Ten years later, Windows XP still dominates the Web

this is one of the reason for I don't use 7.

 

Can't you make Windows 7 run in "Classic Mode" or whatever and look like XP?

 

In terms of RAM usage it is

Vista > 7 > 8 > XP

Vista made the jump up but both 7 and 8 have made drastic decreases.

 

It's time to grow up and the past is the past! Win 7 is here to stay then Win 8!

TH

 

Desktop Top Operating System Share Trend (Feb - Dec 2011):
http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=11&qpcustomb=0

 

My two cents: No windows flavor is any more secure than another as long as they're all fully patched & updated. Actually I run vista, win 7, & XP on 3 separate computers at home. All three were infected with malware before I knew what I was doing. Now that I have a bit of a clue, they're far cleaner. Or at least I haven't felt the need to reinstall any of them. As long as they all three are supported by MS, then I'll keep them all.

Plus if I want to do IT for a living, it's best to be familiar with all the Windows OSs.

 

Sure you can make it like a old black and white television and lose the eye candy,all the things that make it sexy.

 

We have VERY different definitions for sexy LOL Win 7 out of the box... B.O.R.I.N.G. zzzzzzzzzzzz....

Windows 7 isn't sexy unless it's totally customized and it's dual booting with something else (server, Linux, I'll think of something else). I'm a nerd like that

Now if I convince some flavor of Linux to run on an ancient Emac... well THAT is S.E.X.Y. *whistling*

 

ok maybe I over Exaggerated a little bit.at least it looks better then DOS did.Black screen and white letters.

 

to each his own, i don't want bloat

 

Can one buy Windows 7 on-line for bargain basement prices like those that are around for AVs etc? If yes, got a link?

(not that I'm weakening. Just a hypothetical question mind you. )

 

ClassicShell might help.

 

One can find all sorts of things sold on line for bargain-basement prices. But often you get what you pay for. I've heard so many stories of people buying Windows install CDs for "a great price" on ebay & other places. Those stories all end with "I talked to Microsoft and they said I have an illegal version of Windows. Now I can't authenticate it and the vendor won't give me my money back."

Not much of a bargain if it's not worth anything at all to begin with. IMO you're WAY better off buying from MS themselves.

 

We've got one computer with Vista and two with XP SP3. I must say I like XP better overall. Vista has better security but it's such a pain in the butt I ended up disabling a lot of it. User Account Control is the absolute worst. We've got good antivirus protection on XP and never had any problems. We plan to keep using XP forever. I'll actually be glad when 2014 rolls around and I won't have to worry about constant updating.

 

XP Pro sp3 here, on an old, completely refurbished Pentium 4 desktop with 1G RAM. I've had this old Dell 3000 since it was new, and had it rebuilt locally a few months ago when it started having hardware trouble.

I've got Vista with all updates on a Dell laptop. Absolutely no problems with Vista either. Never had a BSOD or any problems. I haven't turned on the laptop in months.

XP does everything I want. It just works.

I've never seen or used Win 7 so can't comment on it.

 

IMO its because XP was on the Market for so long so many people purchased XP Machines and paid allot of $ for them and can't afford a new one or are content with what they already have at the moment, even though Computer prices are down to an all time low some people are broke or conservative with their money or people who never had a chance before to buy a computer back in the day when they were so expensive buy used XP Computers from thrift stores or Craigslist or something smiler, I always see XP Machines at thrift stores for like 20-100 bucks and that is a killer deal for someone who just wants a cheap way to easily get online.

 

XP, SP3 here on two machines.
I don't even know how long I've had 'em.
But the 'creaky old legacy systems' are doing very well for me.
After awhile, keeping XP running smoothly and securely has become almost like a source of pride... like keeping a car running nicely with 225,000 miles on it.
I didn't set out to keep these computers this long.
It just turned out that way.
I could order two new PCs tomorrow, if I had enough reasons to do so.
But I don't.
I listen to my Wilders friends say that a newer OS would be more secure, but since I'm doing fine with what I have... it becomes a matter of 'more secure' versus 'secure enough'.

 

Same here. I paid a couple of hundred bucks to get this one refurbished. For another hundred or so, I could have a new Win 7 machine. I don't want one. I like XP.

The software I have runs well on it. I'm not a gamer. It's just working with word processing/screenwriting software and surfing/posting on various forums. I've got VMware workstation for fooling around with other stuff. It runs fine and I've got XP on it. I figure I'm good for a couple more years. By then Windows will be probably be heading for Win 9.

 

Same. Vista and 7 need more resources, and have nothing about security that XP could not have, or purchase better with third part softwares. And I don't like their interface, I repeat; I use on XP an old " longhorn " interface that I love definetely.

Sure, if I had to buy a new pc, I would buy 7, but actually I' have not reason to spend money to change XP:

 

Except for SEHOP, ASLR, and an entire ACL token system.

XP is outdated. It is 11 years old. Technology has advanced an incredible amount since then and it shows in our latest and greatest operating systems.

 

Nop. Read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_and_safety_features_new_to_Windows_Vista
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_7

 

The bit in bold is interesting. If I were a malware writer, I'd be so thrilled to have an opportunity like that coming up. Imagine- all the XP lovers in the world keep running XP long after MS stops supporting it. The security holes that will open up will just get bigger & bigger as time goes on. Who knows- maybe I'll be a CEH by then & I'll be able to show you how I could turn you all into bots in 2015

 

That part scares me too... as an XP user.

 

As someone that does do IT for a living, I recommend you set up some virtual machines. Then you can run all of them at the same time. I run Windows 7 64 bit as a host and have virtual machines of everything from Windows 3.1 through Vista, plus Server 2003 through 2008R2. It probably also wouldn't hurt to set up a couple of Linux machines for some experience there.

The majority of my customer base is dropping XP fast for Windows 7 lately. It really should be left to die at this point. XP was released only 2 years after 98SE was.

 

Does anyone think that the 'more secure' status currently enjoyed by newer versions of the Windows OS might begin to erode a bit once XP users finally let go of their beloved relics and migrate to 7 or 8?

Point being, as larger numbers flock to the newer OSs, won't the malware writers follow the herd and turn their full attention and efforts to the new dominant OS?