Author Topic: WinXP is officially dead! (Read 60332 times)

dr_andus · « **Reply #50 on:** April 19, 2014, 05:55 PM »

Well, Avast say they will continue to support XP users for the next 3 years:

avast! blog » Windows XP users sticking to the OS despite support cutoff

As AVAST users they are protecting themselves since we will continue to support Windows XP users for at least the next three years. This number is relatively high considering the security risks involved with the OS and makes one wonder how many XP users are not concerned about their protection and aren’t planning on upgrading their OS, buying a new PC or seeking AV that will support them. AVAST has been creating protection modules and detections specifically designed to cover Windows XP vulnerabilities and other security problems. We recommend non-AVAST Windows XP users download AVAST for the added protection. avast! 2014 is a light product, both in terms of speed and resource consumption, tailored for older PCs running XP. In addition to this, we recommend users stop using Internet Explorer, as the browser poses an even larger threat when used on Windows XP. The latest version of Internet Explorer for Windows XP is 8, which is outdated and lacks many security improvements available in later versions of the browser. We recommend XP users switch to a safer browser that updates itself, like Google Chrome.

I also checked AVG, and they say:

5529 AVG support for Windows XP

AVG software will continue to work and receive new program versions and antivirus updates.

To keep your computer safe, we recommend to upgrade your Windows to a newer version (Windows 7 or . To prevent web-based attacks aimed at outdated versions of Internet Explorer, you can increase your on-line safety by installing an alternative Internet browser, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #51 on:** April 20, 2014, 08:37 AM »

Maybe what's needed is a fake version handler. Like when your Firefox browser says it's IE so the web page will load. Replace the GetVersionEx() API to return 6.1.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #52 on:** April 26, 2014, 09:20 AM »

On the topic, this is worth a read:The... Windows... XPocalypse... is... NIGH

x16wda · « **Reply #53 on:** April 26, 2014, 02:50 PM »

Well, Avast say they will continue to support XP users for the next 3 years:
-dr_andus (April 19, 2014, 05:55 PM)

Just as a side note... the ESET business antivirus product (here) still supports Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000...

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #54 on:** April 27, 2014, 05:32 AM »

I actually think Win 8 will be the last (ok maybe second to last) "for sale" as opposed to "for lease" OS Microsoft will do.
-40hz (April 09, 2014, 09:01 PM)

Not so sure - they probably want to do that but are system builders going to accept that as a model. "Yes sir our computer comes with Windows 9 preinstalled, but it you want to use it after the 60 day trial you will have to pay £/$69.99 each year"

Can you imagine the chaos in shops and online returns when people realise that they have bought a computer that they can only effectively rent from Microsoft? The number of returns and complaints would be totally massive.

Either that or it will give OEMs the jolt they need to start offering alternatives.

Hate to say it but Apple and Linux are starting to look interesting to me!

Ath · « **Reply #55 on:** April 27, 2014, 06:52 AM »

And the first (IE) security isue, affecting a.o. Win XP, has been found. Read more here

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #56 on:** April 27, 2014, 08:30 AM »

I happened to see this sentence in the article:
" We recommend applying a patch once available."

Uh... how is a patch being made available? Is it some kind of back door route via the government's support contract?

app103 · « **Reply #57 on:** April 27, 2014, 10:07 AM »

I happened to see this sentence in the article:
" We recommend applying a patch once available."

Uh... how is a patch being made available? Is it some kind of back door route via the government's support contract?
-TaoPhoenix (April 27, 2014, 08:30 AM)

Their recommendations of applying a patch applies to those not running XP or older. Look at what versions of IE are affected, 6-11. XP shipped with 6 and could be upgraded to 8, but not 9+. So there are other versions of Windows affected, ones that are still receiving security updates.

bit · « **Reply #58 on:** April 28, 2014, 12:09 AM »

the day has arrived! support for the persistent WinXP has officially ended. anyone here going to defy microsoft and keep using winxp?
• http://www.microsoft...n-us/xp/default.aspx
-lanux128 (April 08, 2014, 12:18 AM)

My WinXP works just fine; but I only use it for programs that won't work on my newer Win7; I keep them on separate HDs, and when one is plugged in, the other is not.

Oh, and BTW, I cannot tell you how many times WinXP crashed and wrecked its MBR, forcing me to run a complete backup restore from a backup HD to get it back.
OTOH, 99% of the time when Win7 crashes it retains its MBR and reboots in less time than it took me to type this.

wraith808 · « **Reply #59 on:** April 28, 2014, 05:28 AM »

Oh, and BTW, I cannot tell you how many times WinXP crashed and wrecked its MBR, forcing me to run a complete backup restore from a backup HD to get it back.
OTOH, 99% of the time when Win7 crashes it retains its MBR and reboots in less time than it took me to type this.
-bit (April 28, 2014, 12:09 AM)

This. So much this. My last WinXP machine in regular use has this problem. I just haven't taken the time to restore it, especially since its gone soon. I just use my WinXP disk to boot...

Josh · « **Reply #60 on:** April 28, 2014, 05:37 AM »

I would like to see what applications don't work on Windows 7/8 that only work on XP. I have yet to run into one. I don't doubt they exist, but in all of my tinkering I have yet to find one.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #61 on:** April 28, 2014, 06:47 AM »

Anything written a long time ago for 16 bit won't run on 64 bit (I have run into a few deal breakers for customers) - even Microsoft Office (earlier editions than 2003) is not fully compatible with Windows 7.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #62 on:** April 28, 2014, 06:49 AM »

Oh, and BTW, I cannot tell you how many times WinXP crashed and wrecked its MBR, forcing me to run a complete backup restore from a backup HD to get it back.
OTOH, 99% of the time when Win7 crashes it retains its MBR and reboots in less time than it took me to type this.
-bit (April 28, 2014, 12:09 AM)

This. So much this. My last WinXP machine in regular use has this problem. I just haven't taken the time to restore it, especially since its gone soon. I just use my WinXP disk to boot...
-wraith808 (April 28, 2014, 05:28 AM)

Sounds much more like a hardware fault than down to Win XP - only disk corruptions I have ever come across in XP have been down to hardware issues.

Deozaan · « **Reply #63 on:** May 01, 2014, 01:55 AM »

I would like to see what applications don't work on Windows 7/8 that only work on XP. I have yet to run into one. I don't doubt they exist, but in all of my tinkering I have yet to find one.
-Josh (April 28, 2014, 05:37 AM)

I have an old game that I like to play occasionally. It's an awesome 4x game called Stars!^w with play-by-email feature (made even easier with something like Dropbox to sync the files). Sadly it's a Win 3.1 game so it was only 16-bit which means I can't play it on Windows 7. That's the only thing I've ever had a legitimate use for that had that problem.

Edvard · « **Reply #64 on:** May 01, 2014, 03:03 AM »

Any 16-bit stuff can run just fine in a VM with Windows 3.1 or better (I chose Win95

) and old DOS games and utilities have a very good chance of running just fine with DOSBox.

mwb1100 · « **Reply #65 on:** May 01, 2014, 03:24 AM »

I think that Win7 32-bit should run Win16 programs (but I'm not sure about this). If so, I wonder if the key used to activate a Win7-x64 host can be legitimately used to run a Win7-x86 instance as a guest in a VM? It seems to me that that should be legitimate since it's all running on the same machine, but it probably isn't allowed by the activation servers.

Anyway, if you want free older 32-bit Windows installations - for short term use - you can find virtual machine images provided by MS here:

- http://www.modern.ie...virtualization-tools

You can get a VM by extracting the image from the download package files - each VM is in a multipart RAR archive. The image will run for 90 days after it is first booted, so it's not good for long term use. however, fo playing a once in a while game, it's probably long enough. And if you needed more time, the game files could probably be copied off then copied back to a new instance of the VM.

Once the VM expires, you only have to extract the VM again from the files you already downloaded - there's no need to re-download. It'll be in a fresh-boot state and will work for another 90 days. This is different that how the IE test images used to work - the VMs used to have hard-coded expiration dates, and when those dates passed you had to download new VMs from MS. These downloads can be used indefinitely (as far as I know), but have to be 'reset' to the pristine image every 90 days.

The site currently has WinXP, Vista, Win7 Win8 and Win8.1 32-bit images with various IE version choices depending on the OS choice for a variety of virtualization software (VMware, VirtualBox, VirtualPC and Hyper-V). Great for testing (that's what they're there for), and probably good for other uses, too.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #66 on:** May 01, 2014, 05:19 AM »

Not sure if 16 bit runs OK in 32 bit Win 7 but since most computers over the last couple of years have have 64 bit pre installed (I have a DVD of Win8 32-bit but I have yet to see a single computer with it installed) you are stuck with the VM route.

techidave · « **Reply #67 on:** May 01, 2014, 05:36 AM »

could you right click the executable file to choose Compatibilty Mode and then choose Win XP SP3 to run as?

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #68 on:** May 01, 2014, 06:07 AM »

not if it is 16 bit app, and anyway compatibility mode has a pretty hit and miss success rate

sazzen · « **Reply #69 on:** May 30, 2014, 08:35 AM »

It's not dead at my house. In fact it's been very busy of late.

Curt · « **Reply #70 on:** June 10, 2014, 11:43 AM »

From some point of time in the month of July Java will no longer support XP.

Ath · « **Reply #71 on:** June 10, 2014, 12:16 PM »

From some point of time in the month of July Java will no longer support XP.

-Curt (June 10, 2014, 11:43 AM)

Got any documentation on that? Java 8 already doesn't support XP, I know that, but I haven't seen any annoucement about older versions, other than Java 7 going EOL from July 15th. (Yeah, I've been watching Oracle quite closely for Java releases)

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #72 on:** June 10, 2014, 01:02 PM »

From some point of time in the month of July Java will no longer support XP.

-Curt (June 10, 2014, 11:43 AM)
Got any documentation on that? Java 8 already doesn't support XP, I know that, but I haven't seen any annoucement about older versions, other than Java 7 going EOL from July 15th. (Yeah, I've been watching Oracle quite closely for Java releases)
-Ath (June 10, 2014, 12:16 PM)

This is the angle that's starting to worry me.

It's one thing when MS doesn't support the OS anymore, but then all the secondary and tertiary people aren't either.

It was a long time ago, but it didn't feel this way way back in the day when Win 98 and Win 2000 dropped out of support. I had independently moved to a new comp more from hardware perspectives, so it didn't matter. But I really tried very very hard and won when I built my current project machine to make it last "almost forever" and except for a few suspicious glitches, I basically don't need anything else, so it's the "heavy" tone of the current environment that's bothering me. (Silly vampire novels aside, I specifically named it "Twilight" because I designed it to carry through the end of XP and this year it's mission is official.)

I'm not exactly in the "XP Rulez forever" camp. Win 7 is a strong contender, esp because at my other job I learned how to flip stuff back to usability. It's more like I need one of those "game show rewards" to just magically take and replace absolutely everything and replace the backbone and reload everything. I just don't have the energy to do that right now even if I magically had the money.

Plus a little part of me "feels sad for the hardware" and wants to know if my very best effort from 2006 can run the most brutally stripped copy of Win 9 which was the final design goal I envisioned way back, because then that's new enough to ride it off into the horizon for its design mission goal.

app103 · « **Reply #73 on:** June 10, 2014, 01:23 PM »

It was a long time ago, but it didn't feel this way way back in the day when Win 98 and Win 2000 dropped out of support.
-TaoPhoenix (June 10, 2014, 01:02 PM)

Actually, it was much worse when Win98/ME hit final EOL. By the time it happened, the majority of developers had already stopped supporting it.

I should know, I was still using WinME at the time. Microsoft dropped support in July 2006, but I was already having a lot of trouble with developers dropping support for 9x in their apps, back in 2003...3 whole years before official EOL.

And less than 6 months after EOL, it was really tough to find any Antivirus vendor that still supported it. Even AVG dropped support, not even offering dat updates for the last version that would run on 9x.

rgdot · « **Reply #74 on:** June 10, 2014, 01:32 PM »

The time to criticize MS (and by extension those who build MS tools) for dropping XP support is long gone. The inferiority of any successor doesn't make it ok to expect extended support. If the successors are poor, find an alternative. If alternatives don't exist hold your nose and move to that inferior successor.

Even my mother's non-smart phone is newer than XP and she's had had it 'forever'