Debaser wrote:From a personal point of view, I have no reason to get rid of XP because it’s worked flawlessly for a few years now, and if it works why change it?
Because Microsoft will end-of-life it within six months, which means no more updates, fixes, or support. Kicking and screaming or walking tamely to slaughter, you ain't got no choice. The only reason XP wasn't EOL in 2007 is the big corporations told MS they'd drop Windows for Linux or Mac because they had a huge hardware investment that wouldn't run MS's latest bloatware.
emuler wrote:There are a lot of advanced things that are supposed to work better in Windows 7; stuff like media streaming, virtualisation, advanced networking options, etc. Since many/ most of these improvements will not make it to the older OSs (M$ has no incentive to do so), I suppose I'll be dragged screaming and kicking to Windows 7 eventually.
Advanced networking options, my ass. What used to be a simple process to join a computer to a domain or workgroup got way more complicated. Their "wizards" sure aren't Harry-Potter-class. I
know Win7 will make me lots of money because the average home user isn't going to have a clue when they have to do something more complicated than turn it on, but it's headaches for me because Win7 won't "get out of the way" and just let me set it up.
MS has been dumbing Windows down so much it's downright stupid now. I
detest freaking icons for everything instead of details, hidden file extensions, blocked access to folders or just plain hiding them (there are many I'd bet you never even suspected were there), a wizard for everything... In short, MS caters to stupid people rather than expect them to use just one brain cell.
Whew! Sorry for the rant. I know it sounds like I hate users, but I went to four sites in 12 hours today, and every problem was caused by stupid user tricks - no user brain cells were endangered. Most people aren't this bad, but I heard today (I'm
not exaggerating and these were all on state-owned PCs):
"But I go to coupon sites all the time, and they never infected my computer before."
"Yeah, it made a grinding noise for a couple weeks but it went away last week so I figured it fixed itself. Whaddya mean the processor melted? Well, fix it quick because I've got a deadline today and all my files are on it."
"I installed the greeting card program I brought from home and now none of my printers work. Oh, and I can't get my movie DVDs to play."
[after I deleted 2GB of
background pictures because the HD was full and WinXP kept crashing] "Why'd you delete my pictures? I spent
hours [of work time] finding and downloading them!"
Nabokov wrote:I was thinking about Windows 7 but on seeing this I'll give it a miss... I'm a bit old fashioned too when it comes to PC's! There are many new gimmicks and gizmo's I'm only beginning to entertain now because there isn't any choice anymore!
An OS is like a truck - it's purpose is to move a cargo (your programs), not to be an end in and of itself. The truck can have power steering, automatic transmission, and other useful things that make it more pleasant to drive or more efficient, but it doesn't need chrome spoker wheels, curb feelers, or fuzzy dice to let it do it's main job. Those gizmos just add weight and slow it down.
Win7 is "loaded" with fuzzy dice that are superglued to the rearview mirror so you can't remove them. Unfortunately, earlier Windows versions will eventually break down and get towed to the junkyard because you can't get parts for them any more - I bet you haven't seen a DOS 5.0 computer in many years. MS will stop making parts for WinXP soon and it will be in the OS junkyard in a year or two.