The end of Windows XP?

**caparica007** · 13-07-13, 01:17 AM

I just heard Microsoft will stop giving support to Windows XP in April 2014. I still have Windows XP on an old laptop, does this mean that some time after that it will start giving me trouble? I'm not sure it can support Windows 7.

**jwoegerbauer** · 13-07-13, 02:31 AM

Yes, support for Windows XP is ending on April 8, 2014. If you're running XP after support ends, only thing is that you won't get further security updates for Windows XP.

**ctechguy** · 13-07-13, 05:16 AM

Yes, Windows XP should still run fine for you after that date, assuming you maintain you pc and the operating system's health in a decent manner.

Many of today's newest laptops and even desktops have come down considerably in price as well. IF you look around carefully, you're bound to find a deal when you are ready to make a move.

I purchased an HP laptop running Vista back in 2007, and the only thing I have had to do was take it apart once to put more paste on the CPU, to keep it from overheating and shutting down. It works great as a surfing machine, but not for much else.

**damachine** · 13-07-13, 07:06 AM

I think that you should upgrade your PC. There are so many programs that don't work well with XP. So if the updates stop imagine how much worse it would be. XP is a decent operating system but is becoming more and more outdated. I don't know when last I used a PC with XP. Also if you say your PC wont be able to handle windows 7 and you don't want to buy a new computer, then I suggest that you buy more Ram for your PC. Windows 7 only require 1Gb ram to run. However if you have below that 2GB ram in today's times I think that your computer needs an immediate upgrade.

**donaldplozha** · 13-07-13, 11:14 AM

IMO, they are doing this the right way. They are giving everyone about 1 year time to either upgrade to Windows 7/8 or just buy a new computer. I know there are going to be people who will continue using their good old Windows XP, but I think that will not be a big group.

**gordon_s1942** · 13-07-13, 03:12 PM

Apart from XP growing old, I saw an article suggesting the USB ports as we know them may be also on the way out.
The suggestion was because of the current craze of 'THIN, THINNER and Make it THINNER' still for Tablets, Notebooks and L/Tops was a suggestion of combining SD card slots and USB ports.

This isnt as far out as it may sound as I was looking at the 'New' Samsung Galaxy's coming on the market and the company has its on propriety plug on the side and to access USB connections, you need that companies own adapter in this slot and I have a feeling other devises do the same thing.

**Uncle Fester** · 13-07-13, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by caparica007

I just heard Microsoft will stop giving support to Windows XP in April 2014. I still have Windows XP on an old laptop, does this mean that some time after that it will start giving me trouble? I'm not sure it can support Windows 7.

It is not about Microsoft support for XP. The 64bit edition will be supported until 2016.

Hardware vendors have discontinued driver support for XP years ago, that IS the problem !

Practically all the special applications I need Windows for, do not, I repeat: DO NOT work on later edtions of Windows. I regret the waste of time trying to get things working on Windows 8.

So my solution was to grab a bunch of the last good multicore 64 bit motherboards and graphics that DO have XP supported drivers so I can continue to use a PC for professional applications until I am dead.
When it comes down to actual performance XP is faster than later editions of windows on these boards that have drivers up to windows 7. I am talking here video rendering and many stacked VST instruments running parallel in an audio production.

For general home computing(browsing, multimedia) Windows is becoming obsolete IMO and for home office, XP has always performed more than sufficient.

As for the USB port everything is going wireless these days. There will be a time one day where I wish we still had the USB port just like today where I damn all computer companies for ditching the COM port on laptops. Yeah, its got to be all thinner, WTF.

**mkhannah** · 13-07-13, 04:27 PM

You might find this thread of some interest:

**blaze4545** · 14-07-13, 03:15 AM

I presume it just means that tech support and updates will no longer be offered by Microsoft. You would have to rely soley on the support fellow users still running Windows XP whom are taking matters into their own hands and releasing third party updates. Maybe its time to update? I have two office computers, a home desktop and two laptops still running Windows XP. They are pretty old computers (running between 1GB ram to 4GB ram) so updating will not be an option for most of the computers. If anything I will probably install a partial OS like they do on most the Netbooks if I have any issues. Or we will just buy new computers.

**best4less** · 14-07-13, 03:59 AM

I just found my Windows 3.1 Disks, but there is no window updates for it either LOL

**jwoegerbauer** · 14-07-13, 05:58 AM

Originally Posted by best4less

I just found my Windows 3.1 Disks, but there is no window updates for it either LOL

Do you sell them? In 2 weeks here starts a flea-market ... Hope to make money with those ... There always are some computer freaks on the way ...

**lsemmens** · 14-07-13, 01:31 PM

I'm still running XP on my media server. The reason? I have a COA on it that says XP and I am not about to upgrade it just to play videos. It works. I also set up second hand machines for those who cannot afford anything newer. If there is a COA on them, they am happy, if not I use Linux.

**best4less** · 14-07-13, 02:03 PM

I had to Google what COA meant LOL

To be honest I can't ever remember paying for any OS including 3.1 LOL

**caparica007** · 16-07-13, 12:51 AM

Originally Posted by donaldplozha

IMO, they are doing this the right way. They are giving everyone about 1 year time to either upgrade to Windows 7/8 or just buy a new computer. I know there are going to be people who will continue using their good old Windows XP, but I think that will not be a big group.

I'm sticking to my XP as long as it functions. If it will start giving me trouble, I'll have to take action. Thanks for all the answers

**Jenniferb7890** · 16-07-13, 04:28 AM

You will probably need to buy a new computer, as there are very few computers that run XP that could support Windows 7. Also, if you buy a new computer you may continue to use your XP computer (just be very careful online, as you will stop receiving security updates, which will make you more vulnerable to viruses).

**scilef** · 21-07-13, 02:04 AM

As technology advances, Windows XP would eventually become obsolete. New computers will use the latest version of operating system, and Windows XP will be further pushed down into oblivion. I have a disk on Windows XP myself for my old computer, and I have not use it since I bought a new PC 3 years ago.

**GavinSV** · 27-07-13, 08:42 AM

I always likened WinXP as the VL commodore of operating systems. It's the one they got just right, then changing to the next model.

**ada101** · 27-07-13, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by nomeat

So my solution was to grab a bunch of the last good multicore 64 bit motherboards and graphics that DO have XP supported drivers so I can continue to use a PC for professional applications until I am dead.

Have you ever tried VirtualBox? You can run Windows XP on any machine through a Virtual Machine ( ).

Also, I still use Win2k for my FTP :P !

**Uncle Fester** · 28-07-13, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by ada101

Have you ever tried VirtualBox? You can run Windows XP on any machine through a Virtual Machine ( ).

Also, I still use Win2k for my FTP :P !

Yes VirtualBox is a ripper. I use it to quickly burn a micro under XP with PIC basic Pro while I am doing stuff in Linux and as a Virus protection measure when I want to play around with dodgy files. Great to have multiple images of the OS.

I am also doing this with a low powered 10" notebook, with no problems at all. It must have 2GB of ram though. The funny thing was that it came with WIn7 when I bought it and Win7 didn't accept my 2GB RAM upgrade.
Chucked native XP and Linux (with Vbox XP) on it and all use the 2GB fine.

**porkop** · 28-07-13, 07:48 PM

Here is a question........if, after the 2014 deadline, I decided to make up a computer which I wanted to load XP on it, as I would still have the installation CD, would after install, it still get all the service packs and updates, to date or will Micro$oft just stop access to those already available updates? If the answer is yes, can I download all these updates for offline installation at a time of my choosing???

Thanks