Software giant Microsoft has finally washed its hands of stupid IT managers who will insist on running software which has been out-evolved by a slide rule.
For years, Microsoft has had to put up with business claiming that it did not need to upgrade the aging Windows XP boxes because they still worked - and if it was not broken it did not need to be mended.
Despite several attempts by Microsoft to prove how broken the software was in the face of today's security threats, businesses decided to save money by ignoring them.
Over the last few years there was considerable pressure on Microsoft to keep patching the hulk of an operating system, until it was more patch than OS.
In fact, some people believe the reason that other operating systems have not done so well is because Microsoft has continued to support XP when it should have given up a long time ago.
After all, it's not as if users can go somewhere else.
Linux is a dog on the desktop, Apple's OS is not secure enough for business, and most cloud based ideas involve giving all your data to America.
Now, according to the International Business Times, Vole has said enough is enough and it's washing its hands of the whole nightmare. According to PC World it is giving managers 1,000 days to spruce their ideas up and enter this decade.
Stephen Rose, the IT community manager for Windows, said once those 1,000 days pass, Windows XP will be on its own and prone to more security risks. In short, it will be seen for what it really is. A long term bodge job by IT managers who want to save cash.
Rose said that it would be great if the glory days lasted forever. But the reality is trophies get dusty, records are broken, and what it took to be the best ten years ago just isn't enough by today's standards.
With nearly half the world's PCs still running Windows XP it seems that there are going to be a few people having to start huge upgrade programs.
Upgrading to Linux, there will be a version that will be modern, free of security problems and supported for years to come - without the need to do a costly upgrade of hardware.
If I was selling an upgrade to my business, and gave them an option between spending 480 pounds to upgrade each machine and contributing more to global waste or spend 0 on actual upgrade costs but have to move our business process over to an Open Source and standards based model over the next 3 years - I am sure I know which one they would choose. Windows is a waste of money.
M$ is extending XP life out of fear of open source. If they push too hard, people might look somewhere else. In 3 years, most of the computers running XP will be broken or too slow to use anyway.
Who knows? In 3 years, M$ might even be out of business.
Big companies care not for this silly upgrade business. When they buy a computer, they plug it in and it stays in service until it dies. And then they try to reboot it a few more times just to be sure.
Now I dont give a truck if windows 8,9,10 or 25 million comes out. It doesn't change how my system runs. On my laptop I upgraded from Vista to XP. Now if only microfukers just hurry up and go bust. The world will be a safer place.
BTW Managers are stupid anyway but IT managers here might not be acting so stupid here after all. Why would they want to spend money on flavor of the month, who benefits? Micrownkers of course. If anything changing OS is a hassle, less benefits and more problems. Will Microbastards compensate? Think not. Scum of the earth.
Peddle your monomaniacal OS rants elsewhere and try giving us some real news next time.
Microsoft has 1,000 days to create something innovative or or move their extortion campain to someone else's county ... ( customizable 3d walk though desktop environment, import desktop VRML DXFs directly with fully user definable actions, like an in-built Half-Life engine with a full-screen sleep mode while applications have priority, and fully compatible with early 1990's Intel, <GRIN> )
Microsoft came out with the Shared Computer Toolkit that allows you to set up a computer to not save any changes. This means that, even if you get some sort of virus or trojan all you have to do to wipe it out is reboot.
I'm using this on a couple of my XP machines and it's great. About once a week I will manually update my antivirus definitions, run Windows Update, Adobe, HP, whatever other updates, and save those changes only. Only for that restart after updates do I have a slow startup. At all other times the computer boots very quickly, and rock solid stable.
What precisely do you think is insecure about OSX? Perhaps the viruses or the spyware or the requirement to run with Administrator priviledge? Nope, Nope and Nope.
I'm no Apple Fanboi but I can't see your justification for this statement. Indeed, users are dropping iPhone in their droves because that environment is too controlled...
For those that use old box O?S, find when chips are down, those old O/S will define new hardware, at point machines will insist on complete reinstall from windows 3.1 & up thru 5 series, 95/98 & xp. burning in correct gates for new stuff.
for old machine crowd that just is pennee per day admiration, Go GET:WINDOW THIN PC, available free from softpedia Free. 90 day trial. out last week, takes older xp & less machines, which will not run -=7=-, to new level, running -=7=-, by combo of virtulization & Thin O/s Total including SP1 for -=7=- 32 is 1.4 Gb, sounds large footprint, yet just right for 200-2005 machine. Aero Glass, NO Prob. Lights right Up. Older machines will have new life for decade.
Keep Old O/S from beginning, need IT all for new class of Machines coming, Profound Hardware chageing insight. -=8=-. gobble up mobi, gizmo, acessory stuff, not beyond NT6, so final & big step in hardware, with extra special topping of-=8=-. Need all tricks got if move up in year to HOT New Hardware. Perhaps older stuff might sustain upgrade thru Thin Pc, Certainly Thin Pc is recommended for those Machiones today. Don't stress antivirus or killer software stuff, IT is Thin on Slow Machine, yet IT is -=7=- All Way, thru core & REgistry.xp still gets all updates & tthose xp updates make fairly good machine, as promised from start, near ten years ago, just that Thin Pc makes machine noticably better, Much,Much Better, for Free.
Drashek MachineHead....
What a waste of time you are!!
Windows ever did. No blue screen of death, no stupid error messages, no upgrades that break my system or fail to install. Just spent an hour trying to fix a friends computer which had scads of failed updates, & couldn't run Windows update - error 80072EFD. Nuff said?
@Gordon Robbins - Where can we find this XP toolkit? MS seems to have forgotten all about it.
Windows 7 SP1 is an awesome OS, as I've learned from using it at work. XP64 was my fave for years, but I think I've made the switch and won't go back much except to visit.
As long as security is an afterthought for MS, and until we have a familiar alternative to Windows, we'll be vulnerable to the malware of the day.
Only problem is when you get a program that you need to run from work which doesn't work in wine - then I turn to XP.
Hopefully most software developers will continue to distribute XP compatible binaries ... I can live without the MS upgrades & support but it would be really sad to see programs for windows 7 only.
(for the record, at work, we've finally just about scraped together the considerable budget and manpower required to start converting SOME of our PCs to Win 7, after doing all the compatibility checks, making sure our painstakingly created user profiles will still work, etc... and spending money on replacing some ancient-but-functional hardware (originally ran W2k...) with up to the minute stuff so it'll keep going... but also experimenting with thin client tech to see if we can in fact keep that HW around because of the cost of replacement)
XP isn't even as old as my car, but it still gets me to and from work just fine after 11 years of much greater abuse than an OS suffers.
1. Windows XP is very un-secure, and has been from the very beginning. It's extremely simple to "break" and can be frustratingly difficult to repair once damage has been done. As it stands, even with full security updates, it basically invites hackers to develop malware for it. I would not use it for anything.
2. Windows Vista is bloatware. They implemented some marked security features, and then basically nullified these benefits by having the user log in with root priveleges. It runs incredibly inefficiently, it's very difficult to repair.
3. All windows operating systems require you to run anti-malware software that uses resources (memory & cpu power etc). So basically I am crippling the capability of my hardware by running these background applications all the time. These applications also slow down boot-time and can introduce problems of their own (as many users are familar wth).
4. Mac OSs have always been more secure than Windows, and probably always will be. It's actually based on OpenBSD which is in turn based on Unix (this is oversimplified, but it's an important distinction). As such, even if malware developers DID target the Apple OS, it is substantially more difficult (and possibly impossible) to cause real damage to the operating system. Anyone who says it's just because "There just aren't enough Mac users to invite malware developers ..." is retarded.
5. Generally, Mac users have higher incomes (this is obviously a simplified blanket statement). Mac users therefore are often more likely to have disposable income available. They are also *usually* less inclined to take steps to protect their personal privacy and personal information. As such, they are in *reality* a very popular target for *real* hacking scenarios. They are attracted to Mac users because the payoff is often greater. The OS *is* however, much more secure.
6. Saying Linux is a dog on the desktop because "It's more difficult to set up," or "takes longer to figure out" is retarded. In fact, it is probably one of the most retarded statements in this article. First off, there are countless "distributions" of Linux each with different benefits and features. Most Linux users will tell you that (perhaps until recent changes) Ubuntu has been the simplest operating system to install and use for the last 2 years or so. Take your computer (Specs almost don't matter whatsoever), put the CD in the drive, boot, answer a couple of questions (do you want to erase the disk, enter your time zone, enter your name), and 20 minutes later you have a fully funcional operating system. 9 times out of 10 you don't even need any further driver installations. And it comes with a pile of *useful* software that you won't have to install separately. Honestly, how is this more difficult that Windows?
9. Many of your consumer electronics have embedded versions of Linux that you interact with seamlessly all the time. Get with the times.
Anyhoo ... that's about it. Enjoy! Back to work with me.
This is, of course, on the proviso that they don't actually need Windows (that would be almost all of them with one exception I can think of).
After the install, I walk them through where they can find their stuff, where 'Word' (OpenOffice) and the 'Internet' (Firefox) is, and they are off and running - problem free!
Best of all, installing something like Linux Mint or Ubuntu with Restricted Software, is mostly hands off. No more searching vendor websites for drivers on another computer because the computer you installed XP can't find the f*cking network port!
No more viruses. No more hassles. And the users, while they might be put off a bit at first, have no complaints.
A dog? Truly Mr. Berridge? Perhaps you were thinking of it's loyalty to it's users? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - or the user.
An XP box capable of running Windows 7 works better with XP, as far as full screen non-choppy video streaming Netflix!
I can't believe that Microsoft still hasn't even fixed Win7 or Vista, as you can STILL (since it's release) right click the same file-type files in a folder, and get different menus...
Win7 is really bloatware, and XP still works better even on NEW hardware! Screw this, I am going uniformly Slackware...
That's like me buying a toaster and the wires being lose, and then the toaster manufacturer turning round to me and telling me we knew the toaster wires were lose before we sold you the product but it's tough your going to have to buy a new toaster.
Isn't it against trading standards laws to sell defect items, as Windows has security holes I would deem this to be a defective item, so therefore I might just see if Microsoft are willing to offer a full refund on a defective product. They had to buckle under pressure from trading standards over the XBox 360 RROD fault, they should also be held accountable for the defectiveness of Windows.
Run yer stuff in a compatibility box on Win 7 - it's not hard to do.
The real nightmare is about to begin with WIN 8 as NO legacy software will be compatible due to ARM RISC compatiblilty that Windows wants to write in.
So the market will have 4 O/S's shoved down our collective throats in 4 year. Add to that the Installed sofware base has ALL needed O/S upgrades.
And you all wonder why business is reluctant to upgrade?
Along with the O/S the entire installed software library needs upgrading.
Just incase nobody has noticed, we are teetering on the edge of a recession. A top to bottom software refresh of a Corporate network would be outrageously and unnecessarily expensive.
It's probably cheaper to disconnect the network from the internet to solve the security issues and issue Tablets to everyone for email and connectivity. Probaly fire less folks for IT porn violations.
Likewise, I know there are still places here in Pennsylvania that are using Windows 98 clients with Novell. Would you continue to insist that MS support these folks too because of the recession?
I'm having a hard time generating sympathy for business and/or software vendors at this point. They've had a DECADE worth of XP, and are promised still more for a while yet. MS simply cannot continue to support XP forever.
Even Linux purges it's drivers once in a while. Just recently they purged the Voodoo and S3 graphics lines from X.org. At some point, we all have to move on, otherwise, we'd all still be using C=64's.
Corporate networks again who cares not my point.
Continued MS support for XP again who cares. I'm not online with what runs XP.
But Microsoft needs to wonder why there is a huge majority of users still running XP and ask why?
Oh I know MS needs to keep programmers busy writing new code to sell but...
4 O/S refreshes in 5 years is excessive not only for business but for individuals like myself as well. I'm looking at several thousands of dollars of software upgrades to keep current with the O/S.
I didn't upgrade to Vista because I didn't want to upgrade my design software, then they released Win7 which I didn't upgrade as there were rumpours of Win8 over 3 years ago. And again I didn't want another forced upgrade for my design software. XP works perfectly fine.
However I know for a fact that WIN 7 crashes Autodesk products almost hourly.
So I stick with what works for me: XP and when Win 8 can be demonstrated to be stable then I'll upgrade.
Okay you don't agree. Fine.
I didn't post to argue with you. I posted to voice my opinion that Microsoft should try and get it right BEFORE they release the product.
Now MS wants to run Windows as an APP on your cell phone. Well how long to you think the blue screen of death will be tolerated while you try to make a phone call? Oh yeah and that's another O/S unless they can put 5 gigs of RAM on your phone just for the O/S.
"Linux is a dog on the desktop, Apple's OS is not secure enough for business"
Wow, Edward Berridge, you going for troll of the year?
*Comment typed on the desktop version of mans best friend*
Concerning Linux the dog...wll I never installed a Linux distro, I admit it, but I take not and read often about them. I think Debian is a very good distro, and far from being a dog. Most likely that's what will be installed on my Acer in 2014, Debian side by side with XP. I don't like to bash at Microsoft, it's a wondeful company that brought lot of things in our life, and has a set of products very efficient. XP included.
im not even running an Antiviri, they waste ram.
regards
Imran Bhullar