Options for When Microsoft Discontinues It's Support on Windows XP SP3

That's a relief, I thought I was the only one.

I have been hearing various dodgy things about Wubi as well. I think that it is probably quite a good idea, but from what I can gather it can be problematical to actually implement. Personally, I think I'll do any Linux experimenting on my oldest PC. It's in very good condition & has not been run that much as I soon changed to using a Toshiba laptop (with Vista) after having some WiFi problems with the PC (which was originally custom built for me) & eventually I put it in storage for a while. It's just a shame not to utilise it. I'll get around to it ... someday.

 

I knew there would be a catch.

It'll need to run on less than one GB of RAM.

That's plan 'B'.

 

Never had an issue with Wubi, though right now I'm not using an installation created by it.

 

http://xubuntu.org/getxubuntu/ - needs 512 MB
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu - needs 128 MB (!)
http://linuxconfig.net/review/linux-mint.html - claims it needs 256 MB
http://peppermintos.com/guide/install/ - 512 MB

Should be plan A. If it works well in the live CD, then install it.

To clarify, I've never used Wubi. But anyway if you're going to put anything on a low-spec machine, then you wouldn't be using wubi anyway.

 

That's interesting to know. It does look easy to install/uninstall. I'll have to think more on the subject before I go ahead. I'm studying the Ubuntu manual (PDF) a bit at the moment. I've experimented a little bit with Ubuntu before.

 

OK, thanks for the links.

I was thinking about Wubu on my notebook, it runs Vista relatively well.

 

Oh, I understand. No harm in giving it a whirl.

 

As long as nothing goes wrong with the install. Well, that & learning to spell Wubi properly maybe.

 

Just make sure you've got a very recent backup and you'll be fine. Worst that could happen is you have to reinstall everything, and that's not even that bad with backups.

 

Thank you for sharing that.
Whether one pays for what one uses certainly affects usage decisions. That's why I've been curious to know why people passionately defend expensive software over free software (which does have its limitations but gets many things done). I hope no one is offended by this post

 

Definitely. I would not have paid full price for Windows 7, as much as I liked it.

 

Good observation. Can we do polls in Wilders? I'd like to see it as a poll topic.

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=46

Polls.

 

Most of this has been answered now but It was just a suggestion + My experience. Trust me if you test Ubuntu on a normal/average machine you will probably be fine. As another user mentioned the main issue is serious gaming. Lots of game run under Wine perfectly but it normally has a wait period. You could alway dual boot. Win XP for games/Linux for everything else. That way you have a secure environment for browsing etc. and windows when you need it.


Also it's still here hours later lol!

 

Yes, thanks, that's good advice.

 

By comparison, a copy of Windows is generally even more expensive in my country than it would be Stateside. Linux is looking better all of the time.

 

I think for people who have hardware that cannot support Win 7/8 (like my oldest computer), a dual boot with Xubuntu or Lubuntu could be a real alternative. I'm not a gamer so Linux sounds like a good idea to me, but I think that is a limitation that is holding it back popularity-wise IMO anyway.

If I can run a good chess program, VLC, Google Earth, Celestia & Stellarium, I'd be happy.

 

I would assume there's a chess program + I use VLC and I believe there's Google earth as well. No clue about the other two.

 

If you'd repeat this post in the Linux section, we could go into more detail.

 

I should think that it was pretty obvious. On the other hand, some people passionately defend freeware against expensive software.

I far prefer *OpenOffice to MS Office, even though MS Word is probably a better word processor than OO Writer. I liked it from the first time I used it, probably around four years ago, & virtually stopped using the version of Word I had on my computer at the time (which I eventually uninstalled).

*I don't want to talk about LibreOffice.

 

There's a Linux version of Celestia & I'm pretty sure Stellarium is in the Ubuntu repository.

 

Yeah, thanks. I may do that. I think we've discussed this before though. I am going to do a bit more reading before I install anything anyway.

 

I bet it is one of the reasons why it's not mainstream. Another reason is because most people have never even heard of it. I know people who don't even know whats on the computer. It's "that internet thing".

There are actually quite a few good open source games. Just nothing the mainstream audience would want (no Halo for example). So if need to kill time from time to time you will find some games. Conical has started adding more proprietary and paid games to the Ubuntu centre, so you never know if Conical pushes hard enough we may see more games out from the likes of EA and so.

 

Definitely. A mate of mine just bought a new laptop & asked me about any good freeware programs I knew about (he knows that I know about this stuff), so I asked him about the specifications of the machine & whether his new computer was 32 bit or 64 bit. He replied "I dunno, but it was a bit expensive."

I'm sure that will appeal to the gamers eventually. I suppose it all depends on what you want a computer for. Quite a few governments & institutions are turning to Linux (especially Ubuntu). I don't think we have even reached the beginning of its potential as an alternative operating system yet.

It would be interesting to see some easy to use Wubi type installer for other distros, especially for those distros that can run on the same lower spec hardware that XP can run on. Then, I think that when it is comparatively easy for most punters to dual-boot & install/uninstall something like Xubuntu or Lubuntu on an XP machine it could perhaps be a viable alternative to XP.

Anyway, I'd be happy with a chess program as good as Chess Titans (like on Windows), except preferably one that doesn't cheat & call it a draw if I take my time getting to a checkmate!

 

That would make for an interesting poll/subject. Myself, I've never bought a new PC or a copy of any version of Windows. The PCs I have were bought used, given away, payments for work, etc. The install CDs came with them. Unless they get a percentage from monitor or component sales, Microsoft has not made a dime from me. That won't change. Part of my preference for 98 could be from how long I've used it, but then I've had XP and 2K for a long time too. The same applies to software for the most part. The only software I've ever bought was NIS, many years ago when I was first getting started. It took less than 6 months to get disgusted with it. Between then and now, I obtained several pirated payware apps. I've since thrown out most of them, replacing them with Open Source apps that are just as good or better. With the apps I've tried, the payware apps don't offer anything that makes them any better than the freeware, save one that's no longer available. Why buy something when you can equal it for free?

At present, my primary PC is dual boot, 98SE and XP-pro. I've left room for another OS, probably a linux or BSD variant, but haven't decided what it will be. Too many choices. Too hard to determine what those differences are and which would really fit my needs. Too much of what appears to me to be updating for its own sake. The bootloader is all set if I ever make up my mind.

For me, XPs usefulness is directly linked to a couple of games that I waste too much time on, like an addiction that I know I should break. If those games stop supporting XP, it will probably make the decision for me. Microsoft support is to me a non-issue. For the users that x942 described, those for whom a PC is "that internet thing", there support matters.