Why it's time to give up XP for good

[wheeledgoat]

I thought [url=http://www.howtogeek.com/77788/online-safety-why-you-should-give-up-windows-xp-for-good-2/]this article[/url] an interesting read. Maybe it'll be useful ammo as we go door-to-door looking for Linux converts!

I'm a little disappointed that Linux only gets a couple of brief mentions, but for as windows-centric as the article is, we should consider it a win! (I'd still love to see Linux added to some of those charts they have tho! hahahaha.)

[nomko]

Windows XP will be supported till april 2014. After that, Microsoft drops every support for XP which means that (security) updates and patches aren't available any longer. This means that every system running XP will be vulnerable for malicious software and online attacks. There's already predicted there's going to be a market for XP vulnerabilities, cyberspace criminals are selling codes and/or instructions to get access to systems running Windows XP and exploit them (source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9241585/XP_s_retirement_will_be_hacker_heaven?taxonomyId=85&pageNumber=2).

So, updating after april 2014 to Windows 7 or Windows 8 (or Linux for that matter) is not a marketing strategy of Microsoft but rather a need. Of course this is a money making action for Microsoft but on the other hand, XP is 13 years old.... and been caught up by Windows vista, Windows 7 and now windows 8. So XP deserves a retirement! And for Microsoft it's no longer worth maintaining an old operating system.

So, for security reasons it's time to ditch XP for a newer (and more modern) operating system.

[Bolle1961]

So, for security reasons it's time to ditch XP for a newer (and more modern) operating system.

Linux and Win7 if you really need windows is a good combination.
Forget win8, it sucks ...

Btw, win7 will be supported until january 2020

[nomko]

Linux and Win7 if you really need windows is a good combination.
Forget win8, it sucks ...

Btw, win7 will be supported until january 2020

That's good news! I'm not going to say that Win8 sucks, but it's not the most favourite Windows of all times! Most Windows users prefer Win7 over Win8 and that's for a good reason!

[wheeledgoat]

I'll go out on an limb and bash Win8 for a minute, but it's not blind hatred talking. Very specifically, my sister-in-law (who lives out of town) bought her father a laptop w/ Win8. English is his second language, and to say he's computer illiterate would be an understatement. The main goal is that he stream his radio stations from the old country in Europe in his native language.

We spent the better part of a weekend getting everything set up with this new laptop. I was unfamiliar with Win8, and found my initial experience to be unintuitive. Accomplishing the simplest tasks required googling for the how-to.

The interesting part of the experience is this: Windows 8 fails on all fronts.
Me: a somewhat experienced and capable computer user, familiar with other OS's and mostly proficient power user
My sister in law: somewhere in the middle, probably average user. mostly uses macs but get get around windows just fine too.
My father-in-law: a newbie to computers with no pre-conceived notions getting in the way

Win8 is difficult to use for all of us. I find that noteworthy.

I see Win7 as the XP replacement for a solid OS. Hopefully M$ will stop trying to force their metro interface where it doesn't fit and realize that one size doesn't fit all.

[daveinuk]

What a perfect opportunity for some stickies to draw people in at the top of the forum along the lines of -

Resizing your XP HDD to install Linux Mint

Replace your XP install with Linux Mint

How to secure your XP desktop by formatting it with Linux Mint

etc etc . . . . .