Future Of Windows XP?

quandam · Jun 13, 2009, 10:49:13

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4512&tag=nl.e539

Rik · Jun 13, 2009, 10:52:46

I think he's right, Q. When MS released XP, they undertook to provide drivers for many older printers, for example, to overcome exactly this issue.

Simon · Jun 13, 2009, 12:03:39

I think XP still has a lot of life left in it. It's a perfectly usable OS, and, if M$ chose to, they could, presumably, continue to update it.

Rik · Jun 13, 2009, 12:08:35

They could. I still prefer the fact that it lets me control the machine far more than Vista would.

Sebby · Jun 13, 2009, 14:38:43

The thing is, there was a real reason to upgrade from Windows 98 (or if you were unlucky, Me) to XP. Whilst there should have been compelling reasons to upgrade to Vista, there weren't in practice. I think Windows 7 will be different, but XP is still perfectly good and perfectly capable, and in many instances, much better than Vista.

colonelsun · Jun 13, 2009, 15:47:54

I was so comfortable with Windows XP, was there really a need to replace it with Vista other than from a financial stance? Why couldn't Microsoft allow the two to sit side by side in the market...surely XP was patched enough to survive a bit longer.

Personally i despise Vista, nothing but a few extra lights and sounds while the user has less rights over his own hard drive....in XP we were at least allowed to get at our temp files to extract video files etc, in Vista Microsoft think we never earned the right to do that.

Rik · Jun 13, 2009, 15:52:44

Exactly why I don't use Vista, Colonel. I want an OS which is my servant, not one which thinks it's my master.

quandam · Jun 13, 2009, 15:56:12

Quote from: Simon on Jun 13, 2009, 12:03:39
I think XP still has a lot of life left in it. It's a perfectly usable OS, and, if M$ chose to, they could, presumably, continue to update it.

Totally agree

I think XP is the bizzo and hope it goes on for a lttle while longer. The few times I have had to use Vista I hated the experience

cavillas · Jun 13, 2009, 16:46:01

I changed to Vista from XP sp3 and I like Vista. You still have an enormous amount of control over the OS but you go about it through a different route.

I compared xpsp3 on my Celeron 432 and also vista Ultimate (with everything turned on) on the same machine. I made a mirror image of both installations. Xp is no faster than Vista and in a number of cases with certain older progs Vista is more stable. They both had the same applications Office 2007, photoshop 7, Freehand MX 2004 and a number of freeware and lder stuff.

I found no difference in running them. In fact I could run more applications at once and more stably with Vista than I could with XP. I have 2Gb memory and an 80Gb Sata drive. I also like the flip 3d for switching between progs.

By the way I am using Vista Ultimate and XP Pro, fortunately I get them for nothing from my son on his corporate MSDN subscription.

If I had to buy a Visa edition it would be Vista Business or Ultimate. Home Premium is good too but lacks Fax and some security features.

Dopamine · Jun 13, 2009, 17:02:54

Quote from: colonelsun on Jun 13, 2009, 15:47:54
....in XP we were at least allowed to get at our temp files to extract video files etc, in Vista Microsoft think we never earned the right to do that.

Not true. In Vista, enable view of protected operating system files, then:

C:\users\name\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\temp internet files

or access them from your browser:

tools - internet options - browsing history - settings - view files.

colonelsun · Jun 14, 2009, 18:50:00

Quote from: Dopamine on Jun 13, 2009, 17:02:54
Not true. In Vista, enable view of protected operating system files, then:

C:\users\name\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\temp internet files

or access them from your browser:

tools - internet options - browsing history - settings - view files.

The tools>Internet Options- route takes you to the temp files but in Vista Home Premium the file or folder is empty. I would like Vista better if only i could get at the temp files. It's my pc and my files.

cavillas · Jun 14, 2009, 19:11:33

You might have to do it in Admin or safe mode. In Ultimate it is easy to reach the folder. Perhaps you have Internet explorer set to empty temp files on exit or maybe something empties temp files on a regular basis in the background.

quandam · Jun 14, 2009, 19:16:02

I feel that the tone of posts here prove that there is a future for XP. A lot of users are more than happy with what XP is offering

and maybe things could be tweaked slightly in future to improve a very good and user friendly OS.

cavillas · Jun 14, 2009, 19:18:52

MS are going to tweak XP in the future...........right out of existance.

Dopamine · Jun 14, 2009, 21:27:34

Quote from: colonelsun on Jun 14, 2009, 18:50:00
The tools>Internet Options- route takes you to the temp files but in Vista Home Premium the file or folder is empty. I would like Vista better if only i could get at the temp files. It's my pc and my files.

I use Home Premium without any special settings or needing to use Safe mode, and don't see an empty folder, so I suspect it's a setting on your PC or browser that needs tweaking. I've tried several different Vista machines and all have browser accessible temp files.

Sebby · Jun 14, 2009, 22:44:42

Quote from: cavillas on Jun 14, 2009, 19:18:52
MS are going to tweak XP in the future...........right out of existance.

Only because they have no choice. If they keep it going forever, no one will take up future versions of Windows.

D-Dan · Jun 14, 2009, 23:08:34

I set up all temp locations to a dedicated 20 Gig partition, which means I can wipe it when I want (format - job done), but the alternative is to install CCleaner, which will do the job for you.

Steve

Simon · Jun 15, 2009, 00:20:19

Quote from: Sebby on Jun 14, 2009, 22:44:42
Only because they have no choice. If they keep it going forever, no one will take up future versions of Windows.

That's OK, just stop making them.

zappaDPJ · Jun 15, 2009, 16:02:25

QuoteI predict that the greatest interest in 7 will come from people who have already switched from XP to Vista. I wouldn't be surprised if by 2014 when extended support for XP ends that it won't still have a 10 - 20% market share. We've not heard the end of XP yet, not by a long shot.

That's the bottom line and I think he's right. I have two PCs and 2 Laptops here. One PC and one Laptop run XP while the other hardware runs Vista. I will probably upgrade the PC running Vista to 7 but the rest will stay as it is. For my use, XP is the better OS. It's faster, makes better use of virtual RAM and most importantly it runs the applications I want to run.

colonelsun · Jun 15, 2009, 16:31:15

Quote from: Dopamine on Jun 14, 2009, 21:27:34
I use Home Premium without any special settings or needing to use Safe mode, and don't see an empty folder, so I suspect it's a setting on your PC or browser that needs tweaking. I've tried several different Vista machines and all have browser accessible temp files.

Just checked my temp files and a folder opened up containing every Apple update since last year. The last time i checked this folder it was empty. As far as i'm aware nobody has altered personal settings...but i'm not 100% on this.