Why do you still use XP?

Samir said:
It always amazes me how fast a particular system can be on linux. I keep a lot of older linux live cds just to see how fast a system can be before determining what OS it will permanently run. If linux had a fast and easy way to remote in like RDP on windows, I probably would have the systems that have more than 4GB of ram on linux. That's the power of a hypervisor if there's enough ram--then I get the best of both worlds. :)

You bring up a good point about the software. In the beginning, you didn't upgrade hardware for software, it was more or less the other way around--you upgraded hardware just to upgrade so existing software would just run faster. Somewhere along the line (win3.1 enhanced mode?), the push for faster hardware started chasing the software...and it has been ever since. But that's only if the software that has these hardware demands is what you need to get work done. Hence why there's a lot of DOS era machines that run $100k CNC machines and a whole cottage industry surrounding keeping these older machines running--because they do the job.

The 'killer' application today that has runaway hardware requirements is the browser. It has become a memory eating, cpu guzzling, ethernet packet eating slob monster of bloatware. But without it, system requirements and everything else can really be pared down. Just think about xp and not needing to be connected to the Internet--how many requirements and updates and patches and extensions just aren't needed anymore? It's the same with anything if we cut off from the Internet monster. Unfortunately, a lot of 'work' has shifted to the Internet, so there is that aspect. But with security starting to become so dangerous that anything sensitive is pretty much better NOT being connected to the Internet, I think there will actually be room for systems that don't connect to the Internet and have a different upgrade cycle.
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For the linux remote access... there's a program that's really good for that, can't remember the name off the top of my head (it's pretty late for me)... or even sure how easy it is to access. Obviously I'm not sure of your technical skills, but at this point, anyone on the forum nowadays is probably pretty well versed in how a computer works.

I know exactly what you mean about browsers! In my opinion, Firefox is the best one for what I do. However I always have htop running to make sure I don't use up all my RAM! This is particularly problematic since I'm an engineering student, and when you are writing a report while referancing multiple documents, life gets a bit hard when you start pushing the 90% mark for RAM XD. I wish there was a better option (there aren't many I found), but I want to stick with Firefox as long as I can since they are realistically the biggest competition to Google Chrome.

Servers often don't need to get upgraded if they have a dedicated use. I've heard of a lab server at my university that ran Debian for 10 years straight without a reboot. It was never upgraded, and it was just some 20 year old PC, but if you're only doing basic things, you can use pretty much any OS going back to Windows 3.x
 
I've used vnc and another one, but they still leave something to be desired. Plus, I've never got anything working to be able to remote into a linux system, even with packages that supposedly would allow it. :(

And this is maybe another reason to use a hypervisor that has a software kvm of sorts that allows remote control. Still not as good as rdp for sure--that's what I rely on right now to scale. Need more horsepower? Just turn on another system and rdp into it. For your situation this would be ideal actually--where you have one system where you're writing your report, and another 1-2+ systems where you can keep browsers of different topics open to research. This is how I work, except on a larger scale with usually 15+ systems that I'm rdp'd into, each doing something unique and sometimes just mundane, but perfect for it. Like the p4 that used to be my mom's system that I just now use to keep tabs on the weather and Internet connections. But then I also have some win7 systems that I remote into where 64-bit browsers are required. And the rest of the fleet are mainly just reviewing and working with high-res pdf scans, so it's just video and lan access that they use. It's really surprising how fast even 10-15 year old systems running xp are with a solid video card. At one point I was even RDPing from my 98se system to one of my win7 ones, and it worked fine. :)

That's what I love about proper computing when it is broken down properly. DAS system (direct attached storage) that cost thousands of dollars that use high-end sas drives can be found today for fractions of the original cost--and the only reason why is because they were upgraded as they work as well today as they did back then. And if your storage is resilliant like this, you don't have to worry about upgrading that part of the whole computing cycle. Breaking down memory, storage, processing, etc into different groups can allow you to skirt a lot of the pitfalls people fight with. Perfect example is XP's 2TB limit on 512n drives. Simple solution--use a NAS and store everything there. My xp systems see my 32TB nas just fine (test nas with 2x 16TB drives raid 0), and because that's where files are, the boot drive can be small and not even be an issue. I think my smallest is only 20GB.

Profesional write is one of the best word processors I've ever used. Simple and flexible, we literally made every form for our businesses on it, wrote entire partnership agreements on it, and more. And the program will still run on xp with lightning speed. The original quickbooks and quicken are also awesome DOS era programs that nothing even today can beat. The beauty of these under win3.1 was multi-tasking, but xp does that even better and gives these old DOS programs even more memory, caching, and the works. It's pretty amazing to see a spell check of 20 page document finish in less than a second--which I don't think the 16GB systems of today can do with the current bloatware, lol.
 
Windows XP was the first time I ever fully experienced a computer. In 2009, my father gave me a worn out computer from his old office that had it on. I loved it, I loved how easy it was to use. I was used to it before on the family's main PC. Eventually when it was too worn out, I switched to a vista that my family bought 4 years prior, and it was fine (despite what most people say about it). I was given my late uncle's PC in 2015 that I still use to this day, and yes, it has Windows XP on it. And to this day, it runs perfectly fine (aside from the occasional slowdown, but I'm pretty good with not downloading viruses).

Why have I never upgraded past it? Well, I have a spare laptop with Windows 10 (which originally was Windows 7 but my father foolishly let the tech guy downgrade it) and it is absolute garbage. Windows 10's experience is just not user-friendly at all, and with the updates to the OS they're making it harder and harder for the regular consumer to know their way around the system's interface. Not to mention, the awful simplified interface design with flat colors. Some people hate XP's Luna theme as it looks "fisher price", so why did Microsoft throw out the glass-like graphics that 7 had? Oh because it's "futuristic for 2007" not because it looked better than just flat basic colors.

The main reason why people don't use XP anymore is because of the security risks. Think about it, if Microsoft hadn't pulled the plug on it (rather, cutting it's cord) there would still be a large portion of people still using it to this very day. The only reason why major web browsers like Chrome and Firefox stopped supporting it is because Microsoft stopped supporting it.

In 2006, people were still using XP.
In 2009, people were still using XP.
In 2012, people were still using XP.
In 2015, people were still somewhat using XP.
In 2021, almost no one is using XP.

Why do you think retro gaming in the modern age is so popular? Because it can't simply disappear from the Earth when it gets to a certain age. Do you hear people saying you should not play NES games anymore because they have a risk? Windows XP's security risk is a major issue that you cannot ignore, yes. But, that shouldn't be the reason why people look at XP and just call it "outdated". Because despite not being supported by Microsoft and a lot of developers these days, you can still use it for your daily life. You can still use Twitter, Tumblr, Yahoo, Reddit, Gmail, Facebook, YouTube. Granted, they have a lot of issues surrounding them if you're using the last version of Chrome due to some features not being optimized for it. Mypal's browser is proof that XP is still a viable OS despite what modern computer techies say.

In my honest opinion, Microsoft should just make XP open source so anyone dedicated to using it can be up to date with things like security updates, web browsers, hell even some PC gaming (really want to play TF2 on my computer instead of needing to resort to my 10 laptop).

Will I ever need to switch to 10 completely? Eventually I probably will, but when that day comes is a mystery.
Thanks for reading, all of you.
 
xperia said:
Just an informal survey: Why do you still use Windows XP? Is it because your workplace requires XP? Or does XP benefit you in ways that newer versions don't?
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i use it as its the only os that they killed except that no one told us to stop using it :) xp was and still is the best os micro brought out, there problem i,s it was so good they can not make anything better, my self build was due to xp, i ran 98 way past its sell by date :) and now its xp turn, i have 10 only because i use for online where now its needed, but the rest of the time its xp, i have all os but still return to xp :)
 
Looks like I'm the newest new guy. Hello.
I'm still using XP in 2021 because I know my way around it, and it does what I want to do. Back in 2017 I took my XP desktop aka The Magic Toybox offline, mainly because security software and browsers were no longer supporting it. (In the meantime I've been using an old HP laptop with Win7 for the internet.)
I came across this forum by chance, but I've looked around here and discovered that it is still possible to use XP online and be secure. Very glad to hear that. I'll be switching back over the next few weeks.
 
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Gregoryno6 said:
Looks like I'm the newest new guy. Hello.
I'm still using XP in 2021 because I know my way around it, and it does what I want to do. Back in 2017 I took my XP desktop aka The Magic Toybox offline, mainly because security software and browsers were no longer supporting it. (In the meantime I've been using an old HP laptop with Win7 for the internet.)
I came across this forum by chance, but I've looked around here and discovered that it is still possible to use XP online and be secure. Very glad to hear that. I'll be switching back over the next few weeks.
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The number of people actively targeting xp now is also very small:
https://www.cvedetails.com/product/739/Microsoft-Windows-Xp.html?vendor_id=26
https://www.cvedetails.com/product/9591/Microsoft-Windows-Vista.html?vendor_id=26

It is always the current version of windows that has the most exploits and most hacker attention:
https://www.cvedetails.com/product/17153/Microsoft-Windows-7.html?vendor_id=26
https://www.cvedetails.com/product/32238/Microsoft-Windows-10.html?vendor_id=26

And using something like the steadystate add-on will literally harden the OS so that it's basically virtualized at each boot.
 
Hello from another new guy here.

I've used WinXP since June 2002 and I still use it (on my 'main'/desktop computer), because of: 1) it runs old beloved games and programs I hadn't gotten to run on newer OS's (like Cubase SX3), 2) there are functions and filetypes I'd no longer be able to use if migrating to a newer system and 3) I'm nostalgic about the user interface (and lack of bloat or control put into the OS).
+ The search function there is so much better.
(I also recall Red Alert 2 missing some LAN-functionality removed). And various stuff I came across but can't remember right now.

But gee, I really use my 2nd/laptop PC a lot, since there's a bunch of stuff I can't do on. Like running 64 bit software, web-browsing and online-based experiences like

Even if I end up upgrading from WinXP on my desktop - I'll always have XP as at least a virtual sandbox interface so that I can run everything I want regardless of compatibility or hardware support. Even the built-in classic games like mine sweeper, pinball and the old solitaire are so much more awesome, and I like the address book.
 
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xperia said:
Just an informal survey: Why do you still use Windows XP? Is it because your workplace requires XP? Or does XP benefit you in ways that newer versions don't?
Click to expand...

Since I have my old pc I kept it at xp(family pc) since I, have a bunch (100+) of old video games that won't play nicely with newer versions of Windows. I have a sperate device with latest version of windows.
 
Davie said:
Since I have my old pc I kept it at xp(family pc) since I, have a bunch (100+) of old video games that won't play nicely with newer versions of Windows. I have a sperate device with latest version of windows.
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Nice! This is what I've found is best for older hardware--just keep it period correct and you can still enjoy it the way it was. :)
 
priscus said:
XP has a lovely little applet in the sounds settings. One click, and it will play MIDI files on a suitable MIDI equipped keyboards if they are appropriately interfaced to the PC.

More recent versions of Windows do not have this facility.!
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Good to know recent versions can't do this--I have some nice old school midi keyboards I've always wanted to connect to the computer--xp it will be!
 
WindowsXPforever said:
Haven't been using it for over a year now, while it was decent and bad at the same time, due to it no longer supporting programs like M$ Teams, I was forced to switch, but I prefer using q4OS trinity + xpq4 Windows 2000 theme. :)
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I also have used q4OS, but only use the live verson 2.7 - but its deprecated now.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/q4os/files/depreciated/q4os-2.7-x64.r6.iso/download

In case you're interested to know the location to grab the iso (fits onto cd)
 
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