Windows XP - will you use after April?

[Restless]

Microsoft officially end all support for XP from the end of April (some say from early April) I urge those who use XP to stop using it asap.XP will soon be a hackers playground.

I know there are a few people that use it and dont know of this info so thought it would be worth sharing.

[Neil]

Do you think if a massive security hole was found in XP after support ended that Microsoft would ignore the fact or release a fix for it? Like any company they don't want bad publicity.

We still have quite a few PC's at work using XP. We have 3 production critical PC's running DOS still.

All office machines are Windows 7 but a few of the XP machines can access the internet

[Studio25]

No need to swap out an XP machine if it's not connected to the internet at all, or its user doesn't access the web and it's behind an external (to XP) firewall.

There's still the danger from infected files being manually put on the PC, but that's an issue with all versions of Windows. XP will only become a problem in that regard when a/v vendors won't let their product run on XP.

My mother-in-law uses her machine for her writing. It's not connected to the internet and she doesn't receive files on disc from anyone (there aren't even any USB ports on it, it's that old). She's running Amipro on Windows 3.1.

[Restless]

Originally Posted by Neil

Do you think if a massive security hole was found in XP after support ended that Microsoft would ignore the fact or release a fix for it? Like any company they don't want bad publicity.

We still have quite a few PC's at work using XP. We have 3 production critical PC's running DOS still.

All office machines are Windows 7 but a few of the XP machines can access the internet

At work they are forced to buy new PCs because of this (thankfully)

I dunno what they would do. If they said when xp was released that support would end then do they have no obligation?

[Neil]

No obligation no but have a reputation to uphold. Then again not sure what sort of a reputation they have

[Restless]

Originally Posted by Neil

No obligation no but have a reputation to uphold. Then again not sure what sort of a reputation they have

Haha. Exactly.

[Guinness]

I think Restless is urging the less savvy.

Using XP after its sell by date has expired will be like owning a classic car. It will run just fine if you know what you are doing, have an imperial spanner set, axle stands, a haynes manual and access to spares..otherwise it's just going to break down and cause you no end of problems.

Or you could just put your hand in your pocket and pay someone to keep it on the road...oh wait..you already have, you just didn't know about it

Government pays Microsoft £5.5m to extend Windows XP support - Telegraph

[Restless]

Like owning a classic car and there is only a minority of people left who know how to fix it. It may run fine for a real long time on private land(offline) but the car is at risk if you take it on the road (online)

Xp was always full of holes. Remember the worm/virus that was on the news? A hell of a lot of people got that one. I remember when installing xp it was best to install avg/anti worm patch before going online or else you would instantly get it... The worm wasn't that malicious and put a message on screen about bill gates.... But it was a wake up call.... Don't use xp online. Time to upgrade

[cashman]

Well i aint bothering fer the time being, if n when it dies then i will consider.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Guinness

I think Restless is urging the less savvy.

Using XP after its sell by date has expired will be like owning a classic car. It will run just fine if you know what you are doing, have an imperial spanner set, axle stands, a haynes manual and access to spares..otherwise it's just going to break down and cause you no end of problems.

Or you could just put your hand in your pocket and pay someone to keep it on the road...oh wait..you already have, you just didn't know about it

Government pays Microsoft £5.5m to extend Windows XP support - Telegraph

Why will it break down?

If UK taxpayers are paying for these updates why isn't it available to all UK residents?

[Guinness]

Originally Posted by Neil

Why will it break down?

Because it aint going to get anymore oil changes, services, or even have a fuel tank that accepts the nozzle at the pumps

[Gordon Booth]

I use the free Avast and they sent me a message ' Avast will be supporting Windows XP for at least the next three years by creating protection modules and detection's specifically designed to cover Windows XP vulnerabilities and other security problems'.
Do you think that will cover me? My PC does what I need but can't handle 7 or 8 so it would mean a new one ? Besides which I know XP, I'd hate to start trying to learn 8!

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

I use the free Avast and they sent me a message ' Avast will be supporting Windows XP for at least the next three years by creating protection modules and detection's specifically designed to cover Windows XP vulnerabilities and other security problems'.
Do you think that will cover me? My PC does what I need but can't handle 7 or 8 so it would mean a new one ? Besides which I know XP, I'd hate to start trying to learn 8!

What is your PC?
I have installed Windows 7 on some quite low spec PC's before and they ran fine

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by Neil

What is your PC?
I have installed Windows 7 on some quite low spec PC's before and they ran fine

It's a Dell 8300 which when I bought it in 2004 was one of their most powerful. I think it was 120 GB hard drive, 1 GB RM. Totally obsolete now( I'll bet a mobile phone has more than that) but it does what I need. I'm sure I checked with Dell and they said it couldn't handle 7 or 8 and couldn't be updated to do it .

[gpick24]

Dell would say that. An operating system upgrade is not in their interest, they'd much prefer you to buy a new pc. Prob need more memory and drivers may be an issue, but I bet it will run win7 ok, although some fancy stuff like aero might be disabled.