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My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

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Re: My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

#41

Post by longcat »

parker_mountain wrote: post #38

>My belief is that computer security is highly overrated. With a decent firewall, which every router has these days, only your own activity can expose you to attack from hostile actors. All internet browsers also help you by warning when you are about to do something stupid like executing code from a remote source. This is a ridiculous thing to say. The reason that there are so few misleading ads, so few zero days be…

Plus a lot of vulnerabilities in Windows 10 or 11 also exist in Windows XP but they're no longer mentioned.

Re: My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

#42

Post by Wowfunhappy »

ptero wrote: post #36
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious if you'd ever used a version of Windows NT prior to 2000? Since 2000 was part of the NT line, it might not be a fair comparison.

I did not use NT at home, but I occasionally used it at school. For me at that time, the ability to play games had been as strong a requirement as the ability to be stable and run word processing, email clients and VC++. So I would use Win95 and curse its (in)stability and reboot several times per day, but not switch to NT. Also, NT cost an arm and a leg for a student. Win2k was a huge improvement in every respect. M…

Didn't Windows 2000 also cost an arm and a leg?

Re: My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

#43

Post by Jerrrry »

I actually RTFA and was thinking, "this dude should upgrade and run Win7 like me," - and was pleasantly surprised to find he is.

The only issue I've had was a few months ago Google Chrome now gives a small nag-bar on startup - supposedly dismissisable with a -flag, but the flag itself is either no longer functioning for some smirk sanctimonious reason, or more likely, hilariously not tested, and has since ironically regressed.

The only gripe from XP->Vista->7 is the respective mediocre, to amazing, to abysmal local search functionality.

Regarding 0-days: back when I had virtual valuables and wasn't a complete random, I had been specifically targeted and smitten with a TeamViewer 0-day. But, like the author notes, that would had happened regardless of my subscription to any one of the myriad of dubious AV products of the era.

win7, with its incredible native and specific backward compatibility mode, supports more apps than any other virtual ecosystem. 25+ years of great software - some of which runs smoother than their great descendent counterpart. Shame to not at least have a box sitting around for the occasional sporadic encounter with an inane, archaic file type, needing to be fandangled into a newer format.

Re: My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

#45

Post by Dalewyn »

p1necone wrote: post #9
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard the pattern phrased: 95 Good, 98 Bad, 98 SE Good, ME Bad, XP Good, Vista Bad, 7 Good, 8 Bad, 10 Good. Counting 98 SE as a separate release does seem like cherry-picking in order to make the pattern work. Then again, you could also say the cycle started with Windows 98 (putting the whole of that release into the good pile), and you'd still have a remarkably consistent pattern across two decades and seven ve…

And then there's 11 which doesn't really feel like a new version at all to me. I use 10 at work and 11 at home and after changing the taskbar settings to put the start button back on the left I don't even notice switching.

>And then there's 11 which doesn't really feel like a new version at all to me.

That's because it isn't, Windows 10 and 11 both identify internally as NT10.0.

For some context: Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1 identified as NT6.0, 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 respectively; Windows 2000 and XP identified as NT5.0 and 5.1 respectively.

Re: My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

#46

Post by q845712 »

jimbobimbo wrote: post #5

"My belief is that computer security is highly overrated. [...] This can actually be quantifiable. [...] In 2021 Project Zero registered 10 0-days that concerned Windows. [...] None affected Windows XP." Clever! Security by running an OS which none of the exploit authors are targeting anymore.

sure in the tech industry we all know the best practices and more or less try to follow them, but in general I've found that I often have hardware that keeps working long past the desire of the corporate overlords to support it:

- a windows 2000 laptop that I only stopped using (a while) after win2k stopped getting security updates, and the linux i put on it didn't work very well.

- a flip phone that was gloriously good at doing the only two things it knew how to do (calls and sms) that I had to stop using because it literally stopped having compatible towers to talk to.

- a 2013 macbook with a keyboard that still works, but it can't get the latest OS updates anymore, much like OP's XP machine.

I feel like there's a willful blindness -- it's very profitable for companies to keep everyone upgrading all the time, but it creates a lot of trash and there's really no need. There's a huge swath of the population who doesn't mind having 20 year old appliances or cars, and who views their digital tools as just another appliance to be replaced as infrequently as possible.

Those of us in tech need to consider the moral prerogative of slowing the trash cycle and the frugality enabled by letting things work for decades. And to stop pretending there isn't a user base out there who will insist on using things for decades even if we tell them it's not advisable.

Re: My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

#47

Post by ptero »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #42
ptero wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did not use NT at home, but I occasionally used it at school. For me at that time, the ability to play games had been as strong a requirement as the ability to be stable and run word processing, email clients and VC++. So I would use Win95 and curse its (in)stability and reboot several times per day, but not switch to NT. Also, NT cost an arm and a leg for a student. Win2k was a huge improvement in every respect. M…

Didn't Windows 2000 also cost an arm and a leg?

This is ancient memory for me, but it definitely didn't feel this way. Some plausible options are:

(1) Win2k Home was much cheaper than Win2k Pro. Possibly an upgrade version was cheaper still.

(2) I had a bootleg version

(3) I started working for real money in 1999 so didn't care that much

(4) An OEM CD came with the computer hardware kit.

Re: My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

#48

Post by StimDeck »

It’s my humble opinion that a setup like this is only “not hacked” from a combination of dumb luck and low value. Maybe that’s enough for most people. IDK

No disrespect, if I was still a windows user I would be on win7 too, however I can’t help but think about how naive this was with regard to security while I read it. I personally don’t know how XP could make a person more productive, but I really can’t understand throwing all caution to the wind and doing mental gymnastics to rationalize it.

I admit it’s possible that being on XP has some obscurity benefit, just like if you only used DOS. Having a firewall is de rigueur as noted in TFA, but far from foolproof. No single layer of security is airtight.

Probably the OP has heard of defense in depth, maybe not. Security of any system is porous. It’s like layers of Swiss cheese and so long as all the holes don’t line up, you don’t get owned. Being that windows exploits often affect versions all the way back to 3.11, XP might be more holes than cheese.

Re: My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

#49

Post by goosedragons »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #42
ptero wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did not use NT at home, but I occasionally used it at school. For me at that time, the ability to play games had been as strong a requirement as the ability to be stable and run word processing, email clients and VC++. So I would use Win95 and curse its (in)stability and reboot several times per day, but not switch to NT. Also, NT cost an arm and a leg for a student. Win2k was a huge improvement in every respect. M…

Didn't Windows 2000 also cost an arm and a leg?

MSRP $319 for 2000 Professional vs. $109 for Windows 98. There was also an upgrade from 95 or 98 for $219.

Re: My long goodbye to Windows XP (2022)

#50

Post by Wowfunhappy »

ptero wrote: post #47
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't Windows 2000 also cost an arm and a leg?

This is ancient memory for me, but it definitely didn't feel this way. Some plausible options are: (1) Win2k Home was much cheaper than Win2k Pro. Possibly an upgrade version was cheaper still. (2) I had a bootleg version (3) I started working for real money in 1999 so didn't care that much (4) An OEM CD came with the computer hardware kit.

Okay, well fwiw you made me curious enough to look this up:

https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/microsoft-outlines-w...

> When it debuts in February, Windows 2000 Professional will sell for an estimated retail price of $319, the same as its predecessor, Windows NT 4 Workstation.

Note that there was no "home" edition of Windows 2000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2000

So it's one of 2, 3, or 4.

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