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Intel desktop board BIOS update end-of-life

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Re: Intel desktop board BIOS update end-of-life

#121

Post by hinkley »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #28

I will admit that I do not understand that move; especially so if it is a cost cutting measure. Then again I remember arguing with a VP that storage is cheap and email size limits are draconian enough already. She was not pleased. Maybe it is really just about the budget.

The common problem with supporting old software and tools is that the poor bastard who maintains it is expected to watch all of their coworkers get to use new tools and fix old problems and they get nothing.

It's entirely possible they aren't even backporting support software like the build tools.

When you are supporting a large number of old versions, it becomes difficult to keep all the quirks and variance straight. On one team where we were only talking about supporting about 4 versions, and were already seeing friction. I was stumping for splitting up the responsibilities across multiple engineers, so that everyone was responsible for knowing the current version, and only one old version, but I don't think the other people saw the trap I was trying to route us around.

When did this feature come into the app? 1.2? 1.3? 2.0? I dunno, but I know it was after 'my' version (1.1).

Re: Intel desktop board BIOS update end-of-life

#122

Post by tomc1985 »

ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #84
TheHypnotist wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like there was a period of time around 2000 when they had some edge, at least with gamers. Soon after that they disappeared for a while and only now i'm hearing about them again.

They lost a ton of ground right around 2006 when Core2Duo became a thing and they couldn't keep up.

Well, they're back now. Ryzen stomps Intel's latest, from what I hear

Re: Intel desktop board BIOS update end-of-life

#123

Post by stjohnswarts »

josteink wrote: post #49
twobat wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Storage is indeed cheap. Buying it through a service provider not so much.

Talking to my IT department, it seems the argument is that storage is only cheap in isolation. In the real world it aggregates across products, users and hierarchies. Example email: - I want bigger mailbox to handle bigger mails incoming and outgoing. Result: bigger mailbox. - Then everyone else in the company gets bigger mailboxes. Result: bigger mailbox x1000. - Also: bigger mail-server backups. - Also: bigger desk…

That's a silly argument for something like bios files that would take up less than 0.1 to 1% of the size of current storage that they are maintaining and which will only grow. They're not backing up email and desktops here, we're talking about drivers and bios. It's like comparing grapes and watermelons.

Re: Intel desktop board BIOS update end-of-life

#124

Post by sp332 »

bencollier49 wrote: post #2

I almost wonder if archive.org could get involved here, as these sorts of things (specifically including graphics drivers) will be a prerequisite for some forms of digital preservation and retrocomputing.

There's a complete copy as of 5 years ago https://archive.org/details/2014.01.download.intel.com and an employee said on Twitter that they're working on another now. https://twitter.com/textfiles/status/1196440682401058816

Re: Intel desktop board BIOS update end-of-life

#125

Post by eyegor »

newswasboring wrote: post #116
taspeotis wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I've been buying Intel for years but just today I installed some Intel software and it asked me to join their "Computing Improvement Program." Part of the program? Send the "categories of websites you visit" back to Intel, among other things. [1]. They're really trying my patience with the semi-constant stream of Speltdown-like issues. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21563871

What is this "speltdown like issues"? I googled but found nothing.

To add to the other commenters, gp is likely also referring to the MDS issues, of which there are many. Here's a decent link (highlighted the latest major one): https://mdsattacks.com/#ridl-ng

Re: Intel desktop board BIOS update end-of-life

#126

Post by eyegor »

zeusk wrote: post #70
cafebabbe wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some industries, that's not even medium-term.

what industries would these be?

Basically all scientific research labs use some equipment running windows xp or older because the drivers can't be installed on modern windows for one reason or another. Controllers for things like spectroscopy, electron beam microscopes, centrifuges, etc. Custom control boards are also common in industrial (oil, gas, chemical processing) applications.

Re: Intel desktop board BIOS update end-of-life

#127

Post by undersuit »

themagician wrote: post #119
squarefoot wrote: post #22

Now if I was an AMD exec I'd suddenly announce that "all versions of all our drivers for all hardware on all platforms will be available forever".

AMD never really made boards. That was part of their problem for a long time. They didn’t even make or support chipsets. It was just VIA and other third party stuff that was so riddled with bugs it was hard to recommend for anything other than enthusiast gaming.

Now now, the Nvidia chipsets were highly coveted for both Intel and AMD.
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