sfgate.com/technology/articl … 298608.php
How is everybody planning to to deal with this issue? My Vista-era machine is still ticking over pretty good running XP, I hate to buy a new computer, but not sure if upgrading is worth it.
Just upgrade. XP is a zombie at this stage. It came out in 2001, when the iPhone was still just a gleam in Steve Jobs’ eye. XP is a relic of an era before smart devices, before the cloud, a time when you needed to install drivers before you could use a computer’s wi-fi card. And having been in use for over 13 years, it’s more prone to viruses and attacks than any other operating system on the market.
Good riddance.
[quote=“Tempo Gain”]http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Microsoft-to-end-Windows-XP-support-April-8-5298608.php
How is everybody planning to to deal with this issue? My Vista-era machine is still ticking over pretty good running XP, I hate to buy a new computer, but not sure if upgrading is worth it.[/quote]
been using Linux since 2008…
I run 3D intensive Windows games on Playonlinux (wine), I can turn all the 3D options to max and runs smooth as butter. When forced to use words and other microsoft office crap, I run an XP image on Virtualbox, frankly runs better than it did natively. End of support? not a flying frak given.
There are tons of Windows XP users switch to Linux articles online. The issue is there are many options, and choosing one may seem daunting, but my take is to just:
Go with a major distro or derivative of a major distro such as, ubuntu, openSUSE and Arch. The Desktop Environment can be whatever, because you can always install other Desktop Environments, which one you start with really doesn’t matter.
I would say try Ubuntu’s Unity first (tip, holding down the windows key brings up a shortcuts cheat sheet), if you can’t get used to that or your computer really is too old for any kind of modern desktop, then switch to LXDE. Or just start with Lubuntu (which is Ubuntu that comes with LXDE as the default desktop UI). By the way, LXDE, written by Taiwanese.
LXDE (lubuntu), totally lightweight, I can run my 15 year old computer on it.
Unity with a little comstomization:
Sounds excellent. What the heck? I’m going to give it a try.
I’m also running Ubuntu full-time in my computer. I had to install Microsoft Word to do a translation in which the client had only provided me with f*cked up .docx documents. I use PlayOnLinux as a frontend for WinE, and zero problems so far (although I prefer to use LibreOffice for all my documents).
The biggest issue you might have is if you use heavy-duty design programs (namely: Adobe CS) or you’re a hardcore gamer. Although I run Guild Wars 2 and it’s playable, the game is optimized for running in multicore processors, but WinE doesn’t support it yet. Other games similarly optimized for multicore running might have problems as well. On the other hand, Valve is betting on Linux as the next gaming platform (their own Steam OS is based on Debian, like Ubuntu is, and their installation files are compatible). Steam already offers a lot of games for Linux, and it’s only going to get better (last week they ported CryEngine to Linux). Native games run really smooth, and the performance is better than the same game in Windows, by far (unless it’s a crappy port, but Valve is doing a really good job so far).
Linux worked well until I had to start sharing work and documents with Windows users. Most of the programs I used worked fine on their own though.
If you don’t feel like going the Linux route then Windows 7 finally seems like a stable enough platform that should last awhile for non tablet users. There’s a reason why XP lasted so long. It was actually fairly well done but it is ancient.
Bought a new computer today and spent the afternoon removing Windows 8 and putting a version of Linux on it. I also have a Win 7 PC for Photoshop because I don’t like GIMP very much, but I could run it within Wine.
Sharing files shouldn’t cause a problem. Unlike with Microsoft, you can save files as just about any kind of document. I’ve never, ever had issues in this department. Linux popular distros are also far more user friendly than Microsoft, believe it or not, and if you are doing just a straight install where you don’t have to divide the partitions, then it is extremely easy to install. Distros are also usually super quick and of course, totally free. It also looks like gaming will also be formatted for use within Linux and if the rumors are true, a change is certainly in the air.
My office got raided (well, inspected) about 5 years ago because there were no Windows licenses registered at the company. It was funny when they didn’t find any Windows machines :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
the problem with sharing files is not opening files and editing them. it’s losing pretty much losing every bit of formatting (like headers for example) in the Office documents. The other problem is always remembering to save in the correct format when sending stuff out.
I’m using an ASUS laptop that originally came with Win7, but Windows gave me the blue screen of death about a year ago, and I tried everything I could to recover it. So Linux saved my ass again.
I still have access to my precious files, have a stable operating system, and only miss the games upon which I wasted so much precious time.
For a while, I considered using my old XP disk to install, then upgrade to the latest MS, but no:
If you are serious about games, you can get an xbox, playstation, smartphone…
The computer is too important to render unto MicroSoft.
I see there’s a new version out in April. I may target that
As I said, I installed Microsoft Office 2010 in my computer (which has Ubuntu as its only OS) and it runs perfectly well under WinE (I installed it through PlayOnLinux). I had to do it because of the dumbass .docx format and all of the non-standard formats Microsoft uses for its documents. It runs perfectly, opens the documents with all the formatting and everything because it’s Microsoft Office. Now, I only use that for translations or editing external documents, for all my own documents and the documents I send out, I use LibreOffice.
This is how MS Word looks running seamlessly inside Ubuntu:
Since it’s only XP what’s running out of support, you can still use your MS Office Licenses (if you have them), providing they’re not out of support, too.
Yes, Ubuntu 14.04 “Trusty Tahr” comes out in April, and it’s an LTS (Long Term Support) release, which means it’s specially designed to be stable and reliable. Up to date, Ubuntu releases a new version every April (the X.04 versions) and every October (the X.10 versions). The support for the regular versions is 9 months, and the support for the LTS versions is 5 years (you have a new LTS every 2 years). Whatever version do you choose to use, all the updates are for free, which means that you can be updating your whole OS every 6 months (That’s what I do), but if you choose to go the LTS way, you can install an LTS and use it for 4 years, then install the second-next LTS (you would skip one, if you want).
I installed linux mint on an aging netbook (from 2010!) to replace XP. Works wonderfully, boots and shuts down faster than windows did - partly because no more antivirus running in the background. The only thing I noticed is that it reports lower battery life (5h instead of 7). Not sure if because detection algorithm is different or windows was using some undocumented APIs to save more power.
[quote=“Tempo Gain”]http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Microsoft-to-end-Windows-XP-support-April-8-5298608.php
How is everybody planning to to deal with this issue? My Vista-era machine is still ticking over pretty good running XP, I hate to buy a new computer, but not sure if upgrading is worth it.[/quote]
Sounds like a good time to upgrade to Linux.
If you actually would like help in doing that, please give a shout out.
Thanks! I’m usually able to get the computer to do what I want, but I’ll remember that 
yep, waiting for Lubuntu or Ubuntu 14.04 is a good idea, since it is an LTS release, which means Ubuntu will support it for a long time. Nothing wrong with just upgrading the entire distro though, it is mostly a painless process, aside from having to reinstall some non-standard applications that you use.
April 17th is when it will come out.
it’s mostly due to hardware vendors didn’t actively support Linux, by that I mean they don’t commit their own drivers to Linux kernel. So things like your graphics card and other hardware aren’t managed as efficiently as they would if the hardware vendors actively supports Linux. The way to change that is for most people to move away from closed systems such as Windows and OSX, and then hardware vendors will devote resources into optimizing drivers for open source platforms.
That said, it doesn’t mean you won’t have drivers for some hardware. In fact, unlike Windows where you have to install drivers for almost every piece of hardware you buy (printers, graphic cards, webcam, even mouse…), Linux handles pretty much all from the get go.
I’m going to give MS Office under PlayonLinux one more try. Then perhaps I can ditch virtualbox all together.
Ending the support was a bad move.
I was using my linux laptop at my privates when the parents approached me to change their laptops to linux.
This is probably a very common thing now, which is good, of course.
My wife already asked me, when she could have android on her desktop, which, is the next thing to come.
This could spell doom for MS.
By the way, I still have a copy of vista ultimate at home and discovered that the license key on my HP laptop vista home basic worked with that cd.
It automatically installed vista basic and activated just fine after calling Microsoft.
Therefore, you might get an old vista license and install that if you really need windows.
How do you figure? Microsoft stopped making money off XP (home edition anyway) ages ago. Its pervasiveness in the market is preventing customers from buying the newer Microsoft operating systems and damaging people’s reputation of the Windows brand as “that operating system that hasn’t changed in 14 years.” The bad move was extending the life of XP after Windows 7, a very competent and much better looking OS, came about.
You say people are moving to Linux, but MS doesn’t gain anything by having a bunch of people who don’t buy a new OS and call up all the time for tech support for one that’s been replaced four times over already.
How do you figure? Microsoft stopped making money off XP (home edition anyway) ages ago. Its pervasiveness in the market is preventing customers from buying the newer Microsoft operating systems and damaging people’s reputation of the Windows brand as “that operating system that hasn’t changed in 14 years.” The bad move was extending the life of XP after Windows 7, a very competent and much better looking OS, came about.
You say people are moving to Linux, but MS doesn’t gain anything by having a bunch of people who don’t buy a new OS and call up all the time for tech support for one that’s been replaced four times over already.[/quote]
I had an argument with my last boss before coming to Taiwan.
The problem was that I had to work many extra hours for a business that did not gain any profit.
The argument was that my boss did not want to give the competition any chance to gain territory.
Right now, Linux has a market share of 1 or 2% on Desktops, but that could change to 4 to 5 % at which point Linux could gain momentum.
It might. I for one am not keen on paying money to replace what is from my viewpoint a perfectly functioning item. They may have lost me as a customer.