"Spalls Hurgenson" wrote

|
| XP remains a capable OS, and so long as you practice safe-computing
| with it (which largely means, in this case, stay off the Internet!),

Which I just read on the Internet, running XP. I also
run Win7 on the Internet, but I wouldn't use that for
anything critical. It's too hard to control.... Oh, and I
don't install crap like MalwareBytes or AV. I just use a HOSTS
file and almost always turn off javascript in the browser.
Nearly all online attacks require javascript. You can't make
any computer safe if you run it. There's no such thing as safe
executable code.

| And while its Fisher Price interface is garish, it's
| still far more usable than Microsoft's more recent attempts.
|

Why would you use that? I'm running classic UI in both
XP and 7. That's always the first thing I do. Simpler. cleaner.
And wastes a lot less resources. The XP version is actually
done with bitmaps that have to be continually painted. The
Vista/7 semi-transparent Aero is such a pig that it required
newer hardware when it came out. That's what the Intel
915 chip fiasco was all about.

| My biggest complaint is that not only doesn't Valve support the OS,
| they actively prevent you from running Steam on it.

I don't use games, but I'm guessing that's a DirectX issue.
Games compete to use the very latest technology, in order to
get the most realistic action. The most realistic womens' hair and
nipples; the most realistic bleeding arm; the most realistic
explosions. If that's what you want then you just have to
always buy the newest, most expensive computers.