With XP's End of Life, Munich Will Distribute Ubuntu CDs 426
SmartAboutThings writes "Windows XP is going to officially die and stop receiving support from Microsoft in April, 2014. After that very moment, it is said to become a gold mine for hackers all over the world who will exploit 'zero-day' vulnerabilities. The municipality of the German city of Munich wants to stop that from happening [and] has decided to distribute free CDs with Ubuntu 12.04 to users of the almost extinct XP. Munich, through its Gasteig Library, will prepare around 2000 CDs with Ubuntu 12.04 to offer to city residents affected by Windows XP's end of support. Previously, it was believed that Munich city's authorities were going to offer Lubuntu 12.04, which would have required lower system requirements with the same support period."
I'm not sure how I feel about this (Score:4, Interesting)
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On the downside, how many kids/grandkids are there that will know how to fix their parents/grandparents Linux machines?
If not, this gives them a great learning opportunity.
Re:I'm not sure how I feel about this (Score:4, Insightful)
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Go to your own computer and look it up.
Re:I'm not sure how I feel about this (Score:4, Insightful)
How are you going to google for instructions when your network card is a cheap belkin that won't work?
On your phone. Laptop. Smart TV. I have the same problem when my PC is in pieces for any reason; I use a laptop to look up stuff to get it working. Do many households have one and only one way to access the net? And how ancient a PC is it that doesn't have ethernet on board? If worst comes to worst, spend $5 on a supported card.
The only time we had a problem with Ubuntu and hardware was when we were waiting for broadband to be connected for a few days and had to use dialup. Ubuntu didn't recognise the modem port on the Dell laptop. Never needed to before or since though; I believe there are proprietary drivers but didn't bother to chase them up.
Re:I'm not sure how I feel about this (Score:4, Insightful)
If these people are still running Windows XP, do you think they have smartphones and smart TVs?
I do remote support for a fortune 500 company whose product is targeted at the general public, and every day I work on Windows XP machines with 512MB of RAM, etc. and these clients don't have any other machine in their house. In reality it's time to buy a new computer, but that's not an option for everyone sadly.
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We are from the government! We want you to have this OS, we guarantee it is better then your old one, because we are the government.
Perhaps I am just being a skeptical American. But anything with the Government Seal of Approval, makes me feel a bit scared. Not that I am a big fan of Microsoft or the Corporate entities are to be trusted. But at least with Corporations you know they are in it to make money. But Government and other organizations often have a lot of agenda's. Not always to your favor.
Re:I'm not sure how I feel about this (Score:5, Insightful)
In some countries in Europe, I live in the Netherlands, we see the government as a service organisation.
We know we pay taxes because in return we get good quality roads, social security (which keeps crime rate low), police to help us (we and the police are still on friendly terms), schooling (increases profit and reduces crime). And although we might bitch a bit about our taxes, most of us gladly pay it.
Re:I'm not sure how I feel about this (Score:5, Insightful)
I envy you. I live in the US, and if I want decent roads, a safety net in case of job loss, funding so police can do their jobs, actual functioning schools that teach something other than consume, working fire departments, and emergency medical teams who don't care more about valid health insurance cards than patient signs, I get called "socialist".
European prisons have a better quality of life than most people here in the US.
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They may behave well in some places, but in others, they just cover each other's arses.
Re:I'm not sure how I feel about this (Score:5, Insightful)
If you don't believe corporations have "a lot of agendas" I would suggest that you go look at a list of the sponsors of the American Legislative Exchange Council and then take a look at some of the laws ALEC is pushing in state legislatures around the country.
The notion that Corporations=Good and Government=Bad is pretty naive.
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It's not like it's locking them in, or even costing them anything. Most people just need a secure platform to run a web browser.
I think you're right to be scared of your government, and have been saying for a long time that the PATRIOT act was bad news. I actually don't have that much of a problem with governments trying to collect data, etc, but the PATRIOT act was very obviously unconstitutional, and therefore there should have been a HUGE shitstorm surrounding it, until it was rejected/repealed/whatever.
Re:I'm not sure how I feel about this (Score:5, Insightful)
On the downside, how many kids/grandkids are there that will know how to fix their parents/grandparents Linux machines?
Probably close to the same amount that will know how to fix their Windows 8 machine.
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I've known people to fix Windows when it breaks, but I've never known anyone to fix windows when it's seriously broken faster than it can be reimaged. That's the real metric, right? I have confidence that I could fix most Windows problems, but I'm even more sure that it's not worth doing in most cases.
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On the downside, how many kids/grandkids are there that will know how to fix their parents/grandparents Linux machines?
Not many now; a few weeks after its rolled out, a lot. They will learn. Also, Android is Linux, and there is already a lot of knowledge about that that transfers both ways.
I got a used laptop for my daughter with a locked down version of Vista on it that wouldn't let me install anything. So I nuked it and put Ubuntu on it. She's been using it for two years. Complained of course, but it works and I can basically let her install whatever she likes, for free, with no fear. She had an XP laptop before that w
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How many people do you think will actually be able to figure out how to install Linux? If the city the size of Munich is only preparing 2,000 CDs for the public, obviously they are expecting that this won't be that popular of a program. I actually had to read the summery several times before I realized that they were making this for the public, not for the city itself.
When it dies, XP will be, what, 14 years old (Yeah, too lazy to google this morning). Who supports anything for 14 years? Microsoft has relea
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I don't use Linux myself, but set my parents up with a Linux machine running Ubuntu. 95% of what they do is web browsing or running a basic word processor, there's no issues with viruses. Basically it's zero maintenance, and it runs perfectly and at reasonable speed on their older machine.
Well... (Score:3, Insightful)
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Question is if people know what it is and what to do with it.
It's not the end of the world if some don't. The XP will be EOL'd anyway and their computers become an unsupported can of malware, which would be even worse. Let's bravely just hand the installation DVD and see what happens. It's a good challenge for Ubuntu.
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XP released more than 12 years ago. Upgrading from XP to a newer version of Windows cannot be called 'reinstall every time a new OS comes out'.
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Which versions of Windows can you upgrade between without re-installing then?
Pretty much all of them post-NT. It ain't pretty, but it works.
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It is kind of annoying that there's no good way to keep it updated without an internet connection. You've got to go out one day and get the Packages, Release etc, then go out the next day and get the debs. Or you've got to take home a mirror of the repo.
Just windows XP? (Score:2)
Why not offer it to everyone, regardless of their current OS, if they want it?
Re: Just windows XP? (Score:2)
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Ever heard of the internet? I hear you can search for things and actually download them! /sarcasm off
Totally agree, they should mass produce these and make them available at multiple touch points for anyone to pick up, train stations, kiosks, shops, etc.
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You are assuming that most people still using XP at this point actually know how to burn a DVD from an .ISO image or make a bootable USB thumb drive to install Ubuntu themselves. That's kind of a dangerous thing to assume.
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And you think someone who uses Windows 7 will know any better? They're only users, not "experts"*.
* yes, I once had someone tell me I was an "expert in computers" for knowing how to burn an ISO file to a DVD.
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Why not offer it to everyone, regardless of their current OS, if they want it?
Because --- when stripped to its essentials --- this is just another publicity stunt.
If you have been running XP for twelve years, you have twelve years of experience with your XP compatible programs. Programs which may have been heavily customized for your business.
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The fact that Jersey Shore was even aired for one episode makes me believe the best thing to do when the "majority of people" decide the like/don't like something is to run the other way.
SubjectsInCommentsAreUseless (Score:2, Troll)
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Ubuntu worked on 50% of the hardware i tried it on, whereas mint booted without a hitch.
MATE desktop is also the perfect choice instead of the utter lack of features of xfce and the bloatedness (is that even a word?) of unity.
XP rules! (Score:2, Insightful)
Going from a Windows 7 to an XP system is like night and day. Everything just works and works more smoothly. No hunting and having to search (why the fuck should I have to search for something on my own system?) for what I need. No buried menus to turn crap off.
With XP I never have to wait for the system to tell me, a minute or so later, that I mistyped a network resource, the whole time preventing me from retyping the correct path.
To use the tired phrase, "You can have my XP when you pry it from cold, de
Re:XP rules! (Score:4, Insightful)
Sounds to me like you're just lazy. XP is missing all of the usability improvement that came in later versions (not necessarily counting 8). How do you snap two windows side by side in XP? Oh wait, you can't. How do you utilize more than 3GB of your memory in XP? You don't, unless you use the bastard child that was XP 64-bit, which almost nobody supports by the way. For me, 8GB is a good starting point for RAM for what I use a PC for.
There are LOTS of usability tweaks in later versions. Please, just let XP die, it's had a good run but it's time to bury it. It's also ugly as hell next to a modern OS.
I won't hesitate to guess that a majority of people are hanging on to XP only because they've got a cracked copy and don't want to buy a legitimate newer version.
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I move them side-by-side. How hard is that?
How do you utilize more than 3GB of your memory in XP?
XP supports up to 4GB of memory
There are LOTS of usability tweaks in later versions.
I'm still waiting to find them. I did multiple tests comparing how easy it is to get to places in XP or make configuration changes and the extra steps involved in W7. In some cases it takes twice as many steps to accomplish the same thing.
Then there
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One gig is still allocated to kernel space
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XP supports up to 4GB of memory
Yes, but your video card is mapped into that space. If you have a 1GB video card, you're right back to 3GB max. Or you could use the abortion which is XP64, which has shit driver support and compatibility issues.
I like Win7's interface much better, hit windows and type, that sort of thing. But I'm with you on the lack of polish as compared to XP. XP may look like fisher price, but it runs like a Deere. or something.
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XP64 wasn't quite as bad as an abortion. You wanna talk about abortive messes? Say hello to Windows ME. Nah, XP x64 was.....misunderstood.
It really was Server 2003 rebadged without the server bits. So driver support was easy....pull the drivers for Server 2003, and everything just worked. Sure, it would bitch that the driver wasn't signed right, but let it complain. I had half a dozen systems in my ca
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After using Win7 for almost two years, I find it a marginal improvement.
Good:
-UAC is a good feature for those who understand the concept of "administrator" vs. "normal user".
-A lot of minor things (like "ejecting" USB sticks) that I found unreliable in XP work well now.
-64 bit support that deserves the name (Windows XP 64 never really took off).
Bad:
-Low level system settings are hidden deeper than in any previous version. You can still find them with a bit of Google help, but for people who are need to mana
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The auto resize feature was one of the first things I turned off in Windows 7. I really don't care much for the search feature in the start menu either. After a few years its gotten unreasonably slow. Tons of people go about their daily activities and don't need 8GB of memory. Chances are if you're running XP era hardware you won't be able to fit over 4GB physically on the motherboard.
Can you elaborate on the "buggy as hell next to a modern OS" statement?
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It's kind of hilarious to read people singing the praises of XP, which most geeks regarded as a bloated "Fisher Price" version of 2000.
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I still have a system running 2000.
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"Your computer might be at risk"
"You need to get latest Java"
"You need to get latest flash"
"You computer is still might be at risk?"
"You Must Construct Additional Pylons!"
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The search is a minor timesaver but really doesnt change much. Sometimes instead of using alt-tab to reach the cmd window and type a command, I hit the win key and type it instead, which may save one or two keystrokes. But some commands, you still have to open the command window anyway, so what it saves in keystrokes it risks losing again in having to think about whether the new method will work or not on a particular command.
Welcome to Unity! (Score:4, Interesting)
Nice idea, but Ubuntu is, by default, about the least XP-like common Linux distro they could have chosen. Mint-MATE or something would be less of a culture shock.
Re:Welcome to Unity! (Score:5, Insightful)
That's not necessarily a bad thing. The problem with work-alikes is that people are prone to think that they actually work alike. The fact that something is different and actually looks it is really not such a bad thing.
The whole problem with the GNOME3 interfaces was never so much that those interfaces suck but that they sabotaged the GNOME2 one in the process.
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That's OK, Windows-8 isn't very XP-like either.
12.04 is almost obsolete, even for a LTS version (Score:4, Insightful)
By April 2014, Ubuntu 14.04 should arrive as the next LTS version.
I would certainly want that (or a derived distribution) rather than Ubuntu 12.04, especially in a PC with AMD graphics. The open source drivers for ATI/AMD are still catching up in features and performance, and 14.04 vs. 12.04 should make a significant difference.
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Wikipedia says 12.04 is supported until 2017.
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On the server side. The desktop stuff is supported until April 2015. I've got a 10.04 VM that I keep for old time's sake and the desktop stuff no longer gets updated, but backend stuff does.
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Incorrect. You would be right about earlier LTS releases (where it was 5 years support for server, 3 years for desktop), but 12.04 is 5 years for both. The implication was that this would be true for all LTS releases in the future, but I can't find a link for that at the moment in respect of 14.04.
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I don't know if U/12 is as bloated as some of the other releases but I'm betting it will bring a P4 to it's knees.
I have tried test installs on older equipment and been far from pleased with performance,
I suppose if you are used to dial up speeds this may not be a big issue.
If my attention span has moved on before it can boot up I'm going to be looking for some other solution.
This reminds me of (Score:5, Funny)
AOL CDs and Floppy Disks. Great for leveling that kitchen table that has one leg shorter than the rest.
Support? (Score:2)
And who's going to support the people who are being introduced to an entirely new operating system and applications installed on an ancient computer? Assuming they can get it installed.
System requirements (Score:3)
Previously, it was believed that Munich city's authorities were going to offer Lubuntu 12.04, which would have required lower system requirements with the same support period.
I have Ubuntu 12.04 LTS running on a nine year old P4. I won't say it's fast, but it works and is usable and probably works as fast as XP. I would only recommend using Gnome Classic (Gnome 2 like) as standard desktop, as it's much more intuitive than Unity. If Munich really wants this to work, they should create some kind of social work project that employs a bunch of people who can help Munich citizens to migrate. Just putting that CD in your computer will definitely result in data loss for many people I'm afraid.
Ubuntu 12 on old XP machines - 32bit problem. (Score:5, Informative)
This is a nice sentiment by Munich, but the many of the folks who are running XP and try and install Ubuntu 12 will be in for a nasty surprise -
32 bit machines without PAE will not load with most newer Linuxes. Most, including Ubuntu, no longer include 32 bit non-PAE kernels in their installers.
I found this out when I tried putting a modern albeit tiny Linux onto my FitPC 1 and an older EPIA motherboard - XP runs fine on these, but finding a linux is probably beyond the skill of most XP users. Jury rigging a different kernel in is definitely out.
A lot of older XP installs are also running on older hardware. Just giving away an OS will not magically fix this. And if these folks upgrade the hardware, it probably comes with a newer windows anyway.
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Seriously... lacking PAE is really, really rare. The only chips released in the even semi-modern era that didn't have PAE it were a handful of Pentium M laptops (and why Intel did that, I'll never know). I do have one laptop that qualifies. It should probably be retired, but when the Ubuntus wouldn't support it, it was an excuse to play with BSD for old-times'-sake.
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Apparently they are judging by the millions of XP users...
hackers. will exploit 'zero-day' vulnerabilities. (Score:2)
Zero day?
How old is XP ?
If hackers haven't found holes in Win XP by now, they never will
And theres also 3rd party antivirus and firewall software, I presume that the commercial security software will be continue for subscribers.
Ask someone why they are still running XP and yo9u will probably get the answer that they have legacy software that doesn't work on newer versions of the OS, or they like the old interface. They are not likely to want to go to a completely different OS that looks different and won't
I wonder if there will be legal consequences (Score:3)
it makes sense (Score:2)
It makes sense. Cannonical has been working for years to make Linux just as bad as Windows. By now Ubuntu should be pretty good as a drop in replacement for Microsoft products.
My F500 has no plan I'm aware of (Score:2)
We are still stuck on WinXP and most of my coworkers have fairly outdated laptops (think core2duo with 2gb of RAM). Right now with XP by the time it is started along with all the other mess our IT wants running I'm sitting at 1GB utilization. Open up a few of my apps I use for data analysis and I'm pushing the limit of what I've got. Usually have a 15-20 minute startup time as well just due to being slow.
I asked about upgrade plans and they were wanting to switch to us using a term server and logging into i
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Pushing Unity desktop on unsuspecting users? (Score:4, Funny)
This had Unity on by default, doesn't it? Epic fail.
We can almost hear one of one Redmond’s richest residents rubbing his hands together with glee. [linuxuser.co.uk]
Unity is almost as relevant to Ubuntu 12.04 as ASIMO is to Honda’s latest hatchback. [linuxuser.co.uk]
I had Ubuntu 12.04 installed for a short time and HATED it as well. The overall look and feel of the default Unity desktop manager is like it is trying to be a hybrid desktop/tablet OS and doing a half assed job at both. It managed to combine annoying, confusing and pandering on a level almost up there with Microsoft Bob. One wonders if this is a surreptitious reverse advertisement for Windows 8.
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Time for Microsoft to give back a little. (Score:4, Interesting)
There's just something fundamentally wrong with a company abandoning a product with such a huge install base. It's a huge Internet public health issue. Microsoft has a social responsibility by virtue of their success to act. I see four reasonable possibilities here.
1. Microsoft keeps releasing security patches for XP.
2. Microsoft ships a version of Windows 8 that will run on XP grade hardware.
3. Microsoft spins off XP into a company that will continue to support it.
4. Microsoft releases XP source code so that others can (at least have a chance to) patch it.
Eventually, all XP grade hardware will die, but with the advent of low power/low cost hardware XP could see a second coming if Microsoft would just support it. It's not like there isn't a huge amount of reasonably good software for the platform.
Imagine if a company in India bought XP and started releasing XP SP4 for like $10 or $20. So cheap that the 1st world wouldn't both to pirate it and still affordable to many in the 3d world.
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and oh bollox I've answered an AC. lunch break over soon.
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This is the average user summarized in once sentence, no matter which OS they use.
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Well, what do you expect from such unfortunate monstrosities? The average person has less than two eyes, only one boob and one testicle.
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:5, Insightful)
Linux has never been a serious threat to Windows in the desktop area. What will happen is people will pick up the CD's because it is free, and never install them. As for things like loosing your existing programs, and possible your documents is a big deal. Chances are they will just see it as an opportunity to get new hardware. And will get Windows 8, they will complain and then get use to it, and not care anymore.
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe if you tighten the bits your programs will stop being loose?
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows 8 is hell on Earth in UI form but at least it functions properly.
I don't really consider something as "functions properly" when it's "hell on Earth" to use.
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:4, Insightful)
I must admit that it is difficult to find qualified people on ubuntu.
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:4, Insightful)
Cust: "I want to upgrade my PC to 8!"
Tech: "OK!, I will have to charge you $40 to look at it and clean it out, $60 for DDR2/DDR RAM that hasn't been made for 4 years, $50 for a PCIe GPU (you do want the fancy desktop right...?), $150 for the Windows 8 DVD, $100 to backup your old docs and viruses, and $150 to put windows and your viruses back on!"
Cust: "Umm where is your computer dept again?"
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:4, Funny)
Windows 8 is hell on Earth in UI form but at least it functions properly.
I'd prefer a glitchy heaven.
Re:Microsoft will pull back (Score:4, Interesting)
I've had people accidentally install Windows 7 over Windows 7 and lose all their documents due to re-partitioning.
Have you ever installed Ubuntu? It's dead simple, even my grandma can create a dual boot system, which it does by default. There's a slider for how much drive space you want Windows to keep and how much you want to give Ubuntu.
You put in the CD, turn it on, and wait for the desktop to appear. Then you can use GNU/Linux to look at your documents and files, and use Firefox to browse the web (it's a Live CD), see if there will be glitch driver support or not (everyone should have a GNU/Linux or BSD live CD, just in case whatever OS files become corrupt you can still get at your files and use the web). If it's all good, you double click the desktop icon to install it, pick a keyboard and language and timezone, move a slider and soon you've got a dual boot system -- which means you can use Ubuntu and if for some reason you need to run your windows programs you can just reboot into windows (though wine can run a lot of windows programs -- it is a bit retarding for newbs to get programs into, needs a "here's my old windows partition" option, IMO).
It's actually very simple. Win7 installer is a bit more complex, but still easy. Try creating a dual boot Windows setup to try Win8 out. Clicking a few wrong buttons in any software will produce results you didn't want...
So yeah, saying random citizens are qualified to make a full switch over to Linux themselves is ridiculous.
You are a fool. It's too fucking easy. The average person isn't THAT dumb. It's about as difficult as installing any windows software [ next, next, next, install ].
Windows 8 is hell on Earth in UI form but at least it functions properly.
Correction: You are a troll or maybe a shill? Win8 doesn't fucking work for upgrades. It works SOMETIMES, most times it doesn't work. I installed W8 on a Toshiba laptop that came with Win7... USB drivers and Ethernet and WIFI don't work... So, put in a GNU/Linux live CD, booted up, wifi works, USB works, ethernet works, get on the web, go to the hardware vendor's site, download drivers and put them in the windows's user directory. Then reboot. THEN I could get windows 8 to work -- Except the USB drivers. So, I can't use any USB devices. The hardware vendors made the correct driver I'm told (after hours of support phone tag, saying W8 isn't supported, BTW, whatever cop-out they can give), however, the folks uploading the drivers to their support system copied the same Win7 USB driver where the W8 driver is.
I've had similar problem with downgrading from W8 to W7, but with an ethernet driver. Plop in a Linux CD, and it actually works. Point being: For every issue you can point out with Linux not working, there are AT LEAST as many instances of Windows8 shitting the bed. Ethernet?! USB?! WTF, it's a small number of chipsets that are widely supported, why create a different driver for each different vendor if they have the same cards under the plastic? The windows devs are idiots.
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While I agree with your general feelings on the matter (except the part that MS has to guarantee you anything) I feel that your grammar and formatting take a lot away from your message.
Delivery counts, nerds. At least make an attempt to write on the same level as the average 6th grader.
Dual Boot (Score:4, Interesting)
Dual booting could be a popular option so that people can keep their old programs and data files. They should simply use Ubuntu for their web surfing and cloud activities. Keeping a separate drive or partition for shared data between the two OS's takes a small amount of time up front and makes the data sharing much easier.
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Judging by the way Android devices are nailing PC sales, I'd say yeah, Linux has become a threat to the Windows desktop.
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Migration away from XP can also go the other way - if the hardware is too slow for windows 7, it might run windows 2000 fine - a version currently too obscure for hackers to attack.
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Sounds like the right way to solve the problem.
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I think this might be called security through antiquity.
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It's not just China.
I'm a rather cutting-edge tech person, but even I have left XP on my work laptop and a couple of our home systems simply because they simply can't run Win7, nor do I see any compelling reason to upgrade - they function perfectly fine for the limited uses they serve (ie one's a minecraft server for a dozen friends, the other is a guest-internet machine for my kids' friends that come over).
Not to mention, the HUGE bulk of computers that I support - ie my extended family - are all XP.
Furthe
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Further, isn't about the 34th time "XP end of life" has been announced? I was told they would NEVER be patching xp again, and I just GOT another patch last week.
End of XP support is announced for April 2014. And yes, it has been extended before. If Microsoft is serious this time or if they will give in with another support extension is anyone's guess.
Microsoft will not prolong (Score:3)
Further, isn't about the 34th time "XP end of life" has been announced? I was told they would NEVER be patching xp again, and I just GOT another patch last week.
End of XP support is announced for April 2014. And yes, it has been extended before. If Microsoft is serious this time or if they will give in with another support extension is anyone's guess.
Remember this is the company that outright declared war on it's own desktop monopoly to force Metro and the Microsoft App Store down the throats of any new PC buyer. I don't think there's any reason for them to delay at all - and a huge reason for them to go forward (ie, increased Win7 sales, or new PC purchases that come with Win8). I especially think that, governmental action aside, there's no "save the users" reason - even the potential 0-day apocalypse - that Microsoft would care about continuing life
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Microsoft is not breaking the OS, they are ceasing support. You make it sound like they are the boogie man killing babies for profit. They are not spending any more money on a 12-year-old product which generates 0 revenue.
Sorry; Should M$ produce products out of the good of their hearts? Or perhaps they should enslave those 1st world programmers so maintaining the OS doesn't cost so much? Or maybe you would rather everyone everywhere stayed on XP forever?
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I bet it does make them some money. Where I work, we still had a lot of NT4 servers until about 2-3 years ago. MS wanted GBP 3m to support them (with patches) the current year, then 6m then 12m. Needless to say, that focussed people a bit and the systems were migrated/replaced.
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What can we do to cash in on this without looking like total dicks? Oh! I know... how about we pull support for their dominant operating system and force them to spend hundreds of millions on upgrade fees!
That would require that they license properly to begin with. But it's common knowledge that this isn't the case.
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12.04 is maintained until 2017. There won't be new hardware support for 12.04 after 14.04 is out, but this initiative is targeted at old PCs anyway.
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Not exactly true. There are a *few* things that my XP machine is uniquely qualified to do. I have some old managed Cisco/Linksys switches in my network that require a really old Internet Explorer version to configure. Apparently there are some old Java Script bugs in the version of IE that the switches depend on, and no other browser works.
So, at least for me, I'll be running XP for a long time to come..
Also, the machine may be inefficient compared to newer models, but I submit that the costs of scrappi