Poll: April 8 is D-Day For Windows XP, What Will You Do?

[easysurfer]

April 8th, 2014 is the day support for Windows XP ends.

What are you gonna do? Thought I'd put out this poll to see

 

[ziggy29]

I don't have anything running XP any more. We have Macs and we have some Windows 7 and 8 here at home (and a netbook dual booting Ubuntu and Windows 8).

The computer at the post office where I occasionally w*rk was just upgraded from XP to 7 last week. Too bad they still have that ancient satellite internet with the HUGE dish that barely beats dialup speeds.

 

[RunningBum]

I have one laptop still running XP, but I barely use it. I kept it as a backup in case my main laptop dies, plus there are a couple games that only work on it. I won't bother upgrading. The only concern I see would be security updates, so if I get worried about that I just won't connect to the network. I have a kindle and smart phone to get to the internet as backup now anyway.

 

[imoldernu]

Will that affect Windows 3.11?
I still use Windows 95 on an old "laptop"... nostalgia only.

I still have Vista on one computer.. Support was dropped in 2010, I still get updates for Net Famework, and Microsoft Security Essentials... plus updates for Media Player...
The Microsoft website talks about possible security issues when support for XP stops.

Despite the legal disclaimers, seems like Microsoft would have a vested interest in avoiding a reputation for planned obsolesence... like should your initial purchase have an "expires by..." date?

 

[Midpack]

Let me know when Vista HP "expires"

 

[HFWR]

I still use Windows 95 on an old "laptop"... nostalgia only.

Talk about the "blue screen of death"...

Running Vista at home; w*rk computer runs XP, but that's not my problem...

 

[bjorn2bwild]

I took advantage of the win 8 upgrade discount last year. I applied one of the $15 (including media player) upgrades to my e-machine that is currently running XP. Works great - very fast. The only software that did not migrate was Works 9 w/office suite. No problem as I had an extra copy of office 2010. I still prefer XP and will run that until the support cut-off.

 

[braumeister]

The current Mac OS (Mavericks) was free, and I understand future OS updates will also be free. Hard not to like that. Maybe Micro$oft will follow suit?

 

[W2R]

I have a laptop which I use every day, and it is running the latest upgrade of Windows 8.1. I didn't think I wanted Windows 8 at all (loved Windows 7), but my new laptop came with it and actually I like it a lot. I must admit that I really like playing with new operating systems and I know most people don't.

I also have a desktop computer that I almost never use and will not be replacing once it craters, and unfortunately this desktop is running Vista. Right now its hard drive provides another backup redundancy for my laptop.

So, I voted that I have already upgraded to Windows 8.

Frank loves XP, but only one of his computers is running it any more. That computer is so old and slow that I wonder how long he can keep it running.

 

[samclem]

Microsoft's regular level of support makes it darn hard to tell when they've stopped.

XP was a winner, sorry to see it go.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

We replaced old machines and wound up with Win7 on them.

I have one old XP laptop for running some old engineering software. The machine is getting hoary old. I do like XP though. It doesn't hang up like 7.

I would be happy to get a set of discs for XP so I will be able to run said legacy software in Linux or PCBSD one day.

Of maybe I will forgeddaboutit and hang up the old slide rule.

 

[RunningBum]

Will that affect Windows 3.11?
Despite the legal disclaimers, seems like Microsoft would have a vested interest in avoiding a reputation for planned obsolesence... like should your initial purchase have an "expires by..." date?

Maintaining very old software can be expensive and difficult. I don't think it's unreasonable to phase old products out. They lay out a plan for how long to expect support at a minimum. Windows lifecycle fact sheet - Microsoft Windows Help

 

[imoldernu]

Let me know when Vista HP "expires"

Original Vista support expired 2010
Service pack 2 expired Apr. 2012 (mainstream support)
Extended support expires Apr 2017

 

[Khan]

Staying with XP for now; will probably switch to 8 when necessary.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

A good option for XP machines that will not be upgraded is to incorporate the use of the free DOD linux based LPS (lightweight portable security) utility. Use the LPS utility for opening e-mail and other web transactions requiring security and continue to use XP for the windows programs. I set my computers up to dual boot with LPS - loads as fast as XP. Works great.

 

[Rustward]

April 8th is not the end of the world for XP. XP will continue to function as it does now. Most of those who wait until they are forced to update will do so because (for the most part) third party software will not support XP and will require a more current operating system. This usually takes some time after the OS goes unsupported.

Anti-virus software is usually the most difficult to get for unsupported operating systems.

 

[easysurfer]

I put down option 3, "Change is required." I'll probably get a new Win 8 machine (time for new hardware anyhow) but like the idea of using Classic Shell for the feel of trusty Win XP.

I read articles that hackers are drooling ready to attack XP after 4/8, so that scares me away of just hanging on and there are certain programs that are only Win which I'm happy with or rely on.

 

[ls99]

Do nothing at all. Still running win2Kpro on a couple of laptops, XP on one desktop. WIn7 came with Sony 'puter.

 

[Ronstar]

I have a mac at home, and windows at work. I think its windows 7. It doesnt matter because work ends 4/1 and I'm not likely to use a microsoft operating system again.

 

[Chuckanut]

Both my Macs, including my 5 year old MacBook run the current, most modern OS - Mavericks.

They run well, and have no need for anti-malware software, yet! I continue to be impressed at how well the hardware and software work together to give me acceptable functionality despite the age of the hardware.

 

[Ready]

Microsoft's regular level of support makes it darn hard to tell when they've stopped.

Thanks for the laugh! I needed that.

 

[nvestysly]

I voted I'll take my chances - I'm staying with XP but that's only for an old desktop that we have at home. I've been looking for a new desktop with a RAID 1 hard drive setup. I plan to purchase that computer with some version of Windows 7.

 

[ERhoosier]

Will that affect Windows 3.11?
I still use Windows 95 on an old "laptop"... nostalgia only.

My "nostalgia only" collection includes a Mac SE/30. It still works!

 

[Katsmeow]

XP was good, but my newest computers I've gotten with Windows 8 (my desktop) or 8.1 (my new notebook). I do run Windows Classic Shell which takes care of the only real issues I had with it.

 

[meierlde]

We replaced old machines and wound up with Win7 on them.

I have one old XP laptop for running some old engineering software. The machine is getting hoary old. I do like XP though. It doesn't hang up like 7.

I would be happy to get a set of discs for XP so I will be able to run said legacy software in Linux or PCBSD one day.

Of maybe I will forgeddaboutit and hang up the old slide rule.

Get the Pro upgrade to Windows 8 or 8.1 and you can run Hyper v the MS virtual machine Xp in the virtual machine. It is also supposed to work with a linux guest, but ...