Windows 10: More Users Move to Windows XP Ahead of Windows 10 Launch

Hi there

Oh no it doesn't -- MUCH BETTER use W10 or even W8.1 with STORAGE SPACES -- you don't need to mirror drives - you can say use 15 or 25% as recovery area -- more than adequate on a HOME SERVER and you can dynamically add (or remove) as many volumes as you want to the storage space. The volumes can be of MIXED SIZES and you can even use things like NAS volumes and external USB devices in the storage mix.

Forget RAID / STRIPING on home servers now. Storage spaces are MORE EFFICIENT, a zillion times safer and they are available in the new OS'es.

No more problems with folders being limited to the size of ONE HDD any more. Need more space - just add another volume without even a REBOOT.

You can't run these on XP. (XP systems can I believe access shared folders in a storage space though as can SAMBA).

Cheers
jmbo

 

If you can't believe 'articles' then how about personal experience?
Experience, trumps guesswork and articles every time.

Since 2005, the only ones of my customers who have upgraded from XP to a newer OS are the ones that had their old XP PC crash on them and they went to a local retail store and bought a new computer, oblivious to what OS was on it. Then it was my job to try to make the new PC look and act as much like XP as possible. I can do that!

One local retail store manager told me that about 30% of people buying new PC's with Windows 8 or 8.1, bring them back in total disgust.
The bottom line is, that the new OS's are just not popular with the rank and file of computer users. Those are the home PC users that don't come to forums, or show up in magazine statistics.

I've been an OS tester on every OS since Windows XP, and out of all of them, I still prefer XP-Pro-SP3, which I'm using right now.

The only OS that may ever replace XP in my life, would be Windows 10. I can make it look and act pretty much like XP, with just a few insignificant differences. And, it comes with an admirable package of hardware drivers. So far, so good!
I've installed it on a ten year old Desktop and a six year old laptop and it's running just fine on both.

*Cool

 

Silly Windows Xp, you're supposed to be dead and a long forgotten memory like vista! *Biggrin

 

Whether the articles are factual or not, I still see many business still using XP (just walk by the computers and the XP screen saver is floating around) and I know a lot of people the won't update from XP or 7 for no other reason than "it is what it is and there's not need to" and that tells me that most people really:

A. Do not understand what "updating" entails or do not have enough knowledge about OS and computers in general
B. They just don't' care.

Don't get me wrong, 7 is by far my favorite OS as of now and 10 appears to be getting better and better and 7 still has a 5 years before it needs to be swapped, but It always surprises my how little people know about their computers, especially updates and security. I don't expect the average user to know as much as the experts on these forums, but computers have become so integrated in our daily lives and for some, it becomes a virtual livelihood, yet many don't seem interested to learn the basics and especially how to protect themselves against viruses and the like.

For people who do a lot of banking and buying online, you'd think they would want to understand the best practices of how to keep themselves safe, especially a business, who handles credit cards, social security numbers and personal information. But many times, my friends call my with " this is happening or I can't do this", then when I take a look at their computers it's loaded with junkware, riddled with malware, 100+ processes running at rest etc. But the kicker is, the computer is a key component to their daily work/social lives and when I try to explain or enlighten them with information, it's in one ear and out the other.

I had a conversation with my mechanic last month about why he should update his single PC form XP to at least 7, and to his defense he's not a big computer guy, but it is an integral part of his business, which could also affect his customers. He told me he uses Kaspersky and he felt totally protected because of it and I know a lot of people that have the same mindset.

If people don't understand why an OS needs to be updated, they won't, especially if it costs money (generally speaking of course as 10 will be free) I always thought Microsoft should try to find ways to inform people about computers and security to help them understand their computers better. Maybe like a little quiz that people could take and it would "test the knowledge" and maybe just maybe when they realize they may be at risk, they would at least consider updating.

 

Off topic a bit, but I was shocked to see our local petrol station's convenience store running their POS (that is point-of-sale) on XP... (This is a large petroleum company for who I once did MIS web reporting during the XP days ...LOL) - anyway an excellent business oppotunity for me to rewrite that and get them "modern" (as partner's always get told)

 

I'm staying out of this. I've said my part, and I don't want to catch the cray-cray flu.

 

XP POS OS is still supported for several years yet......

 

Seems Extended Support will end on April 12, 2016.

WES7 goes through to 2019.

 

XP POS OS is still supported for several years yet...... So, what's your point. . .*Huh

 

This is from Neowin, I have found most of their articles, fairly accurate and non-biased.

It seems completely reasonable to me, that some people have software which will run on XP, so they use it, or they don't care about upgrading. Also even if Windows 10 is free for 7 and 8 users, there is no incentive to shift Vista or XP users to use it.

I don't understand the indignation about the article, I liked XP (still do), it took me 3 years to switch over to Windows 7. Well first of all XP isn't available anymore. The article says the usage % has gone up that means people are coming form other OS's for it to gain %. Basically people that are linked to software that only runs in XP means that that software has been discontinued by the creator or the creator is not in business anymore. Software companies can't exist if they don't make money with their products. The biggest reason software runs in XP and not in Win 7, 8 or 10 would be it's 16 bit software. Processors have been 64 bit with AMD around 2000 and Intel shortly there after.

 

quite a few xpp loaded machines move via Ebay, but MS stepped in [to their credit] and offered big recyclers a deal they can't refuse, apparently, on volume licensing of Win7 specifically for refurbs. So if one is a careful shopper, the same corporate/gov't off-lease systems that a few months ago would ship with XP COA if not load, now can be had with Win7 at no real additional cost. i've bought them as low as $70 or so in fine shape [dell/HP top-tier machines]

how many units are there out there with Linux Distros? See, in my view XP is a better "linux" than linux. its essentially free, way more compatible with a zillion devices, solid, efficient, runs well on light hardware, quite networkable, etc.

This is from Neowin, I have found most of their articles, fairly accurate and non-biased.

It seems completely reasonable to me, that some people have software which will run on XP, so they use it, or they don't care about upgrading. Also even if Windows 10 is free for 7 and 8 users, there is no incentive to shift Vista or XP users to use it.

I don't understand the indignation about the article, I liked XP (still do), it took me 3 years to switch over to Windows 7. Well first of all XP isn't available anymore. The article says the usage % has gone up that means people are coming form other OS's for it to gain %. Basically people that are linked to software that only runs in XP means that that software has been discontinued by the creator or the creator is not in business anymore. Software companies can't exist if they don't make money with their products. The biggest reason software runs in XP and not in Win 7, 8 or 10 would be it's 16 bit software. Processors have been 64 bit with AMD around 2000 and Intel shortly there after.

 

Just for information from my own trial and error. Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 preview will run some 16 bit program using NTDVM but not all. However, if using 64 bit windows you won't be able to use 16 bit software. So, here is what I did. I searched for a Linux version and experimented for awhile. I found Lubuntu 64 bit 14.10 LTS (Yes, I said 64 bit) then added Xfce desktop, then added wine 32 bit. Now, I have no issues running 16 bit windows programs using Linux.

 

Wouldn't it be better to run it in Virtual PC? Then you would still be able to use a proper OS.

 

Wouldn't it be better to run it in Virtual PC? Then you would still be able to use a proper OS. I don't like Virtual Machines. I kind of like Linux, not as much as I do Windows 7 though. I don't have any windows retail versions anyways.

 

Where have the new XP users migrated from?