Support for XP (Pro) and IE 8 users here on PPRuNe...
Join Date: Aug 2002
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You've got to be joking. With an "estimated 20 to 25 percent of PC users still using XP" who won't be getting security updates, you're the low hanging fruit of security issues. You'll be perpetually vulnerable to any security flaw that comes along after April. If you don't think the black hats don't have a few saved up especially I've got a bridge to sell at a special price just for you.
I reckon that's exactly what the dark side are doing. Holding back on releasing exploits now, because they know after D-Day they can charge premium prices because they will effectively be selling guaranteed perpetual zero-day exploits.
Plastic PPRuNer
Microsoft are in a bit of a cleft stick (partly of their own making).
XP was a good OS for it's time but by default very light on security - it just isn't safe in todays world even if locked down.
The problem for Microsoft is that 500 million people are still running it for a multiplicity of reasons - they have old machines that won't run a more modern OS that they can't afford to upgrade (I'm looking at you Granny!), they can't afford and/or know how to upgrade and they may be running old applications that depend on XP's quirks.
MS, quite rightly, see no reason to keep on supporting an aged OS that stops people buying their latest offerings. And there are significant limits to securing XP on ageing hardware.
But the problem is that by stopping security patches they expose a very large number of users to exploits, which may well result in a huge number of pwned/botnet machines that could bring the internet to it's knees... You have to look at the larger picture.
MS is kind of damned if they do and damned if they don't!
A difficult problem!
Mac
[Add of course the seemingly unstoppable Mac onslaught, the slow evolution of Linux into more user friendly incarnations like Mint and Chrome OS, the remarkable rise of Android and Microsoft have a lot to worry about]
XP was a good OS for it's time but by default very light on security - it just isn't safe in todays world even if locked down.
The problem for Microsoft is that 500 million people are still running it for a multiplicity of reasons - they have old machines that won't run a more modern OS that they can't afford to upgrade (I'm looking at you Granny!), they can't afford and/or know how to upgrade and they may be running old applications that depend on XP's quirks.
MS, quite rightly, see no reason to keep on supporting an aged OS that stops people buying their latest offerings. And there are significant limits to securing XP on ageing hardware.
But the problem is that by stopping security patches they expose a very large number of users to exploits, which may well result in a huge number of pwned/botnet machines that could bring the internet to it's knees... You have to look at the larger picture.
MS is kind of damned if they do and damned if they don't!
A difficult problem!
Mac
[Add of course the seemingly unstoppable Mac onslaught, the slow evolution of Linux into more user friendly incarnations like Mint and Chrome OS, the remarkable rise of Android and Microsoft have a lot to worry about]
Thank you Mac - an excellent and realistic assessment of how it is, and how it might be.
I've installed dual boot options for Linux for online work on three of my XP machines which need XP for essential if occasional work in applications where there are no post XP or Linux alternatives.
I've got to admit that Ubuntu has come a long way since I last installed it, and Linux Mint is very attractive (thanks to those who suggested it). However both installations required me to switch to geek mode to complete the process. This is potentially a barrier to the computer illiterate masses who might be advised to go the Linux way.
Interesting times.
I've installed dual boot options for Linux for online work on three of my XP machines which need XP for essential if occasional work in applications where there are no post XP or Linux alternatives.
I've got to admit that Ubuntu has come a long way since I last installed it, and Linux Mint is very attractive (thanks to those who suggested it). However both installations required me to switch to geek mode to complete the process. This is potentially a barrier to the computer illiterate masses who might be advised to go the Linux way.
Interesting times.
Given the enthusiasm for new technology on this board I had to laugh at this (in the Independent):
Ex-BBC boss Mark Thompson apologises to MPs and public over wasting £100m on digital archive.....
The MPs heard from Dominic Coles, the BBC’s Director of Operations ................... He said that the £125m digital archive, which was intended to serve the entire organisation, was so “clunky” that it was ten times slower than the 40-year-old system it was designed to replace
Ex-BBC boss Mark Thompson apologises to MPs and public over wasting £100m on digital archive.....
The MPs heard from Dominic Coles, the BBC’s Director of Operations ................... He said that the £125m digital archive, which was intended to serve the entire organisation, was so “clunky” that it was ten times slower than the 40-year-old system it was designed to replace
Join Date: Jul 2001
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Thanks for the information F.O.R and others. I have now burned my Ubuntu ad Ubuntu mint DVDs, My new hard drive has arrived so I shall shortly be cloning my original hard drive onto this, putting it in my machine and installing some version of Linux. I just hope that the Geekiness needed to get it running is not too severe.
P.P.
P.P.
Take heart - my experiences mentioned above did not involve serious surgery, and from previous forays into the Linux world I was able to emerge triumphant.
The challenges were getting the disk partition mix correct in the Mint installation, and installing the wireless driver for the new Ubuntu in my Lenovo S10. A few lines of command line work was required for this bit - based on some internet research where someone else had been there before and was kind enough to share.
I'm sure your installation will work out well.
FOR
The challenges were getting the disk partition mix correct in the Mint installation, and installing the wireless driver for the new Ubuntu in my Lenovo S10. A few lines of command line work was required for this bit - based on some internet research where someone else had been there before and was kind enough to share.
I'm sure your installation will work out well.
FOR
