Windows XP - 1 week to go

[tonyc280]

Just a quick question. Do i have to upgrade from XP ?. Cheers, Tony.

 

[Sp!ke]

No, you don't *have* to upgrade but your machine will become increasingly susceptible to vulnerabilities as time progresses.

This could put your personal data at risk... data such as passwords, credit card and banking details would be of particular concern the longer it is left.

The real problem I think is that you cant easily buy a replacement computer with Windows 7 and Windows 8.x is not generally thought of as an upgrade.

 

[Sp!ke]

I haven't used a Microsoft OS at home since 2005, and since I changed jobs and no longer have any responsibility for IT the death of XP is a matter of supreme indifference..

Do you use cash machines?

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

If one has a spare hard drive/SSD of suitable capacity, for safety, it may be worth cloning the boot drive onto another drive before attempting to upgrade to the chosen OS, whether Windows 7 / 8 etc. Then the clone should be tested to ensure it boots and operates as expected.

Then put the original XP boot drive on the shelf in case it's needed.

Then if the upgrade of the clone goes pear-shaped, you still have the original to restart from.

 

[Druk]

Explain please why, if I have a firewall up and a decent anti-virus running, that XP will suddenly become a target for hackers when it wasn't before the stopping of upgrades. How do hackers get through firewalls et al when they couldn't before?


Confused.com

BTW, I've got 7 on my PC but am still liking XP on the old laptop. It's an 'age' thing maybe.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Hackers search for and find vulnerabilities in operating system software.

Once they find a vulnerability, they write software that exploits said vulnerability to cause a fault to occur, with a payload that injects malware.

Or they craft a JPG image that will cause a buffer overflow, with code payload injected when it trips the buggy OS code (vulnerability).

There are many exploits of different types - e.g. XSS etc.

 

[st13phil]

Explain please why, if I have a firewall up and a decent anti-virus running, that XP will suddenly become a target for hackers when it wasn't before the stopping of upgrades.

It's always been a target for hackers, it's just that as new exploits come to light MS plug the holes with their security updates. Once the updates stop, if a new vulnerability is found and exploited the hackers know that it will work on every Win-XP machine and, more importantly for them, won't stop working.

BTW, firewalls are an important layer in the security system, but lots of new attacks rely on "drive by" exploits - for example by using a specially crafted web page or email - so the act of just viewing the infected page allows the malware in and the firewall doesn't stop it.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Anyway, if one believes the Snowden NSA leaks then GCHQ/NSA-type bodies can already traverse your computers / networks at will, but that's another story. Take a look on wikileaks website if this is of interest, and look at the tools they have made specifically for these tasks, on PCs / laptops / smartphones.

All we can do is try to protect ourselves from the unknown hackers, by using OSes and tools that are up-to-date and supported.

For the security conscious/paranoid then this might be an interesting browser to consider, allegedly built upon the Firefox/Mozilla source code:
https://www.torproject.org/

 

[Spinal]

Do you use cash machines?

Funny you mention that - one of the projects I'm working on is for a client who doesn't want to move off XP on their ATMs.

We've put together layered security approach that "should" mitigate a lot of the risks; and is currently going through a PCI audit....

On another note - firewalls are a good "layer" but they stop a certain type of attack. For example, if you are browsing to a website with an adobe exploit, and running a vulnerable version of adobe acrobat, your firewall will not stop that. It's not designed to stop that type of attack. The "fix" there is for adobe to patch their software.

In the same way, windows xp was being patched by microsoft - from the 8th, they will stop doing so.

Compare it to mercs - after a certain period, the manufacturer will stop making spare parts for said car. If something wears out and breaks, you are on your own to find a replacement.

M

EDIT: Forgot to say, if you really want the XP feel, you can get skins for win7/8 that make it look like XP

 

[John]

Didn't OSX Snow Leopard go end of support quite ungloriously?

I'm quite impressed Microsoft kept XP support going for so long...

OS X Tiger(10.4), which was retired from support in September 2009, only had 4 years of "life". XP has had what... 12 years?

This is because Microsoft extended support for XP by 3 years because Fista was such a lemon. Fista itself and 7 will die in the usual roughly 10 years.

The real problem I think is that you cant easily buy a replacement computer with Windows 7 and Windows 8.x is not generally thought of as an upgrade.

Tony, you could buy a computer with 8.0 / 8.1 and downgrade under certain licences.

However, this is a massive hassle and there is no guarantee you will be able to get drivers for a downgraded machine and / or would probably be a massive hassle unless you know what you are doing.

They seem to have accelerated the speed they will be pumping out new versions of Windows.

Personally, I would wait until Windows 9 which I suspect will be like Windows 7's saviour to Fista.

Unless you are unhappy with 7 or support is running out (which it wont until 2020), then there is no need to change from Windows 7...

 

[duncanh]

Move from XP to Linux (I recommend Linux Mint). It is free and will make your machine run much faster.

There are a few downsides (no direct support for Itunes), but most have perfectly acceptable workarounds.

 

[Danny DeVito]

i Have dual boot ubuntu. it works ok but i see i need a better video card ( agp 8x 128mb ) Ububtu runs ok . i have dual boot. Boot from usb was a bit slow, also slow on virtual machine. Mint had a lot less pre-loaded stuff so i saw no benefit in using it.
So linux boots faster a few seconds really, than vista. I'm told its safe regards virus etc. I have tried other boots from flash like slitaz. Fast etc but i feel like ubuntu has regular updates which is important. Personally i would upgrade to Win7 (if i could, and buy my antivirus) but otherwise move to ubuntu.

 

[Piff]

Getting ready for the flack here - what exactly is wrong with windows 8?

I'm still running XP on main desktop & I'm conscious of the need to change. Have windows 7 on a laptop, which whilst it runs fine, it is painfully slow to start up - ok, may be maintenance is needed.

Went into local pc world yesterday to have a look at 8 running on one of their machines. Whilst it's different, I could adjust to the interface. Or, is it that bad below the surface?

 

[markmifsud]

Windows 8.1 is an update to 8 which goes some way to making it nearly as usable as win7 (but not quite)
if I was you, I would try and get some hands on time with 8.1 before you take the leap. One of the features for me is more of a hindrance, TouchScreen

 

[moonloops]

Getting ready for the flack here - what exactly is wrong with windows 8?

I'm still running XP on main desktop & I'm conscious of the need to change. Have windows 7 on a laptop, which whilst it runs fine, it is painfully slow to start up - ok, may be maintenance is needed.

Went into local pc world yesterday to have a look at 8 running on one of their machines. Whilst it's different, I could adjust to the interface. Or, is it that bad below the surface?

Windows 8 is designed to run on touchscreen devices so the interface is a pain in the pants for people who are used to XP/Win7 interface.

All you need to do is download the "classic shell" interface from the web and it puts back all the Win7 look and feel e.g. you can actually use the menus again.

 

[grober]

One thing to watch is hardware compatibility. Moving from Windows XP to windows 8.1 on a new computer may also involve moving from a 32 bit system to a 64 bit architecture . If you have any old printers/scanners/peripherals you may find there are no 64 bit drivers for them making them obsolete. Just some more expense to add to any upgrade?

 

[w124nut]

One thing to watch is hardware compatibility. Moving from Windows XP to windows 8.1 on a new computer may also involve moving from a 32 bit system to a 64 bit architecture . If you have any old printers/scanners/peripherals you may find there are no 64 bit drivers for them making them obsolete. Just some more expense to add to any upgrade?

Agree. Moving from XP to Windows 8 I had to buy a new printer as "8" would work with my existing kit.

 

[Meldrew2]

…….All you need to do is download the "classic shell" interface from the web and it puts back all the Win7 look and feel e.g. you can actually use the menus again.

I didn't know that. Shame that it wasn't publicised more - I might well have stayed with windows.

In fact, Windows 8 interface was the reason I changed to Apple Mac - - - -

 

[John]

I didn't know that. Shame that it wasn't publicised more - I might well have stayed with windows.

In fact, Windows 8 interface was the reason I changed to Apple Mac - - - -

I don't believe it is a Microsoft product!?

 

[Piff]

One thing to watch is hardware compatibility. Moving from Windows XP to windows 8.1 on a new computer may also involve moving from a 32 bit system to a 64 bit architecture . If you have any old printers/scanners/peripherals you may find there are no 64 bit drivers for them making them obsolete. Just some more expense to add to any upgrade?

crossing fingers here - 8.1 64 bit pro due for delivery tomorrow