Windows XP hanging on

[Wizzo]

Microsoft has clearly seen the stranglehold Windows XP has on the world, and they have finally relented to let Windows XP Home Edition hang around for another two years, which is a welcome reprieve considering the fact that Microsoft planned to pull it away from shelves in less than three months from now.

Windows XP Home shall be made available to OEMs at least until June 2010, where Microsoft might pull the plug then. The main reason behind this turnabout is due to “incredibly strong demand” on various devices. This has also caused Microsoft to post design guidelines for manufacturers looking to build low-cost laptops which are powered by the Windows XP platform.

I certainly hope the plug on XP won’t be pulled too soon.

[romephius]

To be honest..... I actually prefer Vista over XP. 

Rom

[Alianora La Canta]

Vista would be a step down from XP for me. Apart from the fact that my computer isn't really fast enough or new enough for Vista (which will correct itself with future system upgrades), the file thumbnail system is slow enough on XP without Vista insisting that all of the files must be thumbnailed and most of my components and the 3D Flip method of switching between applications is inaccessible to me. For that matter, Vista appears to have given up entirely on supporting DOS programs. I've already seen all these in action in the job preparation organisation's offices I visit every so often (which has upgraded to Vista and is not unsure as to whether this was a good move). I have to stay on XP/98 dual-boot or switch to another operating system supplier entirely.

[romephius]

Actually Ali, Vista is more than capable of running dos based programs, we do it all the time in my office.  The major problem is that many people just do not know how to massage vista into they way they need it to work.  Most I.T. staff are used to the way XP does things and are FAR too lazy to learn the new way or too caught up in the 'Vista isn't worth it' hype.  What people need to remember is that Vista is a completely new operating system, unlike XP being built on windows 2000.  There is still alot of in-compatibility out there, so it is required to check that all your software is ready to run on vista. 

One of the major downloads to get some legacy software working is the .NET packages.  If you are running vist make sure you have downloaded .NET framework 1.1, 2 and 3 plus all the associated service packs for these pieces of software.  There is also service pack 1 now available for vist which has fixed a few bugs and security holes.  I believe that if people just played a little bit and had a think about what they need from it there wouldn't be quite as many people affraid of, or un-willing to use Vista.

So in the end, the only real prohibitive component for Vista is your hardware.  Other than that it's down to personal preference.

As I said above, my preference is for Vista, but I know many many people who prefer XP.

I hope this will help at least 1 person that reads it.

Rom

[romephius]

Oh and by the way, for any I.T. proffessionals that read this, I mean no offence to you guys, when I mention the I.T. personnel, I am referring to only the people I deal with through work.

Rom

[Wizzo]

None taken 

[Alianora La Canta]

Unfortunately the .NET frameworks require Internet Explorer, which doesn't appear to be compatible with my copy of Windows XP. Whether it would be compatible with a copy of Windows Vista is debatable, given that in theory IE should be compatible with all Microsoft products, regardless of the computer.

[romephius]

Ali, quite simply put, there is more stuff wrong on your pc than right.  XP has Internet explorer as it's native browser, it's designed to work on XP.  I will admit that IE has it's own fair share of issues, but compatibility issues is not one of them.  IE can also be made more unstable by adding tons of plug-ins to it.  I have run IE 7 since it was a beta on XP, and now as a full release browser on XP and Vista with absolutely no major dramas.

However now that I have said that, I still say that choosing your browser is a personal choice.

anyways, that's just my thoughts on it.

[cosworth151]

Our problem with this centers around our major accounts. One, for example, has hundreds of locations around the country running on a version of XE. Having new sites running on a different platform would be asking for trouble. Switching that many places over every time MS pumps out a new system would be a titanic headache.

By the way, I still have a unit in my office running on 98. We still have some Mom-and-Pop users, mostly older folk, whose software won't run on anything newer. I don't have the heart to make them buy and then try to learn a new system, so......

[Steven Roy]

I downloaded SP1 for Vista.  Thanks for the tip Rom.

I would have thought my auto update would have found it but apprently not

[romephius]

No worries Steven, one of the major things for Vista, is to turn off the user account control... the part of vista that constantly asks if you want to do anything.

Rom

[Alianora La Canta]

The automatic updates aren't picking up SP1 until mid-April, possibly to ease the server load or check to make sure there are no enormous bugs that beta testing missed (in this case, SP1 appears to have been accepted without any large problems by Vista users).

[romephius]

Just a point that I remembered today Ali, not many people realise that .NET framework is not only working with IE, but it has also replace a component of windows, for instance to run some Konica Minolta software on vista, you MUST have .NET framework 1.1 running, for other software you need .NET framework 2 sp1 running.... so on and so forth....

I thought you might find that intriguing Ali

Rom

[Alianora La Canta]

That seems quite odd. Thanks for telling me about that quirk, Rom.