News - Microsoft reminds us of the risks of not moving on from Win XP

[HEXUS]

“There is a sense of urgency” says Microsoft’s Director of Trustworthy Computing.

Read more.

[sirtrouserpress]

Shame, Windows XP was always my favorite OS, although I did move to windows 7 with my later builds and its comparable but a few too many features that aren't needed

[Saracen]

Microsoft have a point.

But .... I have several machines running XP and they are going to stay running XP. I have enough spare hardware, including spare processors and RAM, and even mobo's, to keep them running pretty much indefinitely, and that is precisely what I will do, while they still do the job I have them for. And I am NOT putting Win8 on those machines, now or ever, not least because they would either struggle to run it, or simply not run it.

And in, oh, 10 years or whatever, not one of those machines has contracted a virus, or been hacked, or even attacked. Why? Simplez, no internet connection. They don't need it, so don't have it.

I did recently upgrade another machine, hardware and software wise, from XP and Office .... to Ubuntu and Libre.

[3dcandy]

For the majority of users though Win 7 is such a better choice. IE9+ when they think that IE IS the internet for starters...

[kompukare]

While Microsoft have a point they do make a living out of forcing people to upgrade.

Not being connected to Internet works fairly well of course, but wonder how secure a business LAN would be if it is protect by a decent UTM (Unified Thread Management)?

I can see an opening for custom Linux UTM/Firewalls distro here. The upgrade pushers Intel and Microsoft won't like that though but the landfills might. Core2 performance is plenty enough power for a few more years anyhow.

[3dcandy]

Microsoft have a point.

But .... I have several machines running XP and they are going to stay running XP. I have enough spare hardware, including spare processors and RAM, and even mobo's, to keep them running pretty much indefinitely, and that is precisely what I will do, while they still do the job I have them for. And I am NOT putting Win8 on those machines, now or ever, not least because they would either struggle to run it, or simply not run it.

And in, oh, 10 years or whatever, not one of those machines has contracted a virus, or been hacked, or even attacked. Why? Simplez, no internet connection. They don't need it, so don't have it.

I did recently upgrade another machine, hardware and software wise, from XP and Office .... to Ubuntu and Libre.

But the majority of people have their pc internet connected and don't understand the risks. Yes, I agree it can be done, but most people I end up fixing pc's for have really no clue what to do or how to go about it. XP is just what they are used to. I also find most of the time that their pc's are infected big style because they have no idea...

[MrJim]

And in, oh, 10 years or whatever, not one of those machines has contracted a virus, or been hacked, or even attacked. Why? Simplez, no internet connection. They don't need it, so don't have it.

Did anyone else watch the Horizon programme last night about computer hacking? It was interesting the Stuxnet was introduced through the use of a USB memory stick...so you should be careful where you're...err...sticking them

[kingpotnoodle]

I have several machines running XP and they are going to stay running XP.
...
And in, oh, 10 years or whatever, not one of those machines has contracted a virus, or been hacked, or even attacked. Why? Simplez, no internet connection. They don't need it, so don't have it.
...
I did recently upgrade another machine, hardware and software wise, from XP and Office .... to Ubuntu and Libre.

Unfortunately no internet makes a useless PC for most people and so its not how they use it. The Cylons aren't out there, internet is (mostly) good! You and the other <1% of users who have a use for internet disconnected WinXP machines aren't really the target of the push, this is squarely aimed at average consumers and business.

You surely have to acknowledge that Joe Average is far better off upgrading to Win 7 or better, they probably don't even realise how backward their computing experience is with an old slow Win XP install on a spinning disk and running IE8 (*shudder*).

I'd really expect moving from 10+ year old OS and software to something released this year would be an upgrade, but that's not Joe Average's Saturday project... Upgrading to Win 7 is hard enough for a techno-dunce nevermind moving to Linux.

[Saracen]

Did anyone else watch the Horizon programme last night about computer hacking? It was interesting the Stuxnet was introduced through the use of a USB memory stick...so you should be careful where you're...err...sticking them

Even if a virus did get on (and it hasn't), how can a virus like Stuxnet do it's thing with no internet connection? Admittedly, there are viruses that deliberately do damage locally, but they're the exceptionnot the rule. Most, absent a net connection, can't do their thing, like hijack your data or make you part of a DDOS.

But yes, you're right, be careful what you allow into such machines.

[Saracen]

Unfortunately no internet makes a useless PC for most people and so its not how they use it. The Cylons aren't out there, internet is (mostly) good! You and the other <1% of users who have a use for internet disconnected WinXP machines aren't really the target of the push, this is squarely aimed at average consumers and business.

You surely have to acknowledge that Joe Average is far better off upgrading to Win 7 or better, they probably don't even realise how backward their computing experience is with an old slow Win XP install on a spinning disk and running IE8 (*shudder*).

I'd really expect moving from 10+ year old OS and software to something released this year would be an upgrade, but that's not Joe Average's Saturday project... Upgrading to Win 7 is hard enough for a techno-dunce nevermind moving to Linux.

No internet connection makes little sense for most home users, but it makes a lot more sense for many business environments. Not all, certainly, but many. For a start, it adds security in that you don't get hacked. It also means your staff aren't wasting their time browsing holiday sites, updating their Facebook page, or infecting your PC with malware they got browsing a dodgy porn site, because they have no internet link.

So the question is ..... does their job need a net connection? Many do, but many don't. I have machines that do, but also machines that just don't.

The average Joe, with a single home machine, very likely would be far better off with Win7, yes. Win 8? Not so sure about that.

[Saracen]

But the majority of people have their pc internet connected and don't understand the risks. Yes, I agree it can be done, but most people I end up fixing pc's for have really no clue what to do or how to go about it. XP is just what they are used to. I also find most of the time that their pc's are infected big style because they have no idea...

Agreed. Which is why my first sentence was "Microsoft have a point".

The rest of the post was about why it's not quite as cut and dried as MS would like all those XP users to think, that they HAVE to upgrade. It depends what the machine is used for.

[crossy]

I'd really expect moving from 10+ year old OS and software to something released this year would be an upgrade, but that's not Joe Average's Saturday project... Upgrading to Win 7 is hard enough for a techno-dunce nevermind moving to Linux.

I "upgraded" my techno-dunce sister from XP to Ubuntu about a year ago and she's had zero problems. Then again, she's one of those folks who has a low powered system (old Dell laptop) and just "wants it to work" for doing web, FB, mails and the odd letter etc.

I've still got some XP VM's about - running on a Core2 laptop (itself running Ubuntu). I'll probably hold onto them for a while - mainly because of the license issues with running '7 on VM's.

Gotta say though that I agree with MS on this one - to a point. If you've got an XP user then there's few reasons (other than app compatibility) not to move them onto '7. Not sure about the corporate tools, but the supplied "migration wizard" seemed to do a pretty fair job of grabbing my XP setup and letting me drop it into my nice, shiny '7 OS install. What I definitely WOULDN'T do is drop someone comfortable with XP into a new '8 install - not unless I wanted constant complaints and phone calls that is.

[bert7]

I have only one PC runing XP and as soon as Kaveri is out (FEB) that will be the end of it, the problem for most people in my opinion is that to change from XP you need to change motherboard, memory, graphic card and Cpu, plus OS. Now with Trinity and Richland performing well plus you don't need to bust the bank for a GPU, its worth changing over. I have a Trinity 5800k with ASRock fm2a85x extreme4-M 8GB ddr3 1866 Patriot black mamba memory and a crucial SSD, the performance far exceeds the familys needs and my XP, AMD dual core clocked at 2600mhz, AGP Gainward 6700, 1GB OCZ ddr3200, and a pair raid o WD Raptors 74gb HHD. the sooner i bin my XP, PC, for Kaveri the better, and it won't be drawing 350+ watts ether.

[davesom555]

And in, oh, 10 years or whatever, not one of those machines has contracted a virus, or been hacked, or even attacked. Why? Simplez, no internet connection. They don't need it, so don't have it.

Did anyone else watch the Horizon programme last night about computer hacking? It was interesting the Stuxnet was introduced through the use of a USB memory stick...so you should be careful where you're...err...sticking them

Yeh, those photo kiosks in places like Tescos are prime targets - they are most probably used by unsuspecting punters too...

[AGTDenton]

For as long as XP can be activated then I will continue to use it.

[3dcandy]

For as long as XP can be activated then I will continue to use it.

Just why?