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PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

8 recommendations

PX Eliezer1 to antdude

Premium Member

to antdude

Re: "Windows XP holdouts: 3 reasons you must upgrade now. Yes, now."

The [PC World article] is mostly a bunch of FUD.

Their 3 points are:

1) [Productivity]. Well, my XP machine does what I need it to do. E-mail, Internet, Word Processing. I also have a machine with Windows 7, and that is NOT any more "productive" than XP. As far as automatic maintenance, those are things that I want to do for myself.

2) [New technology]. Well, if I get a new computer it will of course have a new OS. But for my present XP machine, my technology works FINE and will continue to work fine (printer, monitor). I don't need Bluetooth and I don't need USB 3.0 or beyond.

3) [Security]. That's a laugh. The biggest virus is the Windows OS itself. Most of the Microsoft security issues can be avoided by NOT going online with Internet Explorer, by NOT by using a Microsoft e-mail program, and by NOT using MS Office--- (PLENTY of alternatives for all of these).

3a) And machines should be protected by hardware firewall, updated software firewall, closed ports, updated AV, possible separate malware defense like MalwareBytes, system hardening (HIPS) tools, and by NOT using IE or Outlook (as above).

3b) Smart behavior, of course, and stay off any site you wouldn't want your wife to see. And don't open any e-mail that doesn't seem to make sense.

3c) Take advantage of new protections like the free defense against Cryptolocker malware .
»www.foolishit.com/vb6-pr ··· prevent/

3d) And use a Hosts file manager such as Hosts Man.
»www.abelhadigital.com/hostsman

-----

So where is the OS in all of this?

There's a science fiction story in which 3 male astronauts from the 20th century are time-warped into a future world in which only women survive.

The women tell those 3 men that they won't be useful.

The men protest that they can help protect the women.

But the women say, "We've studied your history. The only protective role for men in society was protecting against OTHER men". So the women make the astronauts drink poison.

Microsoft Updates are largely like that too.

Of course machines should be kept updated where possible. But after next April there is NOT going to be open season on XP machines PROVIDED THAT the machines are reasonably protected---

----As any machine should be ANYWAY, even if running Windows 7 or Windows 8 !!

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

1 edit

1 recommendation

Blackbird

Premium Member

Hmm. I went down the same path with my Win98FE system.
1) My Win98 machine did what I needed it to do. That is, until MS Excel went over to xlsx format, and I could no longer get my Excel97 to open and write-access legitimate data files from outsiders... and I couldn't get a newer xlsx-compatible version of Excel to install that was also compatible with Win98FE.
2) My technology on the Win98FE system worked FINE until I needed to get a new monitor and discovered the drivers weren't rated for Win98 at all. On that system, USB support was at 1.x, which raised havoc with using most current USB flash sticks; I now limp along with an old, small-screen backup monitor.
3a) AV was no longer available at all, for any price, for Win98FE. Ditto for most other anti-malware and utilities.
3b) Smart behavior worked for a time, but increasingly I found myself "holding my breath", only taking the system online at all on rare occasions (risks being drive-by's in legitimate site banner ads, etc)
3c) Crytolocker is available currently for XP thru 8.1, but not for 98... and the day will come when it (like many other software tools) will not be available for XP
3d) A Hosts file is about the only line of defense still available for 98FE.

Bottom line: my Win98 system is still in use for some off-line work, but it has been online (with grossly-outdated AV signatures) only once in 12 months, that only to briefly visit a highly-respected website needed to check out something on the system. This will be the future for nearly all XP systems a few years hence.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

1 recommendation

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

said by Blackbird:

Bottom line: my Win98 system is still in use for some off-line work, but it has been online (with grossly-outdated AV signatures) only once in 12 months, that only to briefly visit a highly-respected website needed to check out something on the system. This will be the future for nearly all XP systems a few years hence.

Well, yes, but Windows 98 is [3 years older] than Windows XP.

And---XP is more prevalent than 98 ever was. XP was a seminal event.

But your point is well taken.

Still, it reminds of this story:

A poor peasant obtained an audience with the Czar, and asked him for a grant of money.

The Czar was amused, he gave the money, but said to the peasant: "In return, you must return here in a year, and during that time you must teach your horse to talk! If you fail you will be executed".

The man went home and told his wife, who was quite upset.

"Why be upset?" said the peasant.

"In a year, I may already be dead, or the Czar may be dead, or the horse may learn to talk!"

So in that spirit, I say that I'm not going to worry so much about XP, and that 98 is a different horse entirely.

Ian1
Premium Member
join:2002-06-18
ON

Ian1 to PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

to PX Eliezer1
said by PX Eliezer1:

1) [Productivity]. Well, my XP machine does what I need it to do. E-mail, Internet, Word Processing. I also have a machine with Windows 7, and that is NOT any more "productive" than XP. As far as automatic maintenance, those are things that I want to do for myself.

I also think the productivity argument is somewhat bogus.

"Aero Snap, which appeared in Windows 7, makes maximizing, minimizing, and organizing windows as simple as dragging them to the edge of the display. "

Whoopie. I was able to alt-tab between windows easily enough with XP. Back with Outlook 98 and Office, I was just as productive on an XP machine with decent memory. Obviously if you're running a high-end video editing application or something that won't be true, but for the average person working in e-mail, Word documents, and spreadsheets? No.

Yeah, the security is going to be the kicker. Load it up with Linux. To spend $100 for a 7 or 8 license for an ancient machine is just a waste of money IMO. But that might not be feasible in some environments.
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

dave

Premium Member

Yeah, it's bogus writing all right. Like 'drag to edge' is somehow more 'productive' than clicking on a maximize button.

(Actually, I find it negatively useful - I never use full-screen, and thus automatic maximization is a pain in the arse. But since it's easy enough to turn it off, I'm not particularly bothered by the fact of its existence)
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1 to Ian1

Premium Member

to Ian1
said by Ian1:

[Quoting from the magazine article]:
"Aero Snap, which appeared in Windows 7, makes maximizing, minimizing, and organizing windows as simple as dragging them to the edge of the display. "

Like you, I was astounded that the magazine article included such a frivolous reason for getting rid of XP.

It proves that the people running the magazine serve Microsoft and hardware makers, NOT their readers.

My God! It is ridiculous....!

In fact, SO ridiculous that it undermines their credibility.

It's like the shyster defense lawyer who says "My client was holding a knife, and the victim happened to run into it". Such a lawyer does NOT help his client---rather, he gets laughed at.
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

1 recommendation

dave

Premium Member

said by PX Eliezer1:

It proves that the people running the magazine serve Microsoft and hardware makers, NOT their readers.

I'd say not proven. Another explanation is that the author is an imbecile.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

said by dave:

I'd say not proven. Another explanation is that the author is an imbecile.

Hard to believe.

As Lou Costello said in the movie "The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap":
quote:
That drunk I ain't!!