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Why do you still use Windows XP?



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 10th 12, 09:34 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
J. P. Gilliver (John)
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 1,554
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

In message
,
Industrial One writes:
Give your reasons.

Do you plan to upgrade ever? If so, when and why?


At present, I have no plans to change (I wouldn't use the word
"upgrade"); however, I'm not wedded to not doing so.

If you use both XP and 7, do you ever plan on ditching XP for good?


I can't honestly answer that as I _don't_ have 7; however I'm in the
slightly unusual position of having had a 7 machine for 4 to 6 weeks (we
were buying a new PC for a non-computer-minded person, and we decided
[since she was/is unlikely to change again for many years] that a 7
machine was probably more future-proof. I was to "set it up" for her). I
found 7 not at all as hard to get on with as I expected; I found the
search-box-in-lots-of-places actually quite useful, in contrast to what
lots of people have found: possibly I found that the search function
actually worked better than I expected.

I will agree that they seem to have "moved the furniture around", as
someone else in this thread has put it, for the usual little good
reason. I also find the eye candy spurious, though not actually
irritating. (I have certainly noticed, from Windows 3.x on, that as
monitors have got higher resolution, icons etc. have got bigger and more
complex, so that the number on the average screen remains about the
same! And colour schemes have got more and more pastel - initially
that's because they could, originally there being only 16 colours, but I
genuinely find the default text colours in lots of Office 2010 - which
we've just moved to at work - harder to read, as they seem to be a
mid-grey. [I know I'm speaking of Office 2010, but it shares much of the
philosophy of Windows 7, IMO.])

What will you do when support is dropped to the point where this OS
will be problematic with new hardware?


Probably switch. That's what moved me from '9x to XP - though I went out
of my way to find an XP machine rather than, as was becoming the norm
when I bought this machine (netbook), Vista. (I think that's recognised
as wise in hindsight!) It was getting just too much hard work to make
new kit work with '9x (or to find kit that would).

I'm not a must-have-every-latest-gadget person, which is possibly why I
was able to stay with '9x for as long as I did. Similarly, I don't need
the latest in software tricks - particularly games, though unlike many
old-OSers, I don't have antagonism for those who _do_ enjoy games.

I must admit that XP seems a lot more stable (once I'd stopped using the
latest video driver that is buggy), though as another has said, 98
crashes were rarely catastrophic.

Personally I'm waiting for Windows 8 to release a second service pack.
XP sucked when it first came out until SP1. Even then, I find the


Certainly, each version - 3, 95, (98 to a lesser extent,) XP - have
always been better after a service pack or three.

Actually my own philosophy - though I'm not actually as organised as
this implies - is that the OS to have _for me_ is the one Microsoft are
trying to kill off; it's been around a long time, and there is a huge
body of people who know how to beat it into submission. XP is more or
less in that position; '98 was, maybe four or five years ago.

moron-babysitting idiot trend really annoying. It took me forever to
figure out how to shut off that piece of **** UAC on Win7 because
simply disabling it didn't work, it had to enabled then disabled to be
disabled for real. Sigh...


For us, yes. But for the ever-increasing numbers of new computer users
(at least I _think_ it's still increasing), such protection from self is
perhaps desirable - and it's for them that new OSs are mostly being
written. (Plus, as well, there's the move towards walled gardens like
the app. store, and the cloud, and similar; I dislike these trends as
much as anyone here, but there are sound commercial incentives driving
them. And many people new to computing, especially those who think they
have no use or want for a computer, it's what they want: I wonder, are
there more Apple users - including of those computers that pretend to be
telephones - than Linux users?)

Remember, half the population is of below-average intelligence ...

There, that's probably stirred things up a lot, especially with the
cross-post ... (-:
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Rule 46, Oxford Union Society, London: Any member introducing a dog into the
Society's premises shall be liable to a fine of one pound. Any animal leading a
blind person shall be deemed to be a cat.
  #2  
Old February 10th 12, 10:13 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Lostgallifreyan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,562
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in
:

Remember, half the population is of below-average intelligence ...

There, that's probably stirred things up a lot, especially with the
cross-post ... (-:


I'll just go with that bit... more than half, if it's a bell curve. If it's a
sharp thornlike peak, much more than half.

The cloud/walled garden thing is what bothers me. It was never really so much
what OS we choose, but why we choose it. Choose one to live by, is my advice.
Make it home. Otherwise it will always someone else's home. Anyone who is
unaware of the perils of the walled garden should watch an X-File called
'Arcadia'. Never mind the tulpa bit, those CC&R's are REALLY scary.
That's where 'trusted computing' will lead. We have to figure this out for
ourselves. Even stupid people are expected to look and cross the road in a
manner that protects their own safety. If this were not so, then everyone
else, smart and stupid alike, would be diving into traffic like lemmings off
a cliff, trying to save those who won't save themselves.
  #3  
Old February 10th 12, 10:24 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Char Jackson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 45
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:13:34 -0600, Lostgallifreyan
wrote:

The cloud/walled garden thing is what bothers me. It was never really so much
what OS we choose, but why we choose it. Choose one to live by, is my advice.
Make it home. Otherwise it will always someone else's home.


I think you're in the tiny minority, though. Most people use
applications, not an OS, so endless OS customizing isn't something
most people are interested in. Does it do what they need? If so, then
they use it and move on. Most people I deal with couldn't care less
which version of Windows is running, as long as they can do what they
want to do, such as get their email and Facebook updates.

IMHO, of course, based on what I see.

  #4  
Old February 10th 12, 11:01 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Lostgallifreyan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,562
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Char Jackson wrote in
:

I think you're in the tiny minority, though. Most people use
applications, not an OS, so endless OS customizing isn't something
most people are interested in. Does it do what they need?


That specifically is true, but think through the implications. People expect
what they pay for to last, especially these days that Europe looks like
splitting up or dragging the OS down with it. People have been sold a
disposable way of life and come to realise how extreme the cost is.

If an OS fails to support their applications they won't use it. That cuts
both ways! It's not just about programs that won't run on W98 anymore, if
people are forced into expenses they can't afford, they will keep their
programs, and reject any new OS that fails to run them. So if people dig
their heels in a bit, they will not only protect themselves, but the rest or
us too.

If people believe promises more than the reality in front of them when it
comes to technical stuff, we're in trouble. We've already sleepwalked into a
global financial nightmare. How many more nightmares must we walk into before
we wake up?
  #5  
Old February 10th 12, 11:02 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Lostgallifreyan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,562
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Lostgallifreyan wrote in
:

dragging the OS


US... I guess that particular typo comes with the territory.
  #6  
Old February 10th 12, 11:18 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Bill in Co
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 701
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Lostgallifreyan wrote:
Char Jackson wrote in
:

I think you're in the tiny minority, though. Most people use
applications, not an OS, so endless OS customizing isn't something
most people are interested in. Does it do what they need?


That specifically is true, but think through the implications. People
expect
what they pay for to last, especially these days that Europe looks like
splitting up or dragging the OS down with it. People have been sold a
disposable way of life and come to realise how extreme the cost is.

If an OS fails to support their applications they won't use it. That cuts
both ways! It's not just about programs that won't run on W98 anymore, if
people are forced into expenses they can't afford, they will keep their
programs, and reject any new OS that fails to run them. So if people dig
their heels in a bit, they will not only protect themselves, but the rest
or
us too.

If people believe promises more than the reality in front of them when it
comes to technical stuff, we're in trouble. We've already sleepwalked into
a
global financial nightmare. How many more nightmares must we walk into
before
we wake up?


Now,now, was that a rhetorical question??? (I, for one, already know the
answer, based on my observations of mankind over time)


  #7  
Old February 10th 12, 11:25 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Char Jackson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 45
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:52:15 -0600, Lostgallifreyan
wrote:

Char Jackson wrote in
:

On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:13:34 -0600, Lostgallifreyan
wrote:

The cloud/walled garden thing is what bothers me. It was never really so
much what OS we choose, but why we choose it. Choose one to live by, is
my advice. Make it home. Otherwise it will always someone else's home.


I think you're in the tiny minority, though. Most people use
applications, not an OS, so endless OS customizing isn't something
most people are interested in. Does it do what they need? If so, then
they use it and move on. Most people I deal with couldn't care less
which version of Windows is running, as long as they can do what they
want to do, such as get their email and Facebook updates.

IMHO, of course, based on what I see.



That's true. It's still a problem though. I'm ignorant too, I didn't know
much about how different the way NT kernel OS's access disks was from how W9X
does it. I mean, like many of us I knew that W9X does it the same way real
mode DOS does it, but how many knew about thunking (the conversion between
16 bit and 32 bit code), and the different API calls needed to do the
simplest disk accesses depending on which OS is used?


The typical user, the average user, doesn't need to know the first
thing about disk access, so that probably isn't a great example. In
fact, I don't know what you were trying to point out there. :-)

My point there is that it all takes work. Underneath it all, the average
office user is having to upgrade again and again just to stay where they want
to be!


That's actually not true, at least in my experience. Plenty of office
users around my area are still using W2k and XP, I'd say a large
majority, quite a few years after Vista and 7 have been released. In
the same way, lots of those same users are using Office 97, 2000,
2003, and 2007 without any pressing need to upgrade to Office 2010. In
the browser space, IE seems to rule the office rather than its
competitors, and IE6 is what I mostly see. Look how long ago that
relic was obsoleted, and yet it's still in wide use, partly because
internal IT teams have coded something that requires it.

  #8  
Old February 11th 12, 01:01 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Lostgallifreyan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,562
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Char Jackson wrote in
:

The typical user, the average user, doesn't need to know the first
thing about disk access, so that probably isn't a great example. In
fact, I don't know what you were trying to point out there. :-)


Their ignorance costs. Every time the underlying OS changes methods to access
files and hardware, someone has to write that new code. Not knowing this
doesn't make the problem go away. It just puts the burden on others. There IS
a reason that Microsoft want so much money! Same goes for Apple.

So if you don't like the price, stay with what works already because the
newer stuff isn't going to do so much more that you can't afford to watch and
wait a bit. Too many people beleive older stuff doesn't when it does, and
they only have their own ignorance to blame.

Put it this way, it hurts my head that I have NO clue how to create a file in
W9X using ANSI/ISO C code because every reference I can see tells me only how
WXP does it. But obviously people did make files in W9X, they just decided to
forget when finding difficulty, beleiving instead that the newer would always
be better. It's like shareholders forgetting that share values CAN go down
too. BAD things happen when people beleive hype and forget their own history.
This isn't just a lesson about computer operating systems. Never mind what a
majority think. If we trust to that instead of thinking for ourselves, we
might as well give up now.
  #9  
Old February 11th 12, 01:09 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Lostgallifreyan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,562
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

"Bill in Co" wrote in
:

If people believe promises more than the reality in front of them when
it comes to technical stuff, we're in trouble. We've already
sleepwalked into a
global financial nightmare. How many more nightmares must we walk into
before
we wake up?


Now,now, was that a rhetorical question??? (I, for one, already know
the answer, based on my observations of mankind over time)



No. Practical. Specific to the notion of human development using technology.

Want a really BIG example of why this matters? Tech is runnijg so fast ahead
of people's willingness to catch up that thry put blind trust in in it like
in a preisthood. Meanwhile (as Radio 4 on the BBC recently aired a program
about) some smart kid knowing little more that basic electronics and with 400
bucks to spend on eBay can get a gene sequencer together and make self-
replicating, modified biological organisms. Never mind computer virus, this
is the real deal! people REALLY need to wake up, or the price will be a LOT
heavier than paying some big firm for a 'solution'.

Never mind that people find it hard. Technology hasn;t softened our world,
Easy oil has done that. When it runs out, life will be as tough as it ever
was before. Maybe tougher, because all we did was built reasons to understand
our lack of control as well as merely having them thrust on us as before.

The idea that we are bound to extinction has been with us a long time, but
now we have means that make nukes irrelevant. Same goes for border crossing,
etc. it may be that 'waking up' to all this won't save us from our own
disasters, but acting like the future will magivcally make solutions in clean
white shiny boxes sure as hell won't. This is true for little computer apps
and big nasty outbreaks of lab-engineered diseases too.
  #10  
Old February 11th 12, 01:17 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
Lostgallifreyan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,562
Default Why do you still use Windows XP?

Char Jackson wrote in
:

My point there is that it all takes work. Underneath it all, the average
office user is having to upgrade again and again just to stay where they
want to be!


That's actually not true, at least in my experience. Plenty of office
users around my area are still using W2k and XP, I'd say a large
majority, quite a few years after Vista and 7 have been released.


Good. Just means they ARE digging their heels in. Not that many firms can
upgrade whenever M$ insists on it. Those who do are effectively useful
idiots. Both groups exist, with many people in each. But the ones who have to
know their stuff, use it, live with it, pay for it, or rely on it for
specific hardware they invested a lot of money in, they will save the rest of
us from the sillier excesses of 'cloud computing' and the like.

Most of 'Web2' is driven by celebrity gossip pages, overloaded blog pages,
and people think they need that stuff. The demands it makes are equivalent to
having a never-ending direct debit mandate on the bank accounts. Once they
have to pay for the profligacy they'll change their tune. eBay already set
seller contract terms to exactly that kind of bank account access, largely
because of the extra costs careless sellers incurred. If we want to avoid
being hit by measures aimed at curbing excesses by idiots, we have to stop
thinking like those idiots. Until we do that, it doesn't matter what else we
do.
 




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