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Why do you still use Windows XP?



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 10th 12, 04:00 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Industrial One
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Posts: 159
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Give your reasons.

Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?

If you use both XP and 7, do you ever plan on ditching XP for good?

What will you do when support is dropped to the point where this OS
will be problematic with new hardware?

Personally I'm waiting for Windows 8 to release a second service pack.
XP sucked when it first came out until SP1. Even then, I find the
moron-babysitting idiot trend really annoying. It took me forever to
figure out how to shut off that piece of **** UAC on Win7 because
simply disabling it didn't work, it had to enabled then disabled to be
disabled for real. Sigh...
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  #2  
Old February 10th 12, 04:39 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
David H. Lipman
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Posts: 4,185
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

From: "Industrial One"

| Give your reasons.
|
| Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?


Just before or when Microsoft puts a dagger in the heart of the OS.


| If you use both XP and 7, do you ever plan on ditching XP for good?

I have XP on home built desktop and Vista business on Dell Latitude D620.

| What will you do when support is dropped to the point where this OS

I will build a new system to replace the one presently built around an ASUS
P4B533-V MB and...
* AGP ATI Rage Pro128 Plus
* PCI ATI Wonder VE
* PCI Adaptec Ultra 320 SCSI
* PCI Initio inic1620 SATA controller
* PCI 4 - Port USB 2.0 card
* PCI 2 - Port FireWire card
* USB Schlumberger Smart Card reader
* USB SanDisk 12-in-1 memory card reader
* HP PATA DVD+/-RW
* Iomega PATA ZIP250
* Pioneer SATA BlueRay DVD+/-RAM

I have already dumped an Adaptec 2940W connected to an external SCSI chassis
with 2 SCSI hard disks, 1 SCSI 32x CDROM and a Sony 9000 DAT24 tape drive.

|
| will be problematic with new hardware?

Will get new hardware.


|
| Personally I'm waiting for or
| Windows 8 to release a second service pack.
| XP sucked when it first came
| out until SP1. Even then, I find the
| moron-babysitting idiot trend really
| annoying. It took me forever to
| figure out how to shut off that piece of
| **** UAC on Win7 because
| simply disabling it didn't work, it had to
| enabled then disabled to be
| disabled for real. Sigh...

I have no plans to go to Windows 8 just because Microsoft releases it. By
that time my systems will be Windows 7 Pro.

Never jump on the OS band wagon until the first Service Pack is released.
That's been true since Win2K.

--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

  #3  
Old February 10th 12, 04:51 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Char Jackson
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Posts: 10,449
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

On Thu, 9 Feb 2012 19:00:56 -0800 (PST), Industrial One
wrote:

Give your reasons.


Partly because I'm too lazy to upgrade systems that currently work
perfectly well for their intended purpose, but mostly because the
arrival of a new OS on the market isn't a good enough reason to
upgrade.

I have 3 systems running Windows 7 and 3 systems running XP, and I'll
upgrade these last 3 systems when I need to. For these 3, that time
hasn't come yet.

Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?

If you use both XP and 7, do you ever plan on ditching XP for good?


Absolutely. Once the time comes to upgrade, why hang onto an old OS?
The key, though, is to know when it's time to upgrade. That's
different for many of us, as it should be.

What will you do when support is dropped to the point where this OS
will be problematic with new hardware?


I'll upgrade without hesitation. I totally don't understand the
thinking behind trying to hang onto an old OS years after support has
ended, referring specifically to anything before XP. I know of a few
people still struggling along with ME, 98SE, 98, and even 95, amazing
and silly as that may sound.

Personally I'm waiting for Windows 8 to release a second service pack.
XP sucked when it first came out until SP1. Even then, I find the
moron-babysitting idiot trend really annoying. It took me forever to
figure out how to shut off that piece of **** UAC on Win7 because
simply disabling it didn't work, it had to enabled then disabled to be
disabled for real. Sigh...


It took me way less than a minute to figure out how to disable UAC,
and I didn't have to jump through the hoop you mentioned. Still, I
think most people should leave it enabled.

  #4  
Old February 10th 12, 05:25 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Paul
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Posts: 18,275
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Industrial One wrote:
Give your reasons.

Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?

If you use both XP and 7, do you ever plan on ditching XP for good?

What will you do when support is dropped to the point where this OS
will be problematic with new hardware?

Personally I'm waiting for Windows 8 to release a second service pack.
XP sucked when it first came out until SP1. Even then, I find the
moron-babysitting idiot trend really annoying. It took me forever to
figure out how to shut off that piece of **** UAC on Win7 because
simply disabling it didn't work, it had to enabled then disabled to be
disabled for real. Sigh...


Went from Win2K to WinXP, when new 3D games installers would
no longer install into Win2K.

The thing is, Win2K has all the modern features of WinXP, so
from a "harvesting hardware" perspective, it was good enough
(even if it had a two core limit, by license).

I find Windows 7 visually hard to look at. (My eyesight isn't
very good.) Windows 8 looks a bit better in that regard. But
Windows 8 will have so much baggage, I'm not interested. It's
getting perilously close to the "walled garden" concept that
is so popular. No "walled gardens" (App Stores) or "clouds"
for me thanks.

"Windows 8 App Store Gets Gaming Launch Titles"
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817...069TX1K0001121

"Microsoft Confirms Windows 8 App Store"
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/18/mic...s-8-app-store/

Copies locked to PCs, no physical media, DRM to keep you in line.
And the same goes to "gating" developers on the other end of the system.

I'd stick with Windows 7 if I were you. Unless you like that
App Store crap.

You can't even get a decent dump out of Windows 8, when
some software croaks. And when I saw that, I realized
just how much control they planned to have over their
new OS and "ecosystem". Why do you need crash info, when
you don't "own" anything ???

Paul
  #5  
Old February 10th 12, 05:26 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Mayayana
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Posts: 6,438
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

| Give your reasons.
|

Because 98SE won't run on my current hardware. Actually,
once I got onto XP I found it notably more efficient than
98 on the same hardware, but it took some getting used to
the bloat and "brittleness". I spent about two weeks figuring
out the differences and figuring out how to clean up XP.
(By brittleness I mean the susceptibility, which increases
with each Windows version, to losing the whole system due
to relatively small things like a disabled service or a new
motherboard. 98 crashed more, but it was very rare that one
couldn't get out of a bad boot.)

| Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?
|

That sounds like one of those people who plans when they'll
buy a new car. They don't wait until the old one dies. They
only wait until their current car no longer impresses the
neighbors.

I don't "plan" to upgrade. I buy a new one when the old one
is no longer usable.


  #6  
Old February 10th 12, 08:24 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Nil[_2_]
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Posts: 2,170
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

On 09 Feb 2012, Industrial One wrote in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.general:

Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?


I'm already running Windows 7 and Vista on other computers in the
house. When my main computer needs replacing, or when I find a software
package that requires something later than XP - then I'll consider
mothballing XP. Until then my main computer works well and can do
everything I want it to, so I'm in no hurry to upgrade it.

Personally I'm waiting for Windows 8 to release a second service
pack.


What are you talking about? Windows 8 is only available as a
"developer's preview" which is incomplete and barely workable. It's so
raw that nobody should be using it in a production setting. I don't
believe it's at the Service Pack stage yet.

XP sucked when it first came out until SP1. Even then, I
find the moron-babysitting idiot trend really annoying. It took me
forever to figure out how to shut off that piece of **** UAC on
Win7 because simply disabling it didn't work, it had to enabled
then disabled to be disabled for real. Sigh...


I've turned UAC off and on a number of times. I never had to "enable
then disable it." I leave it on the family workstations now and I
barely notice it. I might turn it off my own computer that I worked at
day to day.
  #7  
Old February 10th 12, 08:58 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Bill in Co
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Posts: 1,927
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Mayayana wrote:
Give your reasons.


Because 98SE won't run on my current hardware. Actually,
once I got onto XP I found it notably more efficient than
98 on the same hardware, but it took some getting used to
the bloat and "brittleness". I spent about two weeks figuring
out the differences and figuring out how to clean up XP.
(By brittleness I mean the susceptibility, which increases
with each Windows version, to losing the whole system due
to relatively small things like a disabled service or a new
motherboard. 98 crashed more, but it was very rare that one
couldn't get out of a bad boot.)

Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?


That sounds like one of those people who plans when they'll
buy a new car. They don't wait until the old one dies. They
only wait until their current car no longer impresses the
neighbors.


Indeed. And I'm waiting until my old 1988' Nissan dies.

I don't "plan" to upgrade. I buy a new one when the old one
is no longer usable.


Hear!! Hear!! If that day ever comes.


  #8  
Old February 10th 12, 02:53 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
(PeteCresswell)
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Posts: 1,933
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Per Industrial One:
Give your reasons.

Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?

If you use both XP and 7, do you ever plan on ditching XP for good?


XP works for me, I have close to a dozen licenses via MSDN, and
every time MS brings out a new Windows they move the furniture
around.

A few man hours just for me plus the hassle of switching
back-and-forth on different PCs is no big deal, I guess... but
for a corporation with 20,000 employees who are dropping the same
amount of time just because MS moved the furniture around - that
seems to me like a beeeeeg deal.

If I were MS, I'd have a committee that had to listen to the
reason for every change in the UI on a new Windows - and either
approve or deny it.

I've got 7 on a couple of PCs where it was part of the PC
purchase. Can't say I dislike it... but they *have* moved
furniture around - seemingly for no reason at all - and I can't
see that it does anything for me that XP does not, except for
being a little more network-friendly in a new PC being able to
acquire my NAS box without having it's WorkGroup set to the same
as my home workgroup.

I'll dump XP when I have to - and no sooner.
--
Pete Cresswell
  #9  
Old February 10th 12, 09:10 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Stefan Patric[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 229
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

On Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:56 -0800, Industrial One wrote:

Give your reasons.


If it ain't broke . . .

Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?


No. I don't "plan" such things. When XP fails to meet my needs (or just
irreparably breaks), then I'll decide. However, the way Windows has been
evolving (or de-evolving) I may just abandon it all together. Mostly,
have anyway like with DOS and AmigaOS.

If you use both XP and 7, do you ever plan on ditching XP for good?


Never used Vista, an abominable, bloated beast; or W7, its corpulent
******* child.

What will you do when support is dropped to the point where this OS will
be problematic with new hardware?


What else? Keep running it on the OLD hardware just like I'm doing with
W2k on an 11 year old Thinkpad 240X.

Stef
  #10  
Old February 10th 12, 09:34 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
J. P. Gilliver (John)
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,291
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

In message
,
Industrial One writes:
Give your reasons.

Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?


At present, I have no plans to change (I wouldn't use the word
"upgrade"); however, I'm not wedded to not doing so.

If you use both XP and 7, do you ever plan on ditching XP for good?


I can't honestly answer that as I _don't_ have 7; however I'm in the
slightly unusual position of having had a 7 machine for 4 to 6 weeks (we
were buying a new PC for a non-computer-minded person, and we decided
[since she was/is unlikely to change again for many years] that a 7
machine was probably more future-proof. I was to "set it up" for her). I
found 7 not at all as hard to get on with as I expected; I found the
search-box-in-lots-of-places actually quite useful, in contrast to what
lots of people have found: possibly I found that the search function
actually worked better than I expected.

I will agree that they seem to have "moved the furniture around", as
someone else in this thread has put it, for the usual little good
reason. I also find the eye candy spurious, though not actually
irritating. (I have certainly noticed, from Windows 3.x on, that as
monitors have got higher resolution, icons etc. have got bigger and more
complex, so that the number on the average screen remains about the
same! And colour schemes have got more and more pastel - initially
that's because they could, originally there being only 16 colours, but I
genuinely find the default text colours in lots of Office 2010 - which
we've just moved to at work - harder to read, as they seem to be a
mid-grey. [I know I'm speaking of Office 2010, but it shares much of the
philosophy of Windows 7, IMO.])

What will you do when support is dropped to the point where this OS
will be problematic with new hardware?


Probably switch. That's what moved me from '9x to XP - though I went out
of my way to find an XP machine rather than, as was becoming the norm
when I bought this machine (netbook), Vista. (I think that's recognised
as wise in hindsight!) It was getting just too much hard work to make
new kit work with '9x (or to find kit that would).

I'm not a must-have-every-latest-gadget person, which is possibly why I
was able to stay with '9x for as long as I did. Similarly, I don't need
the latest in software tricks - particularly games, though unlike many
old-OSers, I don't have antagonism for those who _do_ enjoy games.

I must admit that XP seems a lot more stable (once I'd stopped using the
latest video driver that is buggy), though as another has said, 98
crashes were rarely catastrophic.

Personally I'm waiting for Windows 8 to release a second service pack.
XP sucked when it first came out until SP1. Even then, I find the


Certainly, each version - 3, 95, (98 to a lesser extent,) XP - have
always been better after a service pack or three.

Actually my own philosophy - though I'm not actually as organised as
this implies - is that the OS to have _for me_ is the one Microsoft are
trying to kill off; it's been around a long time, and there is a huge
body of people who know how to beat it into submission. XP is more or
less in that position; '98 was, maybe four or five years ago.

moron-babysitting idiot trend really annoying. It took me forever to
figure out how to shut off that piece of **** UAC on Win7 because
simply disabling it didn't work, it had to enabled then disabled to be
disabled for real. Sigh...


For us, yes. But for the ever-increasing numbers of new computer users
(at least I _think_ it's still increasing), such protection from self is
perhaps desirable - and it's for them that new OSs are mostly being
written. (Plus, as well, there's the move towards walled gardens like
the app. store, and the cloud, and similar; I dislike these trends as
much as anyone here, but there are sound commercial incentives driving
them. And many people new to computing, especially those who think they
have no use or want for a computer, it's what they want: I wonder, are
there more Apple users - including of those computers that pretend to be
telephones - than Linux users?)

Remember, half the population is of below-average intelligence ...

There, that's probably stirred things up a lot, especially with the
cross-post ... (-:
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Rule 46, Oxford Union Society, London: Any member introducing a dog into the
Society's premises shall be liable to a fine of one pound. Any animal leading a
blind person shall be deemed to be a cat.
  #11  
Old February 10th 12, 10:13 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Lostgallifreyan
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Posts: 194
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in
:

Remember, half the population is of below-average intelligence ...

There, that's probably stirred things up a lot, especially with the
cross-post ... (-:


I'll just go with that bit... more than half, if it's a bell curve. If it's a
sharp thornlike peak, much more than half.

The cloud/walled garden thing is what bothers me. It was never really so much
what OS we choose, but why we choose it. Choose one to live by, is my advice.
Make it home. Otherwise it will always someone else's home. Anyone who is
unaware of the perils of the walled garden should watch an X-File called
'Arcadia'. Never mind the tulpa bit, those CC&R's are REALLY scary.
That's where 'trusted computing' will lead. We have to figure this out for
ourselves. Even stupid people are expected to look and cross the road in a
manner that protects their own safety. If this were not so, then everyone
else, smart and stupid alike, would be diving into traffic like lemmings off
a cliff, trying to save those who won't save themselves.
  #12  
Old February 10th 12, 10:24 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Char Jackson
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Posts: 10,449
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:13:34 -0600, Lostgallifreyan
wrote:

The cloud/walled garden thing is what bothers me. It was never really so much
what OS we choose, but why we choose it. Choose one to live by, is my advice.
Make it home. Otherwise it will always someone else's home.


I think you're in the tiny minority, though. Most people use
applications, not an OS, so endless OS customizing isn't something
most people are interested in. Does it do what they need? If so, then
they use it and move on. Most people I deal with couldn't care less
which version of Windows is running, as long as they can do what they
want to do, such as get their email and Facebook updates.

IMHO, of course, based on what I see.

  #13  
Old February 10th 12, 11:01 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Lostgallifreyan
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Posts: 194
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Char Jackson wrote in
:

I think you're in the tiny minority, though. Most people use
applications, not an OS, so endless OS customizing isn't something
most people are interested in. Does it do what they need?


That specifically is true, but think through the implications. People expect
what they pay for to last, especially these days that Europe looks like
splitting up or dragging the OS down with it. People have been sold a
disposable way of life and come to realise how extreme the cost is.

If an OS fails to support their applications they won't use it. That cuts
both ways! It's not just about programs that won't run on W98 anymore, if
people are forced into expenses they can't afford, they will keep their
programs, and reject any new OS that fails to run them. So if people dig
their heels in a bit, they will not only protect themselves, but the rest or
us too.

If people believe promises more than the reality in front of them when it
comes to technical stuff, we're in trouble. We've already sleepwalked into a
global financial nightmare. How many more nightmares must we walk into before
we wake up?
  #14  
Old February 10th 12, 11:02 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Lostgallifreyan
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Posts: 194
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Lostgallifreyan wrote in
:

dragging the OS


US... I guess that particular typo comes with the territory.
  #15  
Old February 10th 12, 11:18 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Bill in Co
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,927
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Lostgallifreyan wrote:
Char Jackson wrote in
:

I think you're in the tiny minority, though. Most people use
applications, not an OS, so endless OS customizing isn't something
most people are interested in. Does it do what they need?


That specifically is true, but think through the implications. People
expect
what they pay for to last, especially these days that Europe looks like
splitting up or dragging the OS down with it. People have been sold a
disposable way of life and come to realise how extreme the cost is.

If an OS fails to support their applications they won't use it. That cuts
both ways! It's not just about programs that won't run on W98 anymore, if
people are forced into expenses they can't afford, they will keep their
programs, and reject any new OS that fails to run them. So if people dig
their heels in a bit, they will not only protect themselves, but the rest
or
us too.

If people believe promises more than the reality in front of them when it
comes to technical stuff, we're in trouble. We've already sleepwalked into
a
global financial nightmare. How many more nightmares must we walk into
before
we wake up?


Now,now, was that a rhetorical question??? (I, for one, already know the
answer, based on my observations of mankind over time)


 




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