For the majority of home users they will only change when the computer stops working.

They will not pay to upgrade.

For a lot of small business users this will be the same.

You're kidding, right?

Did you ever try Windows XP-64? The issue there was not the memory address handling.

For a lot of Scottish small business users maybe. Personally, i'm down to my last 5 users (all of whom will move to a terminal services solution when their XP desktops die).

Mike any one that has taken on your services is not a normal small business user of IT.

And it doesn't matter how many go over the whole system is wide open because of the of the millions that aren't going to change until there computers fall over.

So they may have there terminal solution but if the whole internet gets swamped they are stuffed.

If everything continues working with millions of XP OS's out there its just going mean even more people aren't going to bother next time either.

A couple of months ago I read the MS thought / feared / hoped / expected that no more than 15% of the world would still be using XP at the drop-dead date.

Its still over 23% and has stayed that way over the last 3 months. Win 8 is gently rising and win 7 fallen slightly.

Go on....enlighten me?

Well they have a reasonable grip that they need a service provider and not some local knobend that bought a book off amazon.

Nothing I have read here has convinced me that my XP will stop 'working' (suddenly or otherwise) next year with the end of MS support.

That there will be a large increase in the frequency and severity of malware attacks I do believe, but looking back at records over the past year none of the previous attacks appear to have been picked up by MS /Defender; all have been either blocked or eliminated by my two antivirus programs running full time on the PC.

If I am wrong I will say so and some posters here can then revel in having been right (and offensive too, but there we are, can't have everything I guess).

I'm not one to stand on the parapets and pour scorn, especially if it turns out great for you in the end, but let me explain the theory for you to at least grasp why we're saying what we're saying:

- Your assertion that "tomorrow is going to be fine because today is fine" is flawed because today currently has a support infrastructure in place.

- That support infrastructure consists of security professionals (and amateurs/hobbyists) evaluating XP as a going concern, probing it's systems for weaknesses, and reporting these, either the courteous way (to Microsoft themselves, who then fix the vulnerability and report it afterwards), or the discourteous way (to the press who report about it, which is then picked up by hackers and used, creating 'zero-day' exploits which Microsoft then scramble to fix, often posting expedited patch downloads)....there's also obviously the hackers/foreign governments/etc that have their own clandestine vulnerability experts, who will exploit a security hole and it's only when Microsoft get wind of it that it's patched.

- The above framework is the reason you get all those damned Windows Updates. Not because they improve a product's functionality at all or fix operational bugs - those are very much the minority reason for updates.

- The whole framework described will stop soon, with Microsoft no longer releasing updates to XP. This means that the first hacker to discover a security hole in it can then create an exploit and it'll be unpatched, meaning that *everyone* using XP is vulnerable.

Now, you can think that nobody's going to be affected by anything, you can think that McAfee/Norton/etc are going to keep on manufacturing antivirus definitions until the end of time, but I can virtually guarantee that anyone currently supporting XP in a security capacity will soon announce that 'all bets are off' when considering their provision of 'security' to a platform that no longer has it's own inherent security.

This may have no effect, conversely you might find that the vast swathes of hookey WinXP licenses in China suddenly crash their economy when Japan launches their first virus targetting XP.

Who knows?

One thing I do know is that it's not that expensive to upgrade to a system which will remain supported by Microsoft AND all the other software companies writing software.

Hence the reason we're urging you, as friendly professionals, to do the right thing. We have no vested interest here, I make no money writing this to you today, in fact I could be doing other things that do make me money.

Take from this what you will, just don't ask for help on an XP system following April as you might find the resident IT experts won't be touching it with a bargepole either.

Mike.

Out of interest, do we have any figures for remaining 98 and 2000 users? When does Vista support end?

I have two programs on my XP box that are too expensive to renew and don't virtualise well - Adobe CS and Steinberg Cubase (sounds like a beer).

I have no need for 64 bit images or 64 bit music (if they exist) so the old clunker which has been spec'd to the max keeps on going - and is easy/cheap to repair when things go wrong.

So I'm kinda stuck at a place where the old clunker does everything I need it to do as it is right now.

My only option is to buy a super cheap Win8.1 laptop to use to access the nerdynet. The other option of forking out big dollars to update the two pieces of software mentioned above interferes with my plans to buy an elcheapo motorbike to putt about on.

You're no fun Microsoft.

Fine words and theory about those MS updates, Mike, but my Dell running XP SP2 has never received any of them over an eight year period, so why will it miss something it's never had?

Old PC and laptop user both with XP - like a good number of home users I have no intention to upgrade until they stop working

There's always eBay for a cheap laptop (from a reputable seller) - plenty running Win7. I love the moaning - you've had plenty of notice to put aside a dollar/pound/euro or three a week to cover costs.

Do any of you refuseniks take out insurance on your houses or cars on the off chance they burn down or get nicked? Same deal goes with running an up to date operating system. Sure, take your chances & you'll probably get away with it. The problem comes when you do get caught out. Fancy losing the contents of your bank account? Or having your credit card compromised?

Vista support ends April 2017: Windows lifecycle fact sheet - Microsoft Windows Help

your all taking it very personally that they aren't going to bother.

I can completely understand why they can't be bothered upgrading.

there is the embuggeration factor of installing it. Which is going to put 50% of them off.

And unless they get it for free they won't pay anything if the laptop still works.

Most don't care what the pro's have to say about it all.

If they press the on button and it turns on and all there programs work they don't give two hoots that its unsecure as hell.

Lets face it most are still running in admin user mode.

I have one 2000 machine still in use as it's the only one I have which has a SCSI port. I also have a laptop running 98 which was kept for a CD of Doonesbury cartoons :\. Can't speak for anybody else (which is unusual for this forum!) though.

No, of course they're not connected to the internet!

Oh, but it is personal. We get to clean up the mess caused by those who couldn't give a toss.

Perhaps a change of career might help? You already sound like a social worker.

Speak to Micorsoft then to give out free upgrades.

Your really think people are going to pay money just to give a load of IT admins an easy life?

there must be a dilbert cartoon about this

Nah, I'm just trying to get them to do something so they don't come crying in their beer when the Internet eats their hard drive :rolleyes: