[Closed] Microsoft ending support for XP

If your still running XP you should have good reasons and good protection (like unplugging the network cable)

Last big place I worked in the UK had moved 90% to Win 7 about 3 years ago and anyone in the business will have known for a while. If your still running it at home just swap over to Linux or put 7 on, the basic versions should still run.

It's more of a business issue really, as many organisations are still running XP - mainly due to the sheer effort to move off.

Which is why MS have kept extending the end-date.

If your still running XP you should have good reasons and good protection (like unplugging the network cable)

???!!

7 is so much better than XP anyway, they should have done this ages ago tbh!

most legacy machines are left because they are needed and nothing else will work, we used to have Win 3.1 machines in labs and stuff like that running a lot of stuff. But it was always isolated and never online. As there will be no more security patches any exploits will stay. If you have it connected it will be vulnerable.

Any cause for concern? Of course there is, unless you are of course a microsoft programmer who can patch future security holes in the operating system 🙂

Don't also forget that its not just Microsoft ending support, any other program will end official support for it as well I would suspect.

wow - people need to move on, it's an OS that's 5 years out of date..

it's an OS that[s]'s 5 years out of date[/s]

johnners - Member
it's an OS that's 5 years out of date
Microsoft has spent years trying to sell you a replacement for.

I was using XP until 2 years ago and I'm glad to see the back of it. 7 is a huge leap forward and I will probably stick with it until the 8 issues go away (when 9 arrives)

[i]people need to move on[/i]

The council lost 10 years worth of records of my wife's pension contributions because 'someone' in IT decided they should throw out all PC's running XP that were incapable of being upgraded.

This included the only PC left in HR capable of accessing the archived data CD's from their previous payroll system.

They then also threw the archive CD's out because 'you've not got any equipment that can read them'.

It was only 'cos some bloke had kept a few microfiche records 'for old times sake' that my wife didn't lose out on 10 years of pension rights.

[edit] the problem is sometimes not people deciding not to upgrade their OS it's that the proprietary software they use wont; run on newer versions of windows

XP is twelve years old. Vista is 7.

It can't die soon enough, far as I'm concerned.

Except mostly it's 32bit so doesn't handle more than 4gb of ram

That's really your only valid point, and for many uses it's a compelling one.

Your other three points arise just because someone has decided that it should be so.

Moreover,

If you're running a system modern enough to have over 4Gb and you're wanting to run Windows XP on it, you really need to have a serious word with yourself. That's crazytalk and I pity the foo'.

"the problem is sometimes not people deciding not to upgrade their OS it's that the proprietary software they use wont; run on newer versions of windows "

this. Ive been pushed onto a windows 7 system for my main computer but i now have to carry two laptops - yay.

XP emulation doesntwork - been there with several products but its so unstable once i open my software its unworkable

I'm with johnners on this.
Perfectly good operating systems go out of date because MS say they are and want to sell you a new one.
S'all about the $

this. Ive been pushed onto a windows 7 system for my main computer but i now have to carry two laptops - yay.

Have you looked at Vmware or something like that? I have an XP VM that I can run up when I need something on XP and works a treat. No need to carry another laptop, just 15GB of filespace used up.

It doesn't address the craziness that's having to have 2 systems - just stops you having to carry so much stuff around.

There are still some apps out there which only run on XP, hence the XP virtual machine free with W7 Pro, which I use to run such apps.

The council lost 10 years worth of records of my wife's pension contributions because 'someone' in IT decided they should throw out all PC's running XP that were incapable of being upgraded.

I think the problem here is the staff that the local council employ...

Microsoft are only ending support, which doesn't mean that you can't still run it, just that you have to support it yourself.

If MS were to offer a paid support program for XP, which would obviously be charged at an appropriate level, and it pulled in enough money to make it viable, then guess that they would still support it.

Still run windows 2000 at home, although haven't booted it for quite a while. It's usable on my eeePC netbook, even in a VM too. Stayed on that version, because you don't have to do all that registration nonsense every time you reinstall, to prove you're not a copyright thief.

Do have an XP licence too. No intention whatsoever of upgrading, just to run the windows s/w that already runs on my machines. Why should I?

At work, we only binned some 386's running DOS6.1 a few years ago (maybe 4-5). We need systems that are stable for 15-20 years, not on M$ upgrade cycles.

I'm not sure this will effect me personally, but professionally ALL of the machinery and interfaces run on XP at work. All are connected to a network that the manufactures can access for maintenance. I wonder how much of a problem this will be with PCs specced to run operating software that are integrated into the build of the machine. I wonder if that software will run on 7 or whatever it's replaced with?

The plant isn't 4 years old yet, but certain bits fall over numerous times a day as it is.

still have Windows 2000 machines on my NHS ward,

It'll be fine.. until the next security update for Win 7 & 8 when they'll reverse engineer the patch, find out what hole it was plugging then test the exploit against WinXP. If it's good, it'll be all over the net targeting those who haven't upgraded.

So yeh, if you disconnect from the internet you'll be fine, but otherwise you'll be increasingly open to attack. You don't have to visit "dodgy" websites to get exploited.. just look at the ongoing stuff with Singletrack's ad platform serving up malware..

Jeff

Microsoft are only ending support, which doesn't mean that you can't still run it, just that you have to support it yourself.

But being closed-source, patching any security vulnerabilities yourself is going to be tricky.

I run a hosting ISP, and am very much looking forward to the death of XP. Internet Explorer on XP is one of the few browsers with any sort of user base that doesn't support SNI (Server Name Identification), a standard that allows a single IP address to be shared amongst multiple secure (HTTPS) sites. This means that traditionally we've had to allocate an IP to each site that wants to use SSL. With the world running out of IP addresses, we're going to find it very hard to justify allocating IP addresses to sites just for the sake of supporting an unsupported OS, so if you're an XP user, expect to start seeing more certificate warnings on legitimate sites as the world moves on.

[i]Microsoft are only ending support, which doesn't mean that you can't still run it, just that you have to support it yourself.[/i]

Its not the [i]support[/i] that people are concerned about, it's the patching. For all those vulnerabilities that are always being exploited through all those holes in peoples firewalls and anti-virus that they probably don't have.

[beaten by 22 secs!]

I've started getting the notifications on my pc yesterday too. My first thought was.... it's all about the money.... will they/have they offered a cheap upgrade for XP users?

just look at the ongoing stuff with Singletrack's ad platform serving up malware..

Having a browser that downloads Ads is the first mistake, you're basically opening your machine to any and every web site and running whatever scripts they dish out. Can't see why anyone would consider doing this.....

So, my personal laptop is XP and I'm quite happy with it - I just need it for web access, iTunes and general admin, sometimes a bit of ppt for work.

Question is - what are my options? Am I effectively being forced into buying a new laptop even though the one I have is working perfectly well? Seems like a total waste and unnecessary (and not inconsiderable) expense to me...

will they/have they offered a cheap upgrade for XP users?

Well you just pay for an upgrade rather than the full version. I've used Ubuntu in recent years at home but really need a windows PC so just bought a copy of Windows 7 Pro from Amazon for £60.

[i]Question is - what are my options?[/i]

Keep it. Just make sure you have firewall/anti-virus running.

mikewsmith - Member

If your still running XP you should have good reasons

Like "it works" and "I already own it"

Internet Explorer on XP is one of the few browsers with any sort of user base

It's a serious user base, too. Last time I looked, IE8 accounted for about a quarter of all desktop browsers.

Its not the support that people are concerned about, it's the patching.

IME, most people don't bother patching anyway. If I had a pound for every malware-ridden XP machine I've seen that's running SP2 and Java 5, I could retire.

what are my options

You could just leave it; it's not going to spontaneously combust next month. Or consider upgrading the OS - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor

Or there's always Linux, of course.

Yes euain ive tried vmware and others they kind of worked for a stop gap but long term wee shockingly unstable and slow- its quite unefficient software. . Did try a dual boot system but it was more hassle than carrying two laptops in the end as it are typical it.

If you use XP and IE then you are a bad person for making web developers very sad.

Like "it works" and "I already own it"

No problem, just don't access anything important on it incase nasty people are spying. I'd dual boot to Ubuntu for anything like that and just use XP when you have to.

The biggest vulnerability is often the bit between keyboard and chair, anyway.
Especially with more modern OS where convenience is key.

Am I effectively being forced into buying a new laptop even though the one I have is working perfectly well?

here is something to really look forward to

[url] http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/4/5173686/usb-type-c-connector-specification-announced [/url]

Am I effectively being forced into buying a new laptop even though the one I have is working perfectly well?

This is how business works. Same thing with wheels in it.

Surprised, quite frankly, that this is news to anyone. This end of support date has been known about for several years now. And each subsequent version of Windows that has come out has offered a cheaper upgrade option for those who are already running XP. You aren't forced to upgrade or change your computer at all. You are free to do what you want. However Microsoft are making it clear that there will be no new security patches (or any other kind of fix or patch) for XP and so you can choose whether you are happy to continue using the OS with that knowledge. Anti virus will help to a point.

If using Windows 8 then it comes with a client version of Hyper-V so easy enough to run XP as a virtual guest on it.

Still running XP on all the computers the kids use in school - as I imagine is the case for a lot of schools, with lots of legacy software (some of which is a real ball-ache to get running on W7, let alone anything newer - in some cases the only option on the teachers' laptops which have 7 is to use a VM). This is using a VM, so vulnerability to attack is only until the machine is rebooted.

We are looking into 7 (personally I have no wish to get into the issues with 8!) though another possibility is [url= http://www.reactos.org/ ]ReactOS[/url] - I wonder whether this will result in a significant increase in user base for that (and hence hopefully the project progressing a bit more).

It's worth noting, that the longer you keep XP, the less vunerable it will become as it's market share diminishes!

(ie. if you're a 'bad guy' writing malicious functions to get peoples credit card info or whatever, then that game is one of probabilities, and that means the more people you target, the more successful returns you will have. If only 3 people are running XP, and 3 billion are running Win8, then you know where the effort is going to be put....

Am I effectively being forced into buying a new laptop even though the one I have is working perfectly well?

Back on in 2001 when Xp was released this was what was going on
http://www.computerhope.com/history/2001.htm
USB 2.0 was introduced, mobiles didn't have touch screens, IOS and Android were not happening, wikipedia was launched, 28 million people used AOL and they bought Time Warner. The first home Wifi routers were only 2 years old, napster was how people shared music and Microsoft finally killed clippy.

A lot has changed in that time, there are a small number of use cases where people still retain XP machines, but in any decent sized organisation if you are faced with what happens when XP Support ends your IT department need fired.

At home certainly carry on, just be aware that any security exploit will be getting exploited.

And frankly since leaving XP well behind I don't seem to get all those crashes, the blue screens and all the other issues.

It's worth noting, that the longer you keep XP, the less vunerable it will become as it's market share diminishes!

It's not going to become less vulnerable. Less exploits might be written, but the existing ones will never go away, and will probably become even better. Which will mean your XP machine will be done in the minute you put it on the internet. Bye bye internet banking details, hello zombie botnet spam relay.

the thing that I struggle with is the likelihood of a new zero-day attack on an old OS... similar claims were made for NT4 but it didn't materialise, even though I agree that willfully ignoring the update path is daft especially for enterprises

If I had XP at home I would carry on installing all the updates for the IE browser (including silverlight etc and all the other relevant java and the like) but not using it. I would use chrome and have independant firewall and AV that is updated and regular scanning in place, I would also uninstall anything I didn't need and clear out temp files, make sure nothing is running on startup unless strictly neccessary and back up files onto USB and dropbox; and I would not be attempting any dodgy downloads or going to naughty websites or blindly following any popups

but lets face it, the above advice would also apply to supported MS OSes