 8/8.1. (at least until Jan 2023)

Heck there are folks out there who think durian smells delicious!


EDIT: And the ONLY reason Win7 still gets better driver support even today then 8 despite being EOL is because MANY, MANY more people still run it then 8/8.1.

 

[Torn Mind]

Being exempted from the majority of MS's recent update related woes is about the ONLY advantage 8/8.1 has over 10. In EVERY other meaningful way it totally sucks in comparison.


As I said however .... feel free to have at it with 8/8.1. (at least until Jan 2023)

Heck there are folks out there who think durian smells delicious!


EDIT: And the ONLY reason Win7 still gets better driver support even today then 8 despite being EOL is because MANY, MANY more people still run it then 8/8.1.

Transferable license, muddafucka.

 

[Captante]

Transferable license, muddafucka.

I own 4 Win 10 Pro licenses based off retail versions, ALL 4 of which are fully transferrable to a new system. (the single Home version I have is OEM and hardware-locked)

And again, since its 100% possible (and SIMPLE!) to install/upgrade Win 10 for ZERO charge I'm having trouble seeing why a "transferable license" matters in any way.

Win 8 is less stable, less secure, looks like child's rendering of Windows, is substantially slower, is more resource-hungry, is less compatible with games and new software .... I could go on.

 

[Torn Mind]

I own 4 Win 10 Pro licenses based off retail versions, ALL 4 of which are fully transferrable to a new system. (the single Home version I have is OEM and hardware-locked)

And again, since its 100% possible (and SIMPLE!) to install/upgrade Win 10 for ZERO charge I'm having trouble seeing why a "transferable license" matters in any way.

I like having a clear conscience.

And avoid those "disaster updates" that's happened more than a few times with 10. I cannot afford disaster.