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Windows XP source code has leaked

gizmodo.com.au

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Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#241

Post by oblio »

jononor wrote: post #58
codegladiator wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> proprietary operating systems to be actively working against you Where is this happening ? Are we expecting this now ? What did I miss

The amount of user data collected in Windows 10 for example. Next to no user benefits, just value extracted for Microsoft. Automatic updates on reboot. For example when someone giving a presentation or class has to restart their computer for some reason (quite common in Windows still, or one just ran out of power). Boot up the computer, people waiting impatiently - and then have to wait for 5-30 minutes for the compu…

The telemetry is shady but the automatic updates are a... necessary evil. People would delay updates for MONTHS by clicking that postpone button.

Windows is by design meant to be used by not very computer literate people and unfortunately these kinds of users need to be forced to do the right thing sometimes. As they said back in the day: "the user will do everything possible to see the dancing bears, including downloading that toolbar, installing that gizmo, disabling security settings".

People smugly complain about this, in many cases from their Linux box (= technical users on a system with a 1% desktop market share => smaller target and better human protection) or MacOS box (= slightly more technical users than the average Windows user, on a system with a 5%-10% desktop market share).

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#242

Post by cm2187 »

hnlmorg wrote: post #240
pizza234 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally tried to use Windows XP (for my Windows systems, which is mostly VMs nowadays) for as long as I could. First, it was the first solid (in relative terms) consumer operating system from MS. Second, it was lightweight (in relative terms) in terms of UX and, somewhat consequently, engineering. With Windows Vista (but in particular, Windows 8), MS started to add complexity on every layer. Nowadays, I'm really…

XP, when it was first released, was a more resource hungry and uglier version of Windows 2000. Win 2000 was amazing when it was released. Games (albeit not DOS ones) worked well, it was stable and really your only other options were worse (Mac OS 9 was less stable than Win 98, ME was a dumpster fire, Linux wasn't quite ready for the desktop and BeOS was awesome but barely supported). Then when XP was released, it had…

My migration from 2000 to XP meant blue screens. Most likely caused by drivers. But that left me with a lasting impression that 2000 was way more stable than XP.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#243

Post by peterburkimsher »

"You want to update XP so it can run with new hardware? Go for it." - I would really like to see a version I could use with 2013-14 MacBook Pro/Air.

I have a MacBook Pro 2007 multi-booting XP, 7, Ubuntu, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9, 10.10, 10.11. Surprisingly, XP is the OS I use most frequently on that laptop, by choice.

I got some old HP laptops running XP for the homestay family kids, and have been playing network games and chatting with Escargot MSN.

Windows XP still supports 16 bit DOS games. If the Luna theme seems childish, it's even more appropriate for young people using computers for the first time. Buttons have icons, which is easier when you're 6 and can't read quickly.

I hope this source code can allow me to boot XP natively on my main laptop, so I don't have to carry around another computer just for compatibility.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#244

Post by magicalhippo »

vermilingua wrote: post #165
osamagirl69 wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure if it is what you are looking for, but the calculator is now open source under the MIT license https://github.com/Microsoft/calculator As a recall, making notepad is like a homework assignment for a visual basic class. You just drag the text editor window and add the menus, there isn't a whole lot there! Paint would probably be a bit more work, but there are a few clones out there already

Notepad is simple to build in Visual Basic because it uses the controls that are inherited from... notepad. What GP meant, is whether the source for those controls is available.

Notepad is simple to build in Visual Basic, Delphi, heck even assembly because the controls are inherited from Windows[1].

[1]: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/controls/indi...

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#245

Post by pmontra »

fimdomeio wrote: post #43

Forgeting about legality for a moment, this is great. Windows XP is probably the greatest operating system if you factor usability and how many people it has reached. It was also from a time where people still did not expect proprietary operating systems to be actively working against you. So it's great that this source will not be forever lost.

I remember I had to reinstall it at least once per year to keep it fast. Except that it was OK. And yet my last XP laptop performed much better when I eventually ugraded to Ubuntu 8.04. Fast, no need to reinstall, pen drives immediately mounted and ejected, no drivers to install for printer and scanner, etc.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#246

Post by Piskvorrr »

hnlmorg wrote: post #240
pizza234 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally tried to use Windows XP (for my Windows systems, which is mostly VMs nowadays) for as long as I could. First, it was the first solid (in relative terms) consumer operating system from MS. Second, it was lightweight (in relative terms) in terms of UX and, somewhat consequently, engineering. With Windows Vista (but in particular, Windows 8), MS started to add complexity on every layer. Nowadays, I'm really…

XP, when it was first released, was a more resource hungry and uglier version of Windows 2000. Win 2000 was amazing when it was released. Games (albeit not DOS ones) worked well, it was stable and really your only other options were worse (Mac OS 9 was less stable than Win 98, ME was a dumpster fire, Linux wasn't quite ready for the desktop and BeOS was awesome but barely supported). Then when XP was released, it had…

Yup. When saying "XP was great", people mean "XP SP2 and on" - for me, the move from W2k to WXP was "the same thing, now with Fischer-Price aesthetic!"

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#247

Post by int_19h »

hnlmorg wrote: post #240
pizza234 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally tried to use Windows XP (for my Windows systems, which is mostly VMs nowadays) for as long as I could. First, it was the first solid (in relative terms) consumer operating system from MS. Second, it was lightweight (in relative terms) in terms of UX and, somewhat consequently, engineering. With Windows Vista (but in particular, Windows 8), MS started to add complexity on every layer. Nowadays, I'm really…

XP, when it was first released, was a more resource hungry and uglier version of Windows 2000. Win 2000 was amazing when it was released. Games (albeit not DOS ones) worked well, it was stable and really your only other options were worse (Mac OS 9 was less stable than Win 98, ME was a dumpster fire, Linux wasn't quite ready for the desktop and BeOS was awesome but barely supported). Then when XP was released, it had…

Many games did not work so well on 2K, and XP brought some substantial improvements specifically in that department.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#248

Post by w0utert »

hnlmorg wrote: post #240
pizza234 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally tried to use Windows XP (for my Windows systems, which is mostly VMs nowadays) for as long as I could. First, it was the first solid (in relative terms) consumer operating system from MS. Second, it was lightweight (in relative terms) in terms of UX and, somewhat consequently, engineering. With Windows Vista (but in particular, Windows 8), MS started to add complexity on every layer. Nowadays, I'm really…

XP, when it was first released, was a more resource hungry and uglier version of Windows 2000. Win 2000 was amazing when it was released. Games (albeit not DOS ones) worked well, it was stable and really your only other options were worse (Mac OS 9 was less stable than Win 98, ME was a dumpster fire, Linux wasn't quite ready for the desktop and BeOS was awesome but barely supported). Then when XP was released, it had…

Totally my experience as well, Windows 2000 really was the only Windows version I actually liked, it had very few faults for its time. Windows 7 probably comes second.

What I remember from XP is that it took until SP2 before all the problems were worked out, and SP3 actually introduced more annoyances in the name of security. I also think the default theme and general visual style of the XP is downright terrible and completely unworthy of a large professional company like Microsoft. The very first thing I always did was to switch back to the classic UI for everything (theme, start menu, all control panels, etc).

I don't care for any of the 'modern' Windows versions. They work, behind the scenes the technology has improved, but I they still annoy me in many ways, and the UI is IMO the worst it has ever been in the history of Windows. It looks cleaner but behind the veneer its just a giant heap of historical accidents piled on over the years, with no consistent direction of vision to be found. I get no joy using it, but I guess if you are used to working in Windows the OS is perfectly fine for what it does.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#249

Post by cududa »

segfaultbuserr wrote: post #70
mindfulhack wrote: post #31

My immediate thought is whether researchers or investigative journalists will find cold hard US government backdoors. This is potentially big.

If it really does exist, the backdoor can simply be inserted during the last-minute compile before release. It would be invisible in the code repository, the vast majority of internal developers at Microsoft won't even see anything unusual. Also, I heard anecdotes that Microsoft already allowed governments to audit the source code of Windows under NDA on multiple occasions in the past. But if you cannot guarantee the…

This is correct. Back at least in the Vista days each public release had to be passed to the NSA to validate the encryption algorithms and implementation. I’d imagine they poked around a few other parts of the OS

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#250

Post by int_19h »

unnouinceput wrote: post #141
segfaultbuserr wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it really does exist, the backdoor can simply be inserted during the last-minute compile before release. It would be invisible in the code repository, the vast majority of internal developers at Microsoft won't even see anything unusual. Also, I heard anecdotes that Microsoft already allowed governments to audit the source code of Windows under NDA on multiple occasions in the past. But if you cannot guarantee the…

And that's why modern compilers won't have that. It was exactly so the same source, even compiled a second later, it will generate different binary file. I hate it. It was so easy in DOS era - same source, same binary file, easy peasy.

Most modern compilers have switches to disable this behavior.
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