Goodbye XP—Enjoy Being a Zombie

AzureSky
Windows xp was amazing for the day, it just doesn't make use of the hardware anymore, and it hits a roadblock with newer hardware.

Windows 7 is a great middle ground, its user friendly, not as gross as vista and not as much of a drastic change as 8. It's DX11 (and will be DX12) compatible.

In my life, macs are useless. Being a hardware kind of guy and a gamer. Thats just how it is. There is no argument that PC is > Mac for gaming. They're fancy looking and are more user friendly sure. But anyone who is computer capable in the least doesn't have one. They're good for facebook, writing things, and graphic design (and even then a PCs hardware destroys it flat out). Their desktop/all-in-one deals run on mobile hardware, and you can't upgrade them.

All cons in my book. But i am a techno geek. I build my pc 2 years ago and still destroys any mac you can throw at it. Plus i can play games without having to resort to emulation (which uses double the resources).

But to each their own, it depends on what you use your pc for. I assembled mine myself. I overclock it myself. And i can tweak it to perform better in general (within windows settings)

Why are there so many people who think that Apple users know nothing about technology or computers in general? I've been in IT/graphic design for several years and love my mac products. I also have love for my windows 7 machines. Each one serves a purpose but, for me, I enjoy using my mac air and mavericks for day to day tasks. In my experience, I have worked with lots of people with IT/Tech backgrounds and a majority of them either use macs exclusively or, like me, use a mac along with their pc. I don't see why there is such hate for either one. They both have their good points and bad points. I've had crashes, driver problems, etc. with both Windows and OSX. Neither one is perfect and they never will be.

reply to post by jtrenthacker


Short answer is it's the stupid Mac Guy commercials. It has been years since I've seen one and I still want to punch that kid in the face. If I could murder two people in the world and get away with it it'd the Mac Guy and the Dude You're Gettin' a Dell guy.

thisguyrighthere
reply to post by jtrenthacker

 

Short answer is it's the stupid Mac Guy commercials. It has been years since I've seen one and I still want to punch that kid in the face. If I could murder two people in the world and get away with it it'd the Mac Guy and the Dude You're Gettin' a Dell guy.

Lol. Fair enough.

reply to post by jtrenthacker


I see the point of it, and most people who own macs only own macs. And usually only own them because they are a mac.
As i said they do have their uses.

In my mind any use a mac can do, i can find a non-mac for cheaper and probably more powerful. Its an economic thing as well, i can't afford a 2000 dollar laptop, so ill buy a 1000 dollar one with on par or better specs.

Though the macbook air is pretty neat, i thought it didn't come with a built in harddrive though (too thin), could be wrong on that i haven't looked up the specs since release.

reply to post by AzureSky


It has flash storage. Don't get me wrong, it's pricey for sure. However, I don't upgrade my tech every year either. I plan on using the Air for a long time. I like it a lot because it is ultra portable and most importantly, the battery lasts a really long time.

My OS of choice is VMware ESXi, running headless on an i7 with 24 gb ram and 6 video cards. The video cards and usb's are passed through to virtual machines. so I can have 6 other operating systems running simultaneously out each of the 6 video cards :

XP (of course)
Win7
SteamOS
Ubuntu with Compiz extensions
Android ICS with the touchscreen
Windows 8 with the touchscreen
Mac OSx mountain lion

About 28 VM's defined, multiple Steam, win7, linux flavors, & testing vm's. All protected by snapshots, so I CAN'T get a virus. I can use Bios or UEFI.

When my kids come over they each get their own VM. (multiple really depending on the game). We can stream games from the win7 to the SteamOS. We played 5x Minecraft, Quake, Dayz. etc

The Xbox One is constructed the same way, with the hypervisor on the bare metal x86 hardware , a windows 8 VM, and the Xbox VM. I would have to assume they are using VT-d or iommu to pass through the GPU etc, since this would be the only way to get the performance needed. I would love to get the Xbox VM image, but as you can guess M$ took steps to keep the Xbone a closed system. Hopefully, not forever since this is the arch of the future, everything will be a VM. Even the PS4 is custom BSD on x86 so that could be viurtualized.

Arbitrageur

Thurisaz
It is pathetic that Microsoft are forcing People (Consumers) to upgrade and spend money.

I wouldn't mind upgrading if the newer operating systems were better, but for John Dvorak and me (and maybe some of those half billion people who also still use XP), they aren't better, they are worse.

edit on 10-4-2014 by Arbitrageur because: clarification

Well my system has Windows 7 ultimate is it better than XP for me, it sure is!!!!

MystikMushroom


EDIT: I also firmly believe a lot of people hate on Apple simply because they can't afford it. They'll never, ever admit it -- and make up all kinds of excuses -- but I'm convinced it's the truth.

edit on 10-4-2014 by MystikMushroom because: (no reason given)

Sorry but Apple are as bad as MS used to be, Apple is style over substance they are a bunch of money grabbing B&^3^%$£S for example why should I need extra hardware to connect my wife's ipad to my wifi printer when for example my Samsung Galaxy Tab doesn't, even any of the 3 PS3's dotted around the house can with no problems!

Also look at the problems with the iphone 5/ipad mini charger's lasting only a few weeks, with some of the hardware issues they have had over the last couple of years it's just as well they have itunes for revenue.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


I've been a heavy user (and fan) of both Windows and Mac OS for many years now. Each system has it's pro's and con's. However, after Windows Vista, I started relying more and more on Mac OS for my daily work. I downgraded to Windows XP on my gaming rig after Vista to upgrade to Windows 7 when it came out. I loved Windows 7, it was the best OS Microsoft released since Windows 2000.

I was a beta tester for Windows 8 up until the RC versions. I installed it on a very old system (Intel Core Duo 1.2 ghz ultra portable) and it ran fantastic. So I have believe Windows 8 is a great operating system when it comes to the way it handles hardware. But that's where my praise for the OS ends.

Microsoft wanted to be one thing for everything. It wanted to be the end-all for desktops and touch enabled units. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work. On various Microsoft tablets, Windows 8 is a decent OS. But on the desktop platform it's a pain in the rear. Thankfully, it looks like Windows 8.1 will address much of the issues W8 had, but not enough for me to purchase a W8 license. (I've only toyed around with the 30 day trial.)

Windows 7 will be my gaming rigs operating system of choice until Windows 9 (or maybe even Windows 10).

I remember Windows 2000 had it's own fan base of users who would create their own security updates for the system. That's how much people loved it. And from what I understood, these user created security updates rivaled (and in some cases, exceeded) Microsoft's ability to patch their Windows security flaws.

I have a feeling that the same may hold true for Windows XP. However, I'd warmly recommend people who are stuck on XP to give Windows 7 a try.

These are my own personal experience and preferences of course.

I would like just ONE more XP update from M$, now that it's dead does it really have to ask me if I want to take a "tour"? Can we get rid of that?
Is there anyone left that needs to take the tour?

reply to post by supamang

youre lucky . xp never asked me on a date

and why is everyone so grouchy with vista?
i like vista

I hate Windows 8 with the hate of 1000 burning suns. It tries to keep me away from the controls by hiding them. It might be different if they had an 'expert user' setting where it stops trying to be helpful.

2000 was good. XP was good. 7 was exceptional. I suspect they'll get it right for Windows 9, but for now we're paying a premium not to have Windows 8 on our office and lab machines.

Not the least of which is that every friggin' time we change, we have to verify that the systems are producing the same results as before. It takes weeks of testing to backcheck. I'm really resistant to upgrades on either our development software or the OSs. Maybe if I was just playing games and surfing, it would be different. But having used 8, I don't see a big need to upgrade to it, given the pain in my ass it will entail.

starfoxxx
Windows XP users really should just upgrade, these mid-range windows 8 touch screen laptops are great. Quad-core, multiple monitors.

Some people will take a while to re-engineer their thinking of what a computer was and what they are now..

bull S

By pass win 8 and go to 8.1 if you have to.

Win 8/.8.1 is rigged so that its just about imposable to duel boot with linux.

And with a couple laptops IT IS imposable.

One laptop is the AUSU with the R503U mother board.
I have been trying for the last 6 months to duel boot it using all the methods found on the internet.
none have worked

I can't endure Win 8and win 8.1,after I installed win 8.1 one week ,I removed it and installed win7 back.

Arbitrageur

Visitor2012
reply to post by Arbitrageur

 

I'm still on XP. Works just fine for me. Even though I know there's a memory cap on that operating system.

It's not very popular, but there is (or should I now say was?) a 64 bit version of XP. It flopped when released due to poor driver support and other issues, but driver support was improved and it's quite usable now though it never gained many users. It had so few users that Microsoft figured it wasn't worth the trouble to set up their validation on XP64.

I'm not sure what memory cap you're talking about but all the 32 bit OSes have memory limitations compared to the 64 bit versions. This isn't an issue with XP, it's an issue with 32 bit versus 64 bit.

Xp has a 4 gig ram memory limit on it I think. If you have more than 4 gigs then it will only recognize the first 4 gigs.

I say bring back the days of MS-DOS...

c:/dir

Soylent Green Is People
I say bring back the days of MS-DOS...

c:/dir

edit on 4/13/2014 by Soylent Green Is People because: (no reason given)

I still bring up CPU prototypes with DOS.

I really don't want a touch interface on a desktop, thank you very much.

Soylent Green Is People
I say bring back the days of MS-DOS...

c:/dir

For some demanding applications it has its advantages. I knew a guy with a demanding application (my next door neighbor) who was still using MS dos when everybody else was using Windows 98. He showed me why Dos worked better in his application, and it did. My applications weren't as demanding so I had some of the same issues with windows but I could live with them whereas he couldn't.

I'm kind of surprised the ISS used windows, but I'm not surprised at all they switched away from it.

Visitor2012
Xp has a 4 gig ram memory limit on it I think. If you have more than 4 gigs then it will only recognize the first 4 gigs.

Did you read the post you replied to?

To repeat what you quoted:

This isn't an issue with XP, it's an issue with 32 bit versus 64 bit.

That's not an XP limitation, that's a limitation with all the 32 bit OSes. The 64 bit version of XP isn't limited to 4 gigs, just as the 64 bit versions of later operating systems aren't limited to 4 gigs, but the 32 bit versions of later operating systems are still limited to 4 gigs just like the 32 bit version of XP.

The 4g limit on 32 bit systems is the entire address space including all IO ports in onboard devices so the actual reported ram differs according to what devices you have connected to the bus. Usually you'll only get something like 3.3 - 3.5 gigs of ram available max with a 32bit OS regardless of whether your hardware is 64bit capable. For me the 32bit option has the least hassles in terms of driver availability but that will get better in time perhaps.

I have retired my PC which runs XP to a home/office status...for now

replaced it with something new...
I decided that upgrading the old PC with a Gig more memory to install the Microsoft 8.1 would not be the optimal use of a really good XP OS with some 20 Gigs of documents/photos/etc along with Works, etc (and with over 64 Gigs of storage space remaining)

someday, I bet my old PC that runs XP will once again be able to surf the net (with new drivers installed of course)
and probably have less risk of being targeted-- but that's not my actual reason for keeping my XP machine in one piece at home...
I wish that a $500. used car would run so well for 9 years as my 'Shaman' Machine did for me on my desktop