It’s been two years since Microsoft ended support for Windows XP, the popular operating system that’s been around since 2001 and which many people just don’t seem willing to let go.
Microsoft did about all it could to drag XP-ers into the present with pop-up warnings urging them that they need to upgrade, and a free migration tool to help people transfer their files and settings to Windows 7 or Windows 8.
It’s not merely that Microsoft wants to get everybody onto the latest version of Windows, although it has certainly gone to great lengths recently to get people to upgrade to Windows 10, whether they want to or not.
But as we at Naked Security repeatedly warned XP users, the end of support means “zero-days forever,” because those vulnerabilities will never be patched – and XP computers are sitting ducks for cybercriminals to attack.
And yet there are still millions of XP computers connecting to the internet, where all manner of malware is waiting to pounce.
Windows XP was still running on 10.9% of all desktops as of March 2016, according to stats compiled by Net Applications.
To put that in perspective, according to Net Applications’ figures, Windows XP is still the third-most popular desktop OS, trailing only Windows 7 (51.9%) and Windows 10 (14.2%).
And there are more PCs running XP than Windows 8.1 (9.6%), and all versions of Mac OS X combined (7.8%).
By the way, there are some Mac OS X users who are using out-of-support versions, too, meaning they are also vulnerable to never-going-to-be-fixed security holes.
Net Applications’ stats show that just under 1% of all desktops are running OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 10.7 (Lion) or 10.8 (Mountain Lion), which are no longer receiving security updates from Apple.
Things look slightly better when you look at OS market share measured by a different company, Stats Counter, but there’s still an alarming number of PCs running XP.
According to Stat Counter, Windows XP represents 7.4% of all desktops in April 2016, down from 10.9% in April 2015.
That’s an improvement.
But when you consider that Microsoft puts the number of Windows devices at more than 1 billion, we are still talking about tens of millions of computers today running a very old, very outdated, and very insecure operating system.
LISTEN NOW: The End of XP (and the risks of unmaintained software)
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Image of obsolete computer courtesy of Shutterstock.com.
David McCarthy
“Microsoft did about all it could to drag XP-ers into the present …”
… except provide them with an easy way to upgrade so their applications, drivers etc. continued to function.
Yes, we still have WinXP machines (carefully protected) because we have legacy apps which are either too expensive to update, or which can’t be updated and won’t run reliably/at all on Win7, 8, 10.
It’s Hobson’s choice for many people, and the least costly/difficult choice is to stay with WinXP.
Paul Ducklin
To be fair to Microsoft (or at least to be non-unfair), the unwillingness of a software vendor to provide you with an updated version of an XP app that takes security seriously enough to run on newer Windows versions…
…can’t really be blamed on Microsoft.
David Phillips
After 15 years, many vendors of legacy software are long gone, yet their apps still do the job they were designed to do, without someone new coming along to make a Win10 version.
Paul Ducklin
The problem with that sort of approach to what’s now known as the Security Development Life Cycle is that a lot of those apps often also still do what they *weren’t* designed to do (e.g. present a needlessly large attack surface to hackers).
One real problem with XP SP3 is that left-over vulnerabilities such as buffer overflows, whether in the OS itself or in third-party applications that are from “long gone” vendors:
Are almost certainly very much easier to exploit than similar vulnerabilities in Windows Vista and later, and
Are never, ever going to get fixed.
I know automotive analogies in IT are generally a bit risky, but some countries will allow you to operate historical vehicles without retro-fitting modern safety features for the driver (e.g. seat belts, rollover protection), but will insist on fixing things that put others at risk, given what we now know about safety (e.g. safety glass, braking performance). Or certain limitations are imposed (e.g. daylight hours only, designated routes) to reduce the overall risk to everyone.
You can continue to use XP if you really need to, as long as you are mindful of the risk to the rest of your network and to others nearby, and if you put some suitable precautions in place.
The fact that “the software still does what it used to” is not quite enough on its own… because what it used to do, in respect of insecurity, might very well no longer be acceptable.
Ted Nugent
Look at Windows Media Center. They stopped developing it in 2009, but it is still the only application that can decrypt cable signals on a windows machine. There are countless business applications that still work just fine and would cost the companies millions to rewrite essentially the exact same program.
Paul Ducklin
Of course, if those companies were willing to invest those millions, they might very well end up with software that collects, stores and uses my personal information more safely, and reduce the likelihood of yet another giant data breach.
Your statement is only reasonable *if those business applications really do still work fine*. Which they don’t if they have never-to-be-patched holes in them. Which it’s very likely they do, if the company has been “saving” money on security.
If you spend miliions to rewrite “the exact same program” then you are doing something wrong…
Norbert
Well, i’ve been a CAD developper since the early 80s. At that time – using the upcomming XP OS was the best choice to go on with more stable developping. At that time, i was able to create and experience the most simple stuff i ever could hope to program for CAD-software. Until today, September, 13th, 2016, i’m still using only XP, nothing else. My Software is really compatible to any other newer Microsoft OS und is running w/o any noticeable bug even with the latest version(s) of WIN 10.
Currently WIN 10 reveals at least for end users as a quite dangerous OS which is more suitable for foreign hackers and less trustable commercials. With a huge number of other professionals i hope for a successful learning process at Microsoft staff. People at Microsoft, please leave Your current tendency of building a gordian knot. Otherwise, You will soon no more be able to stop it’s bug machine like the “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe” experienced.
Laurence Marks
There are also many people who have a computer limited to 3GB or 4GB of RAM. They simply don’t support any more memory. (Core 2 Duo machines accept 4GB but only use the first 3GB, for example.) These computers run fine on XP, and maybe adequately on Vista or Windows 7, but go to their knees with disk-thrashing with Windows 10. Nevertheless, they’re perfectly adequate for the uses they’re put to: running an office suite and a web browser.
What bully Microsoft has said is “We’re not only going to force you to buy a new OS (no free upgrades for XP or Vista). We’re also going to force you to buy a whole new computer.” This in spite of the fact that the computer meets every one of the user’s needs and a new one would provide no functional added value.
This would be like forcing drivers to all buy new cars because (in the US) only new cars have the mandated backup camera.
Paul Ducklin
The irony here is that many people in the developed world update their cars surprisingly regularly – more frequently that the lifetime of the average Windows version, as it happens. (In the UK, which is very damp but rarely warm or cold enough to dehumidify things that live outdoors, one major reason for binning an old car is that it’s no longer safe enough due to corrosion. In that sense, drivers *are* forced to update their cars regularly because new cars haven’t started rotting yet.)
If you’re so annoyed with Microsoft for no longer supporting your old computer, why not simply switch to a product that will? (I’ve used Elementary Linux on some old netbooks of mine. It runs fine. Better than XP used to, which is what my Mini-9 came with back in the noughties.)
joe
The irony here is that many people in the developed world update their cars surprisingly regularly – more frequently that the lifetime of the average Windows version, Sorry cannot agree,the average age of cars where I live is 15 years and yes I can still get NEW parts for my 1999 Hyundai lantra.
Paul Ducklin
If the average age of cars in your region is 15 years (I’ll assume you mean the median average), that means 50% of people currently have cars that came out after XP (which is congruent with my choice of the word “many”.)
(I’m guessing they don’t salt the roads in winter where you live, too :-)
Benjamin
Core 2 Duo processors can access more than 4GB ram, its depends on the motherboard/chipset.
Paul Ducklin
32-bit Intel processors have had 36-bit addressing (what’s called Page Address Extension, or PAE) since about 1995, allowing up to 64GB of RAM if [a] the chipset and [b] the OS supported it. IIRC, only server versions of 32-bit Windows ever supported a 64GB address space. Windows XP 64-bit supported more than 4GB back in 2001.
If you can’t afford to upgrade your old 32-bit hardware, but your motherboard supports more than 4GB and you already have the RAM chips you need (if you don’t, they’re likely to be expensive these days on account of rarity), you can switch to FreeBSD or Linux for free if addressing more tbn 4GB matters to you.
RH
Not true. I have a Core 2 Duo with 4 Gb of RAM that runs perfectly well on Windows 10.
Graham Dean
The problem is that software vendors do not update software. Apple killed hypercard & OS9 dual boot which most of the million plus lines of code I had written runs on. So I still run OS 9 and will do until I retire in about 17 years.
J Crenshaw
I have a feeling with this line of thinking you will be “retiring” a lot sooner than 17 years.
Sonny
All the new computers work like ice age material compared to Windows XP Instead of moving forward? Windows is moving backwards. No wonder people are hanging on to this treasure.
John
Lets talk about the banks all over the World still using software older than XP
Paul Ducklin
It’s not the age of the software, it’s more like the time that’s elapsed since the oldest known security hole was found but not fixed.
Chris
I still have my XP computer along side a Windows 7/10 upgrade, which is soon to be downgraded.
As has been said so many times before, sofware that is still doing the job well and its investment being quite large, why should we upgrade to a system that will no longer function.
The XP is not on the WEB. It is my games machine that still gives me great pleasure, unlike 10 which apart from email an browsing is I find, next to useless.
Paul Ducklin
Presumably when you downgrade your Windows 7 computer to XP (and in security terms, it really *is* a downgrade), you will have an XP computer on the internet, used for your regular online life. The rest of you might not thank you for that.
(I did smile when you described your Windows 10 computer as “useless, except for email and browsing.” That sounds a bit like a car which is useless except for commuting, business and family transportation :-)
Anonymous
XP offers to VBA programmers the possibility to break the code with CTRL+Break, which does not work from Vista on. This is the reason why I keep using XP, of course with solid third party protection.
RichardD
Try Alt+Esc, Ctrl+Alt+Esc, Ctrl+Scroll Lock, or any of the other alternatives that Google suggests.
One missing hotkey hardly seems a reasonable justification for running an insecure OS!
Paul Ducklin
Methinks you’ve been trolled :-)
David McCarthy
None of Paul Ducklin’s comments address my original point about MS creating a ‘new’ OS which doesn’t continue to support the existing applications.
They made half-hearted attemps, but have never done a proper job.
Is our copy of OfficeXP any more insecure than Office 2013?
If it helps, my car is a ‘Y’ reg Nissan with 145k miles – no corrosion spotted at most recent MOT, and still going strong after 15 years, apart from the electronic keyfob (I prefer to use the key anyway).
Mahhn
I have an old laptop on XP: I have a snake cam I like to use on cars, or to see behind the stove, also an old Sony Hi8 camera with 25 optic zoom that works fine but only downloads to its XP app. I don’t use it on the web often and do use new Firefox and am behind a firewall, plus I have an image I can reload if anything did happen. XP still has it’s place. I recall going to an MS presentation (when I was a vendor) and they were gloating about how W7 was going to make us all money by requiring new hardware, all the vendors were pissed. It was all about generating revenue than making a better OS, but that’s what they’re in business for (just like health insurance) to make money, not help people. It still hands down out performs 7,8,10 on old perfectly fine equipment. XP will live as long as there are old hardware in the world.
Paul Ducklin
I’d guess that most of the people amongst the “millions” in the headline are not using XP like you are, but have it as a primary computer that is exposed to everyday cybercriminality.
I agree that “XP has its place,” but I am not convinced that everyone keeps it in a carefully chosen place as you do.
PS. Have you tried Linux with your snakecam? Betcha it works :-)
Mahhn
I did, and it was okay, but didn’t handle the sony cam. I spent to much time hacking the dll for the sony (worked for other apps) and now have an app that doesn’t work and won’t uninstall on 7, heh….
Paul Ducklin
I think I’d cut my losses and buy a new camera with the money I didn’t spend on Windows 10. Something of the GoPro sort…to say that cameras are a lot better since tape and film went away is the understatement of the millennium :-)
Mahhn
it’s old, but new condition, not going away. I’m old, not in new condition, but still work fine too, not going away :)
Daniel Parrish
If Microsoft wanted to put an final ending to Win XP then they should have offered a free upgrade to all licensed XP users. What really upsets a lot of users is the way Microsoft disgards their old operating systems to try to force you to invest in a new one. VISTA was a piece of crap. Windows 7 and 8 weren’t much better so Microsoft discounted the 7 and 8 platforms and went directly to Windows 10. Now Microsoft is stopping support for Vista and soon they have announced they are stopping support for 7 and 8. Boy I wouldn’t buy a car from those guys if they made cars for fear they would discontinue making parts for their cars after a few years.
Tom
I’ve switched to Windows 7 Pro x64 from XP, and I feel that 7 is more of an extension of XP. I still get the same stability, and reliability as I did in XP. Microsoft can go to hell and they can take their Windows crap 10 with them. I just did a fresh install of 7, got all my updates installed, installed all my mobo drivers, and did a system image this time. I have no intention of moving to Windows junk 10. Screw em.
ed
Anyone else running XP using the registry hack to still get the security updates?
Mahhn
interesting… I know Fidelity is running XP and paying out the nose for security updates from MS. I didn’t think they were available outside of their version.
Thomas
I haven’t bothered yet; how is it working for you?
İsmail
Yeah, They work fine on my pc.
David McCarthy
Dear ed
Didn’t know about the registry hack (but now found details thanks to Google). We’ve never allowed automatic updates on our Windows PCs (ANY version of Windows), but may give this a look on a non-critical PC. Many thanks, ed.
David McCarthy
PS. Is there a version of Linux which runs all old Windows apps? That would be the cherry on the cake!
Paul Ducklin
There’s WINE (short for WINE is not an emulator), a program that runs on Linux, OS X and various flavours of BSD. WINE allows many Windows apps to run, with varying degrees of verisimilitude. The entrty-level version is free; there’s alo a paid version called CrossOver that goes for about £40, compared to about £100 for Windows 10.
WINE and CrossOver aren’t virtual machines or emulators, so they don’t need a copy of “real Windows” to make them work. They implement the Windows programming interface on top of non-Windows platforms. Your kilometrage may vary, but even the paid version is free to try.
obiwan103
Windows XP users are still running windows XP for one reason: Lack of money. For some of us, the recession never ended. We’re just too broke to upgrade. That’s all there is to it. We’re not going to buy new hardware until the hardware fails. Security is not enough of a concern when you have nothing to lose. If we get hacked, well, we’re broke, we have nothing of value. Got my SSN? No big deal, you won’t be able to get a $500 credit card with it, much less anything else. Got my tax info? No big deal, now you know I have nothing of value, and nothing worth stealing.
It just like having an old beat up car… until it breaks down beyond repair, there’s no need to replace it. You don’t worry about locking the doors, because you know it’s a worthless piece of junk nobody wants. And you don’t keep anything of value in it, because you have nothing of value. Same goes for Windows XP.
Paul Ducklin
Why not switch to Linux? It’s free; it will probably run perfectly on our old hardware; it gets security fixes regularly; it comes with full disk encryption built-in for added security; and pretty much any sort of software you might need or like is available for free. (Including Sophos Anti-Virus, as it happens :-)
The problem with XP is it’s a bit like that beat-up old car of yours – it ends up, on safety grounds, being as much of a liability to everyone else as it is to you.
Unlike a car, a laptop running Linux has close zero running costs, assuming you can get free Wi-Fi around and about.
Arrow Bast
Most Older computers released before 2009 run happily with XP , despite many of them limited to 4GB or less of RAM ( Thanks to motherboard or chipset limitations) . And while security is a big deal, XP offers a lot more usability for those having legacy hardware and software – since a lot of those features were de supported from Vista onwards, Im sometimes able to use Win 7 to run some legacy hardware that still works fine, but its not intuitive and requires lot of manual effort , trial and error etc. We are using XP for a reason, and can do without the sermons . And while linux could work, try getting optimized drivers for simple things like video and audio cards is a big challenge – especially for ATi/AMD video cards, some audio cards. I place blame squarely on manufacturers of the hardware for not providing updated and reliable drivers for linux – even if they are proprietary. Just because i can afford to buy a newer machine, doesn’t mean i need to junk my older devices and contribute to more electronic trash. You can rant about security all you want , but bear in mind that we dedicated XP users are not as naive as you think. What does windows 7 , 8 or 10 for that matter offer beyond the promise of ‘security’ – i mean Win 8 is a piece of garbage when it comes to ease of use and customizability . If i really needed good security , i don’t even need freaking dumb-dows, and could use Linux.
florinell
Maybe because I’m not able to find drivers for my old, old hardware?
Richard
I had an XP machine which outlived its operating system and was non-upgradeable because of multiple resource constraints. It now happily runs Ubuntu.
roy jones jr
I do agree Paul that some out there don’t want to move to a new OS out of laziness. Would it be a little time consuming to have to redo installs and updates to be up to date? Just like the same amount of time consuming you did when you installed XP? smh
But I do wonder if the stats that were pulled take into account if some of the those XP machines are used for illegal means, etc?
joe
I need filmstrip view for work and M S took it away… The new file structure blows, I have asked a thousand people why they took away this feature and no one knows or has an answer. Money is not the reason and I would spend $ 5000 tomorrow for a 2016 version of XP …So as of march 2016 I still happily use XP for work and I love It the same as I always have
asdasds
The reason is very simple: Windows XP is far better than the later versions of Windows.
JohnC
As for security matters 4 those still using an old OS in general,including.XP.
Most security issues where discovered and are still discovered by software developers, long before MS even admitted the issues existed and applied patches for those issues.
So in general one can fairly say that if you use a number (different > more than one) of the latest state of the art security systems/programs/applications, and on top of that some gray cells, the risks of virus and malware infections are relatively small. Even when using XP or W7..
kevinkordes
I have Windows XP, Windows 7 and Linux Mint 17.3 on one multiboot computer.
The Windows OS’s are generally used offline.
I serf the Net with Linux and use Comodo Anti-virus for Linux. In 2 years of serfing the Net, I haven’t caught a single virus or malware while using Linux.
dipindy
I like xp more than any OS..someone should buy xp with every rights from MS and recruit the best software experts from the world for fixing and updating..and it will run for several decades..LONG LIVE XP!!
Paul Ducklin
I suspect the updates, done in that way, might end up costing you a lot more than Windows 10 would cost outright :-) It’s a dwindling market, and retrofitting modern security features to XP already proved hard enough that even Microsoft didn’t do it.
I think you ought to start trying some Linux distros.
lolcat
I’m a security engineer, (I run Windows 10.. 1511) “IF” i was looking for a modern stable OS… and I didn’t have a lot of money.. I’d choose Linux.. I run a customized build of Fedora… on a my old Sony Vaio … (I like it) I can install software.. update.. patch… to me it’s all good.
But for the average XP users… I think there’s a hard learning curve associated with installing Linux… and for someone to tell them to run Linux (some people aren’t computer people) that’s a disservice… and if you use XP reasonably… (like grandma and grandpa) I don’t see them having a problem.. and (like grandma and grandpa you have to tell them not to click on links they don’t know) adults that’s a different story
kevinkordes
I agree with you. Linux would not be good for most users. Another problem with Linux is the community itself. Quite a few snobs on the Linux side. I love Linux but can’t stand the community! BTW…you laptop would run much better with LXLE Linux.
lenshacker
The Registry hack is working fine- and I just tried Ad-Aware’s AV software. I have a spare disk in a Caddy, so “nothing to lose”.
Many people MUST run XP to keep hardware working. Many XP systems are used as controllers.
RB
I have a Win95B machine..runs great. I have a Win98SE machine..runs great. I have a WinXPPro machine, runs great. I have a WinVistaPro machine, runs great. I have a Win7Pro machine, runs great.
I have a Win8.1Pro machine, runs great. I have one Win8.1Pro machine that I “let” Microsoft’s nag gag GWX install Win10 onto it. Though the GWX insisted Win10 would run great, it does not run great. I have already spent hours chasing work arounds, hacks n jacks and then suddenly came to my senses that I have 6 other machines all running great and running all the programs (and then some) that I could want to run.
So I axed the freebie useless “lets hold hands together and jump off the cliff saying yes we can” Win10 trap. It’s amazing how easy it is to convince a mindless world that what you have that is working fine and running fine must be replaced by a defective wannabe and add salt to their wound with fear mongering of security issues. Since when has Microsoft ever put out a secure product to begin with starting with the first Windows OS?!!
Hey maybe that mystical magical no-version name Windows OS that will replace Win10 actually be secure right out of the gate……then again……that would wipe out an entire industry of anti-virus/anti-malware programs. Its all good….for those that like to hold hands and jump off the cliff singing yes we can.
Madlights
I think I agree with the money angle. Not all of us are rich. I know XP has it’s security issues, but have protected my XP machines (which are used for older hardware and programs that run on XP) Yes I do have a couple of W7 machines. The XP machine I’m writing this on was stable for 5 years, with no virus or malware intrusions. Have recently reinstalled the OS since it slowed down from crowding too much on it :-) Yes Linux, I have run it, but not the most user friendly. I keep thinking about someone with no money for a new machine, hardware, or compatible software who has an XP machine and has no alternative, say someone in an environment that doesn’t have money growing on the trees. They will not upgrade. There are others who are thrifty and know nothing about security…and tend to be happy with what they have. I think MS would have been better off developing a secure backwards compatible upgrade path, than to try and force millions of us into Windows 10 (however free) just to enhance their world view of what computers, cell phones and tablets should sync to. Unfortunately for MS it doesn’t seem to be doing too well in getting mobile device users on that path… Yeah I’ve got a couple of Windows 7 machines, it seems a good OS, how long will it be before we’re told it will no longer have support, and we’ve got to get on the treadmill again? One thing could help is if people were aware of security, and protect themselves through good security programs, regardless of the OS they use.
Terrie
I use an XP laptop and also an XP notebook because the software I use for work was never upgraded and won’t run on newer machines. If I lose my XP computers, that’s the end of my working life. Three programs which synchronize flawlessly together with features that have never been integrated into newer software. And the modern wide screens?? Totally useless for many professional programs, especially on smaller notebook computers. We don’t want a small television sitting on our desks. We want a screen ratio that suits our work. For many programs, that’s a 4:3 ratio.
Paul Ducklin
To be fair, all modern widescreen monitors, even those in the most budget laptops have at least as many vertical pixels as the best monitors of the 4×3 era. So if you really want old-school 4×3, you could just use the middle of a modern screen and ignore the extra pixels at the edges :-)
After all, 1366×768 is just 1024×768 with 171 spare pixels on each side…
Terrie
I do have a wonderful new Asus monitor that has a built in 4:3 ratio (black side bars), so there is the same high resolution as if I was using the full screen. The 4:3 “old school” ratio is still required for many business and professional programs. We’ve been conned into thinking a TV screen ratio is better for computers. Fine if you like watching movies on your computer. But many web pages are not looking the way they were designed to look. But yes, the newest web pages are designed for the wide screen. The main XP problem is that the smaller software companies have disappeared or can’t keep up with Windows upgrades. So if we still need our older programs and want hassle free computing, we stay with older operating systems.
Flyaway
2017 in 9 days – Windows WinXp Pro user looking for a way to make it last forever…interesting google results…several downloads? Best Operating System Abandoned. Okay cold world, Norton Ghost Backup Images onboard and offboard, on one drive or another drive. Avast AV winkled and died maybe half a dozen days ago, and I decided I didn’t care. Yet this morning the impossible to register now every 3 months to keep the free version going must have fixed itself and started working again. So my WinXp Pro with Sp2 does everything I need, but is so full of holes it’s not safe. And the new OPs are how much safer for how much longer? Well…I think I’ll go check out those 2017 WinXp Forever links I googled…”Still the world’s third most popular…” I don’t think big Billgates can make a better OS than WinXp. I think this was his masterpiece. WinXp Pro forever, with so many holes in the whole internet system, forget WinXp, it no longer exists. And in the end, I think we will find out the whole internet system as a whole was never ever really safe from the beginning. “All Your Data Belong To Us!”
MJ Watnots
So, XP is ‘full of security holes’ ??? In which case can someone provide genuine corroborated examples of large numbers of XP users who, in the last two years, have been victims of cyber-attacks which didn’t also affect W7/W8/W10 ? Is it true that malware/viruses written to infect W7/W8/W10 also automatically work on XP machines (i.e. exploitable security flaws in W7/W8/W10 are also by default present in XP) ? If the answer to that question is no then surely one of the main reasons cited as to why there aren’t so many Mac malware / viruses now also applies to XP i.e. the relatively small user base makes it no longer worth the hackers time ? I think before people jump on the ‘XP is an open door to hackers’ bandwagon we need to see some genuine proof that running XP makes you more likely to be hacked than if you’re running W7/W8/W10…..
(I run Ubuntu on all my personal machines BTW, so no axe to grind, but despite all the dire warnings of impending doom for users who don’t switch to maintained versions of Windows I have yet to see any evidence that XP users are now being specifically targeted, or any evidence to suggest that XP users in isolation have been victims of hacks, and without clear proof that these things are happening, why should anyone listen to MS, or ‘security experts’ for that matter ???)
Terrie
Recently I read somewhere (don’t remember where) that companies in Silicon Valley (CA) don’t use virus protection on their computers because there are so many viruses out there that a protection program can only catch some of them. I’ve used XP since 2003, and stopped using a virus program years ago. Have never been hacked as far as I know. Of course I don’t use on-line banking. Stay with my local bank and pay bills the old fashioned way through the US mail. But I do use PayPal and have an Amazon account. I doubt that hackers take XP seriously anymore. XP is supposed to be dead.
Paul Greenwood
Not XP but they take Word seriously and invite you to click on the doc to read it
Tyler Salmon
Alright, as a hobbiest who’s colleted tons of relatively older computers, let’s get some things straight here Pual:
1) As long as you know what your doing, You could run Win95 without too much trouble in today’s world. Granted it might not be up to the task of High Quality videos, but it would be usable.
2) Windows XP was, and forever will be noted for it’s Reliability, Snappy feeling on most any computer, and how easy it was to use it. It may not have the glammer of Win7 or even the dreaded Win10, but it works, and it’s easy to get around in. Not, “Oh, we moved everything into folder even WE can’t find” or “You wanted that where? No, it’s going here.” Granted, you could probably change it, but why not just leave somethng that works alone?
3) I’ve use almost ALL versions of Windows XP on ALL kinds of Hardware, from Original Pentiums to Core i7s. While it continues to get harder and harder to find drivers for newer platforms, This OS can still knock the snot out of Windows 10. Frankly the 64-bit Version of XP is my favorite. I’ve had no problem installing Google Chrome, Firefox, Modern Games, and all the precious video card drivers your heart could desire. Everything is A-Okay in XP!
4) “It it ain’t Broke, Don’t fix it!” While your points on Security are rightly justified, it’s not like EVERY single hacker was like, “Dude, XP is outta support! Call up the gang, we’re gonna wreck them!” No, nothing happened. No mass exploites, no mass problems. Hell, EVERY Operating System is plagued with Malware and Viruses, no matter if they are supported by MS or not, it’s the price of using the Internet. Windows XP is no different. Just carefully monitor your Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware when your using it. Use CCleaner before and after Bank or Online Transactions. No one and No OS can 100% protect from this stuff. We XP Users are stubborn as hell, we aren’t gonna give it up until Microsoft gets their heads outta their butts and makes a genuine Windows eXPerience Version 2, No thrills, just the same XP with better 64-bit Support, Modern Application and Driver support, and Snappy Speed without the need for better hardware.
Paul Greenwood
Windows was not designed for the Internet
AB
The funny thing about security is that for the next 10 years of its life Windows 10 will receive security updates. This means that there are 10 years worth of unpublished vulnerabilities in the software. No software is safe.
Pál Tamás Ács
It’s so funny how Paul Ducklin tries to explain why everything is okay with planned obsolescence in the software market. The funniest part is how much life doesn’t work like Paul imagines, so he can’t avoid to be disliked at least as much as likes he gets. :)
To continue patching XP with only security fixes, it would cost as much to Microsoft as buying a pair of socks costs to me. We’re talking about magnitudes or order of magnitudes here. We’re talking about responsibility. All monopolies – like Microsoft – have their social and worldwide responsibility. For example, not to force people throw out their computers and generate billions of tons of electronic waste. Microsoft has a causal responsibility here. Also Google has it for those who can’t afford an upgrade after stopping the support for XP.
Life just doesn’t work like you can buy everything for money and it comes out of the box. I know it works like this for Paul Ducklin, but it doesn’t work like this for a lot of people, even in the US, or in Eastern-Europe, or in the Third World.
Microsoft would have the financial and technical resources to continue XP. And they just won’t. So they’re partially responsible for the electronic waste of thrown-out computers and even the security holes that get revealed in XP over time. It was likely THEIR programming mistake (!) in the first place.
Btw, I’m still running Windows XP because I don’t want to replace my HP Compaq 6715s.
Paul Ducklin
It’s funny how you go on an economic diatribe against Microsoft because you claim the company is “responsible for the electronic waste of thrown-out computers”, yet insist on sticking with a 16-year-old product that probably netted about $10-$15 for Microsoft back when you bought your computer, and that you could almost certainly have upgraded for free along the way.
To me, that feels like people who pirate popular music so they can follow the crowd “because the artists are already rich enough”, instead of putting their mouth where their money isn’t and supporting indie musicians who are happy to give their music away for free, or inexpensively.
After all, to quote your own comment, “Life just doesn’t work like you can buy everything for money.”
Why not switch to Linux? If your main goal is to keep using your old Compaq, why not do the right thing by all the rest of us and upgrade to a newer operating system that is actively developed and will get security updates?
Mikey
Seriously, I have no idea who are you Paul, but you need to get a life, it seems you’ve been coming back on to this thread for nearly a year to try and get the last word in, and for some reason just can’t understand the other people might have different opinions that you. Give it a break and move on with your life.
I’ve just bought an IBM Thinkpad T43 (the last model made under the IBM name) for nostalgia purposes and also to run old DOS and 32 bit 95/95 games that just won’t run on modern versions of Windows and aren’t available on gog.com, to do so I need to use Windows XP or older as these are the only older operating systems the hardware can handle. There is nothing wrong with the laptop, it’s in perfect condition, and well run the games I want perfectly… I am only being held back by the Operating system.
OK, I understanding I have niche needs, and I also understand you can’t expect a software company to perpetually update all their historical software, but it still stands that XP was an amazing OS, I never got a single virus through my many years of using it, and I’m sure it would still be a perfectly amazing and safe OS if only support had continued for it, the only reason it isn’t now is that Microsoft deliberately made it obsolete by stopped support for it so they could sell their new shiny thing.
edmvfonoteka
My xp gaming pc, my xp netbook for documents etc, love xp, dont care about security!