Windows XP Five Years Later

[dog [away]]

-{ Quote: "If Only We Knew Then What We Know Now About Windows XP

By Rob Pegoraro
Sunday, September 24, 2006
washingtonpost.com /Page F07

Windows XP is turning five years old, but will anybody want to celebrate the occasion?

Microsoft's long-anticipated replacement for "Win 9x" -- the series of releases that began with Windows 95 and ended with Windows Millennium Edition --was never supposed to stick around this long. But half a decade after it began shipping on new computers (followed a month later by its retail debut), XP lingers.


In that time, this software has been Microsoft's most successful release ever in terms of sales. The research firm IDC estimates that about 485 million copies of XP, excluding pirated versions, had been installed by the middle of this year." }-Full Article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/23/AR2006092300510.html)

[nadirah]

There's no definite answer to all this. If Microsoft secured Windows so tightly from the first release to the point that 3rd-party progs wouldn't be able to mess up Windows, then it would be viewed by some as an unfair and anti-competitive move by Microsoft, and this is exactly what the guys at Redmond are doing for Windows Vista right now, because over the years, 3rd-party progs have jumped up and customised and tweaked Windows to their advantage and turned it into IT's biggest junkyard.

Another question is: How many releases of Windows must it take before all the problems are ironed out? And isn't all this pointing in the direction of security? Microsoft makes its code closed-source, but fails to secure its own products from 3rd-party modification. It just seems like there is no 100% perfect solution.

[silver0066]

And after five years, they have not done anything. So far, the latest Vista beta, 5728, is only eye candy and questionable security updates.

[ErikAlbert]

You have to be poor to create good software. :)

[bigc73542]

I don't know about anyone else but I like XP it is a dramatic improvement over what it has replaced. I have tried two different versions of Vista and I believe I am going to like it also when I do decide to completely change to Vista from XP.


And ErickAlbert, I don't believe poor developers can hire as good a class of programers as a wealthy ones can and do. ;)

[Lamehand]

I've used XP for as long as it exists, but i've stopped using it because i got tired of the constant patching of exploits that never seems to end, there are better ways of doing things.

Lamehand

[pvsurfer]

From my perspective, 5-years later XP is a lot slower than it was to start with (thanks to all of those patches/hotfixes)!

[lotuseclat79]

Hi Lamehand,

I couldn't agree more with your pov., its such a pita!

-- Tom

[L Bainbridge]

I hate to be an apologist for Microsoft (and after a couple of weeks of using Vista I am less than enthused) but XP is a fairly good OS.
Yes, it repeatedly needs patching, yes, it slows down over time with use and the fact most of us are here because we spend time and money adding components to replace/ re-inforce the underlying weaknesses of the system is a sign it is far from perfect but its flexibility and adaptability we are going to miss with Vista.
I feel like XP like an old friend - not especially reliable, not especially trustworthy but familar, comfortable and fun.
I haven't seen a stampede to Linux or OSX over the last 5 years and in the end and an open market that ultimately tells us more about XP than those that constantly criticise its failings.

[Lamehand]

There won't be a stampede towards Linux because one would have to learn a whole new OS and that can be a steep hill to climb, not everybody is willing to do that, i can understand that, Linux is not windows.
But for the ones willing to learn this it is a good alternative and diversity is always a good thing for us users.
When the market is dominated by only one player, we the users are in trouble.

I've used XP in the past years without ever having virus or malware trouble because i've learned how to secure it, but there are numerous people who get all kinds of crap on their system, Hijack-this logs all over the place.
In fact the coming of vista made me switch to Linux, just as IE pushed me to Firefox in the past

Lamehand

[L Bainbridge]

-{ Quote: "There won't be a stampede towards Linux because one would have to learn a whole new OS and that can be a steep hill to climb, not everybody is willing to do that, i can understand that, Linux is not windows.
But for the ones willing to learn this it is a good alternative and diversity is always a good thing for us users.
When the market is dominated by only one player, we the users are in trouble.


Lamehand" }-

Agreed and I think with Vista we are going to see a move towards Linux and OSX in greater numbers.
The problem for most users is that Linux is still not user friendly enough yet, although Ubuntu amongst others is slowly changing that. Lack of support from manufacturers doesn't help but ultimately if the demand was there that would change.
I too use Linux (Ubuntu, SUSE and Linspire at various times) as well as XP but for your average user the learning curve is still too steep.
I wonder if everyone used Linux instead of XP whether there would not be nearly as many complaining re: instability and if the evidence from FF cf. IE is anything to go by exploits would soon be developed by those determined to do so.
This in no way legitimises the failings of XP or the unhealthy nature of the MS monopoly, I just happen to believe despite its failings (and unlike Win98 etc.) that XP is a decent OS even compared to the various Linux distros.