When will Microsft stop supporting XP .. and force us all to install Linux :))?

  • Thread starter Thread starter 123Jim
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123Jim

Hi all,
I need to know how long we can use XP?
This laptop I'm fixing, might be too old of Windows 7.

Basically I have the choice between £75.78 for Windows 7 or £35 for a
recovery disk for XP

cheers
 
123Jim said:
Hi all,
I need to know how long we can use XP?
This laptop I'm fixing, might be too old of Windows 7.

Basically I have the choice between £75.78 for Windows 7 or £35 for
a recovery disk for XP
Click to expand...

The answer to your direct question, as you think you mean it, is a Google
search away.

However - it's not Microsoft's support for an OS you likely have to worry
about. It's your own ability to stay static, not want a faster computer,
better hardware, a new printer, scanner, camera, etc. The manufacturers of
the software and hardware you use every day will likely abandon Windows XP
long before the April 2014 date when Microsoft will stop releasing even
critical patches for Windows XP. Their new printers will only have drivers
from Windows Vista, maybe just Windows 7. Their new scanners, cameras, etc
will be the same. I cannot see major software companies (AutoDesk, Apple,
Adobe, etc) continuing to make products that would work on Windows XP,
Windows Vista and Windows 7 and whatever comes next by the year 2014.

Everyone always likes to find some single entity to blame for their
unwillingness to change with technology - but usually it is just the world
changing overall - not some single instance of it.

Having said all that - there are plenty of people still using Windows 98
twelve years down the line. They cannot see some things on some web pages,
cannot use some devices they might be able to pick up at their local
drug/warehouse store even and using the latest versions of major software
packages are probably a lost cause - but they do fine in their microcosm.

So - it mainly depends on you and your ability to not change.

Given your prior question, this web page might be one that is useful for
you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP
If you look under the section titled, "Support lifecycle", it answers your
question in this conversation.

More of an 'from the horses mouth' type?

Search using Google!
http://www.google.com/
(How-to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )

Example (using your posting/words) - a search for:

microsoft lifecycle

..... brings up:
http://www.google.com/search?q=microsoft+lifecycle

Which has several good links listed right at the beginning.

Such as:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy
Explaining what you might see...

And:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeselectindex
Where you can see the dates/support options for products by name...

Windows XP Professional:
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3223

Windows XP Home:
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3221

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005:
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=7024

Windows XP TabletPC Edition 2005:
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=7801

Hope that helps. Come back and tell me if that is what you needed!
 
I need to know how long we can use XP?
Click to expand...


You can use it as long as you want. But bear the following in mind:

1. Microsoft support for XP SP3 will be until April 2014.

2. Support is already over for earlier versions.

3. The most important aspect of Microsoft support is security fixes.
That kind of support might or might not be important to you. If you
use the computer for web browsing, e-mail, etc., yes, security updates
are very important. But if all you do is use it, for example, as a
word processor, you don't really need the security updates.

This laptop I'm fixing, might be too old of Windows 7.
Click to expand...


If it's old, almost certainly the Windows 7 drivers you would need for
it won't be available. Also it will probably have low-powered
hardware, and be very slow with any version of Windows past XP.

The above also means that the laptop has very little value, and may
not even be worth the time and trouble of fixing it.
 
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