XP - the operating system that will not die

[DigitalBuddha]

XP - the operating system that will not die

On 8 April Microsoft will end support for the venerable Windows XP operating system. That means no more security patches, software updates or bug fixes for the software.

It's an event that Microsoft has been warning people and businesses about for months. And it is one that hi-tech thieves have been looking forward to as those digital protections start to diminish. In a bid to get users shifting over to a more modern version of windows, Microsoft has created a website that tells people if they are, or are not, running the software and on 8 March will make a pop-up warning appear on the screens of those who are still using it.

I'll just go and find a cash machine - "Many of the world's cash machines are believed to be still running Windows XP" - http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26432473

[Hominid]

Bad on them for not knowing this was coming.  Same for the owners of any servers not patched for known exploits that fuck up the rest of us with DDOS attacks, etc ... It's a constant search-and-destroy mission; keeping ahead of the hackers.

[cckeiser]

The NSA should know who all these rug pissers are....I don't know why they just don't take them the fuck out!

[Yeti]

Bad on them for not knowing this was coming.  Same for the owners of any servers not patched for known exploits that fuck up the rest of us with DDOS attacks, etc ... It's a constant search-and-destroy mission; keeping ahead of the hackers.

I used to rail about this as well, but I began to understand tech from an outsider's perspective by comparing it to my attitude towards cars. I am at best indifferent and at worst dismissive of cars. I consider them big metal blocks on wheels that get me from Point A to Point B, and if I don't need one I'm happier not owning one because I also consider them money pits. Needless to say over the years I've driven many of them into the ground.

I realized most people look at computers and servers and such the same way I look at cars. Microsoft is essentially telling these people that the ten year old car in their driveway is now obsolete - even if it runs perfectly well - and must be replaced (most ancient XP rigs can't feasibly be upgraded, or else it isn't worth the money) for, at the very least, a couple hundred clams. Oh, and the newest version of the car's driver controls and dashboard have major, insane changes to the interface that you'll have to spend hours relearning. If Ford told me that about my beater I would tell them to take a long walk off a short pier. If something still works, and you really don't give two shits about it as long as it continues to work, then you're not going to upgrade.

In a previous life I fixed laptops. You would think that customers would want to learn how to prevent infections, but the vast majority don't care. Unless they could literally take a rubber hammer and successfully beat the virus out of their laptop, it was too onerous and complicated, and the thrill and allure of free porn and flashy screensavers was too hard to resist. Why do techies think these people give a damn about their OS being unsupported?

At some point most people will adopt this same attitude towards smart phones, and without some sort of new craziness like Star Wars holograms they will stop upgrading their phones as well. We're already seeing it with cheap Android phones now stuck forever in the purgatory of version 2.whatever.

The rest of us are in for the mother of all botnets pretty soon, but I don't really know of a way for Microsoft to force any individuals off of XP short of issuing some sort of update that nukes it, and even then the billion cracked XP machines in China probably wouldn't get it anyway. It will be around until the last of the old PCs from the Dubya era finally die.

[milnie]

Still an xp user and proud. Some of the software I use is not comparable with windows 7 and 8 so I would have to fork out a small fortune to update.
I like the car analogy - imagine you were told that parts for your car were no longer to be made and you would have to buy a new one. Fuck that

[LotsaBadKarma]

There's always Linux. Years ago when my laptop running XP was infected I was able to start the machine with a Linux (PC Linux OS) disc in the drive and simply deleted Windoze from the machine. Bear in mind that there is no one in here who is less "tech savvy" than me so this was clearly not a major operation. And the laptop ran fine for 2 more years until the machine itself just made like a library card and expired. And I was able to do everything online with Linux that I was able to do with Windoze, in fact, most operations were working faster than before.

[Stumblin Stumbleweed]

I like my XP installation, really not comfortable with Windows 8.
This news about the end of XP as we know it is disconcerting.
But hey, can't be worried about that shit, life goes on, man.

[Shagbeard]

Linux is a Dudely operating system.

[Yeti]

Linux is a Dudely operating system.

I disagree. I think anything simple and slightly outdated is a Dudely technology. The Dude would have an old, cheap XP laptop and a flip phone. Anything else requires money and effort.

[Shagbeard]

Linux is a Dudely operating system.

I disagree. I think anything simple and slightly outdated is a Dudely technology. The Dude would have an old, cheap XP laptop and a flip phone. Anything else requires money and effort.

well that is, like your opinion, man

[meekon5]

Linux is a Dudely operating system.

I disagree. I think anything simple and slightly outdated is a Dudely technology. The Dude would have an old, cheap XP laptop and a flip phone. Anything else requires money and effort.

Actually I go with Shagbeard here. If you apply this line of thinking the Dude wouldn't have gone with microsoft (M$) in the first place preferring the open source movement because it follows his political line, free for everyone and everyone can contribute.

Now the open source movement is not just Linux (but that's the best known part), and has been going (and was going) for years before Linus Torvalds came along and presented Linux (the ultimate geek expression, he was tired of windows flakiness and wanted Unix dependability on the home machine, so wrote the first version of Linux and distributed under GNU license).

XP is not that good an operating system (it is just a lot better than many of the previous versions of windoze) because yet again M$ hides most of what it is doing to your machine with incomprehensible code.

Using Linux does mean having to understand some of how your machine works, but that only helps you understand how much shite M$ is up to when it releases yet another version of it's Jurassic operating system.

I'm sorry I agree with Shagbeard the Dude would be using an operating system that is:

1: free.

2: Specifically trying to give the finger to "the man".

that is Linux.

(rant mode off).

[Shagbeard]

Linux is a Dudely operating system.

I disagree. I think anything simple and slightly outdated is a Dudely technology. The Dude would have an old, cheap XP laptop and a flip phone. Anything else requires money and effort.

Actually I go with Shagbeard here. If you apply this line of thinking the Dude wouldn't have gone with microsoft (M$) in the first place preferring the open source movement because it follows his political line, free for everyone and everyone can contribute.

Now the open source movement is not just Linux (but that's the best known part), and has been going (and was going) for years before Linus Torvalds came along and presented Linux (the ultimate geek expression, he was tired of windows flakiness and wanted Unix dependability on the home machine, so wrote the first version of Linux and distributed under GNU license).

XP is not that good an operating system (it is just a lot better than many of the previous versions of windoze) because yet again M$ hides most of what it is doing to your machine with incomprehensible code.

Using Linux does mean having to understand some of how your machine works, but that only helps you understand how much shite M$ is up to when it releases yet another version of it's Jurassic operating system.

I'm sorry I agree with Shagbeard the Dude would be using an operating system that is:

1: free.

2: Specifically trying to give the finger to "the man".

that is Linux.

(rant mode off).

You made my eye water!
You so Dude!