The End of an Era...

[Studio 126]

Microsoft has announced that, in April of this year (just in time for taxes...), it will cease to support the security needs of its Windows XP operating system. For many of us that means we will not only have to upgrade to a newer operating system, but newer computers, peripherals and applications, as well.

Most of my important apps are Win98-based that still work in XP and I am sure that I am not alone.

The announcement is at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/endofsupport.aspx

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

They will now keep providing anti malware signatures until 2015 though. Which was only announced yesterday.

[Alopecia No Hime]

No wonder it keeps asking me to update to windows 8.2..

[Anderson'sAllPurpose]

Well, that's just great. Since my laptop died I'm stuck with my old computer that's probably 10 years old and barely runs XP, good luck with upgrading that one...

[KatyaR]

Well, that's just great. Since my laptop died I'm stuck with my old computer that's probably 10 years old and barely runs XP, good luck with upgrading that one...

Know the feeling...that's where my desktop machine is. Not looking forward to April.

[DollyKim]

Weigh the price of an OS upgrade against a new computer, we were shopping yesterday and I was surprised how reasonable some of them are. My sister just got a new lap top with a touch screen and the squares and her other machines are XP. It doesn't seem that hard for her to use. I'm a Mac so I can't compare XP to its replacements.

[Gift_in_Edge]

My family used to be PC in the 90's and early 2000's but now are all Mac/Apple. Still the news is a bit depressing. At least the company is wanting to move forward. I hope it towards something good. (Never used Vista but heard it didn't do too well.)

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

My family used to be PC in the 90's and early 2000's but now are all Mac/Apple. Still the news is a bit depressing. At least the company is wanting to move forward. I hope it towards something good. (Never used Vista but heard it didn't do too well.)

Well, whatever comes after Windows 8 (and the very slightly improved 8.1) can't be any worse. Windows 8, however, needs ditching as fast as possible. To be fair, it's actually quite good on touchscreen devices like tablets. On desktop PCs though, it sucks. And the server version (Windows Server 2012) is even worse. You do not need pretty or fancy UIs on a sodding server - you just need easy access to all your utilities etc.

Given Microsoft have backtracked and will be providing some updates now for XP until 2015 I'd either hang on til then to upgrade and hope Windows 9 is better; or look for somewhere still selling PCs bundled with Windows 7, which keeps extended support until 2020 (that's the same support XP has been on since 2009 - the date on that link is from October last year, so before they changed their mind a bit about XP). There are still places in the UK at least selling PCs with Windows 7 as my parents got one at the beginning of the year after two weeks of fighting with Windows 8 (I did try to convince them to get a Mac, but they weren't convinced)

[Alopecia No Hime]

I need to remember to see how long my warranty on my computer lasts...Just in case...I need to get it fixed..>A>;; It works just the headphone jack stopped working.

[Studio 126]

I may have found a backdoor to an affordable Win8.1 upgrade. I purchased my present mainstay apps for [dimes?] on the dollar when I was last a student at a tech college.

I am thinking that if I go back and take those courses that I always wanted to take anyway, I would regain my student status making me eligible for said discounts. Even if the course fees approach the full cost of an upgrade, I will have additional credits to show for it...