Only 40 days left for Windows XP
I remember when I first used Windows XP. As a poor student in 2001, I wasn’t likely to upgrade to the new OS and instead had the glorious Windows 98 SE installed on my laptop, a device with the physical characteristics of a London telephone directory made of black lead. So it wasn’t for a few months that I actually got to grips with XP, on a new machine at the company I’d started working for between classes.
From the beginning, XP represented a clear improvement on its predecessors. Its massively improved user-interface, for example, made XP feel like an operating system made by a company that finally understood something about what users wanted. Other new features like smart new graphical effects, fast user switching, faster startup and so on really added to a general feeling that XP was good.
Then the years started to pass. And some of the things I hadn’t worried too much about back in 2001 started to look like major problems. Security, especially, became a concern and it didn’t feel like Microsoft was doing anything to deal with the problem. I remember doing the research for a decent free firewall (ZoneAlarm), anti-virus (Avast!) and anti-spyware tool (Ad-Aware). And all the time I wondered why Microsoft themselves weren’t providing this protection. Also, the user-interface, which had once seemed like a bright new world of smart usability, began to feel sluggish and out-dated. XP crashed all the time.
As more time passed, and I ventured upon my 3rd or 4th reinstallation of XP, I started to tire of the system. I was using it all day at work by now and felt that I’d rather have something different to come home to. The obvious alternative was Ubuntu Linux, which seemed to offer vast security improvements, lots of interesting new software to try and a more, ahem, attractive price tag. Ubuntu is… alright. But the number of things an intermediate level user can do with it are, unfortunately, limited.
By the time Vista was released, I had bought an iMac and followed Windows developments professionally but not personally. As it very quickly became clear that there was pretty much no point in installing Vista, I thanked my lucky stars that this was no longer the only upgrade option open to me. Vista was nothing more than XP with a new theme and an irritating User Access Control mechanism. Even major PC manufacturers started to offer new computers bundled with XP, until they were warned off by Microsoft.
And now, XP has 40 days left. At the end of that time, XP will no longer be on sale. It has been replaced by a costly, unwieldy and largely unimproved new edition. I won’t be signing the petition to ’save XP’ because deep down, I don’t think saving XP is the solution. But I will say that unless Windows 7 is a surprisingly good release, XP may well be remembered as the last time Microsoft nearly got it right.
Posted at 6:26 pm on May 23rd
This has to the Best thing I’ve read to months. It makes a lot of common since!!! I’m so LOST with this??? I have a Dell Dem C521 with XP PRO. Now I don’t know what the Pro for, cause I’m NOT, but with people like you telling the Truth about PC, well I fill releaved and not lost!!!!! Oh when I bought this Dell they gave [or I paid for it some how?] me Vista, but I have not installed it and am afraid to— is it better or will I hate it and can I get back XP– what will it do to my PC???????? Anyway THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your very refreshig
Posted at 10:19 am on May 24th
Windows 2000 was great, XP is rubbish, but love Vista Ultimate. A large organisation I used to work for last year upgraded its IT systems from W95 to W2000 they wouldn’t touch XP
Posted at 10:59 am on May 24th
Thanks for the good article read. I will still use XP until the next version of Windows 7 Comes out hopefully it corrects the problems in VISTA, at the momemnt like you I face the same problems with XP mainly security. I am glad that uBuntu and OS X are out there for alternatives, I may consider getting a mac and install XP cause my work depends on Windows but personally I would rather try Mac or Linux for my next laptop purchase.
Posted at 1:12 am on May 25th
Hi, I’m using XP Media Centre Edition on an iQon PC which I bought as a complete computer package (PC, Printer, Speakers, Mouse etc) from my local Tesco Store about two years ago. I’ve had very little problems with it, except for once when I had to recover the PC to the original spec because of a virus. I’ll admit she can get sluggish at times but she’s only a 512 Mb memory, upgrading to 1Gb would probably stop this. The themes on XP are quite dated and it’s a pity Microsoft hasn’t released any official updates for XP in this area, simply prefering to concentrate on Vista. My PC is now upgraded to XP SP3 and I presume there will not be much more in the way of Microsoft Updates for the os. I have the excellent Prevx2.0 anti-virus installed on my PC and it’s not that dear at all. I haven’t had a chance to try Vista and have been warned off by some of my techie friends who prefer XP. I hope XP will not be forgotten for good just yet, my PC at work uses Windows 2000!! With Office ‘97 on it!! So where do we go from XP, Vista or wait till they get to an SP2. I don’t know, does anybody, how long will Vista be around? I bet though that many people will be using XP for many more years to come.
Posted at 12:20 pm on May 26th
Ken - they upgraded to Windows 2000 last year?! Crazy. I don’t know of any large organisations that have rolled-out Vista but it must have happened. XP is now in a pretty good place: much of the security trouble has been fixed and it is a lot more usable than Vista.
George & Akiraman - Thanks!
David - Genuinely, I wouldn’t bother with Vista. It looks to me like it’ll be the equivalent of Windows ME - there for a couple of years before it’s replaced by a superior version. We’ll have a post up soon which looks more closely at Windows 7 and what to expect.
Posted at 6:06 am on Sep 28th
I know I’m posting late. But I wanted to share some insights.
An aspect that bothered me about Windows was how I was used as an unwilling Beta tester. The Microsoft “treadmill” works sort of like this:
1. Create hype about the latest Windows (”The Wow Starts Now”) through TV ads, radio promos, magazine ads…
2. Sell a broken Windows to home users and small office users (Windows games experience beta testing too. Once released few patches are required. Too bad MSFT doesn’t test Windows as thoroughly as games are tested).
3. Get buried in bug reports, deny they’re real, finally face the facts and begin fixing Windows.
4. Release patch after patch until the flood of bug reports slows somewhat.
5. Gather the patches and call the bundle a Service Pack.
6. Repeat the above until that release of Windows is viewed by corporations as a possible upgrade.
7. LAUNCH A NEW VERSION OF WINDOWS AND START AT STEP 1 AGAIN.
What made XP different from all its predecessors was how much it was upgraded without the need to buy a new copy each year. It’s true that Windows95 was patched bit by bit into becoming Millennium. But we had to pay for each successive upgrade. With XP it was a matter of letting Windows Update Turn WinXP into WinXP SP3 (eventually).
Devastating Results:
* Users fell out of the yearly rush to buy MSFT’s latest.
* While MSFT was busy building Vista and XP Media Center XP matured making upgrading questionable (what does Vista give me that I desperately need? Cancel or Allow? Not likely.)
* Users who’s first PC was an XP box resisted the idea of change for change’s sake.
* While malicious code (malware, spyware, viruses, trojan horses, root kits, etc.) can seep into a system, a system that was well protected from this stuff worked adequately, suffering few crashes (speaking from personal experience).
I too have journeyed the MacOS & Ubuntu Linux road. XP now just plays games and does a bit of music work. Beyond that Windows is a backseat player… and Vista? Pfft. A non-issue. The fanbois are all excited by it. But not one has ever brought an argument to the table that made me think for even a moment: I”ve gotta try that.
Posted at 9:07 pm on Dec 13th
Windows Vista was alright, but could have been better if they had choice to delay it further to allow more become more developed. XP is a solid rock, since it has been out for such a long time they have fixed their problems. So personally I hope windows 7 will become better than the vista problems. And I hope that the lower the requirements for windows 7 as well, to make it more available to those who can’t afford a computer to much. It would be nice if they developed some better applets and offer it with a small suite type software that could go up against Apples iLife. Just some simple little things that would make it have a more finished build towards everyone.
Posted at 4:55 pm on Feb 6th
Very good article, sir. Vista’s a giant mistake and I’m disgusted that Microsoft’s black-balling XP to try to cover that up. Not to mention the absurd Mojave ad-campaign. Windows 7 is around the corner… and if it use LESS resources than XP Pro SP2, I will give it a try.
I’d like to add for the benefit other readers some useful software for keeping XP stable and fresher looking.
WindowBlinds for themes, RocketDock for launching apps, Xplorer2 for replacing the Shell (explorer.exe), SpyBot’s TeaTimer to guard the registry, and Comodo Firewall.