Future of Windows XP

[Crash~Override]

So I want to know some opinions/facts as to what will be the future of windows XP.

It's been nice month or so since windows 7 has been "officially" released and lots of people have got their hands on it.
What do you think this means for those people who still buy netbooks (those tiny little atom powered laptops) with windows xp loaded...

How long will microsoft support XP? Will xp users still receive security updates from microsoft?

I myself am using netbook (asus 1005ha) and I really love XP on it. I have tried windows 7 but it really drains the battery fast and seems a bit slower than xp.
So naturally it's not the best way to go...

What do you guys think? How long will XP be officially supported and do you guys still prefer XP or the new and shiny windows 7 ?

PS: I dont really care about vista. I am skipping that generation completely...I am sure most of you people will agree with me

[caperjack]

What do you think this means for those people who still buy netbooks (those tiny little atom powered laptops) with windows xp loaded...

new ones in store in my area now coming with win7 starter .
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=844

[OlyComputers]

I'd expect to see XP available on netbooks until summer, maybe next Christmas and updates/security patches for 1-2 years after they finally put her to sleep.

[Crash~Override]

I'd expect to see XP available on netbooks until summer, maybe next Christmas and updates/security patches for 1-2 years after they finally put her to sleep.

thanks exactly the answer i was looking for! :D

ps: by 1-2 years i am most definitely going to update my netbook (I tend to upgrade electronics every year or two since i like to stay up to date with current tech lol)

[OlyComputers]

They wont stop supporting XP for AT LEAST a year after the last PC ships with it, I'd be shocked if it was that soon. But third party software is already starting to be vista only, so you might need to worry about that.

[Crash~Override]

They wont stop supporting XP for AT LEAST a year after the last PC ships with it, I'd be shocked if it was that soon. But third party software is already starting to be vista only, so you might need to worry about that.

umm...name me one software which is vista ONLY. If you do, I'll name 3 which are xp only...

My point...even though vista's been out for about 3-4 years now, XP still has the most softwares compatible with it. I know of a whole lot more third party applications which are XP only rather than vista only.

Yes, this will change but not within before AT LEAST one year.

[OlyComputers]

Games are a good example, many new games just don't work with XP because they're dependent on drivers and features that weren't implemented until Vista.

It's mostly programs that require device drivers to operate, since Vista and XP driver structures are so different. Now most companies writing software will release separate XP and vista versions if necessary, but they wont be doing that forever.

There's a difference between old software that hasn't been updated and new software that isn't backwards compatible. Name all the software you'd like but none of it will be tittles/versions you could buy at the store and that's what's most important to somebody building a new system from scratch and planning to keep it for a few years. The reason XP programs don't work with vista is the best example of the problem, Vista is so different from XP that many preexisting programs were completely incompatible, Just because the process is easier when you can design for both versions at the same time doesn't mean that the differences in the software architecture and features aren't still there: Those programs have work-arounds built in for backwards compatibility and it wont be long before companies stop spending the money to make their systems compatible with a platform that's three generations old.

[Crash~Override]

Dude...who the hell was talking about making softwares for windows xp forever....i was just stating the fact that as of today there are more programs compatible with windows xp, than with windows vista. And this situation isn't going to change until companies, schools, universities, etc. start adopting either vista, or windows 7...

And that change my friend isn't going to happen over christmas (santa ain't bringing windows 7/vista on every computer)

There are only like few games (out of like thousands of games) which are vista only right now. And frankly only game which is vista only that pops in my mind is halo 2.

And you can't base windows XP's life solely based on a new game which is vista/win7 only. Majority of it depends on how quickly businesses, schools, universities, small businesses etc. adopt to the newer version of windows...And let me tell you XP is still the default operating system in these places.

And still extremely popular games like Call of Duty MW2, is coming out as XP compatible....

Oh and there are like tons of stuff I can buy at store which work with windows XP. Most of the games will work without a hitch in windows XP. Even softwares...

And don't think i am like defending XP, and want it to never go out of support. That is not what I am implying. I am merely stating facts in reply to what you said.

I personally would love to see people move past windows XP...

PS: There are still like tons of applications (and games) which needs to be run in vista with XP compatibility....and that my friend ain't speeding up XP's removal any bit

[OlyComputers]

You're completely mixing up what I said. Most software works with XP, I said that no XP ONLY software is currently being marketed. As for adoption, Windows 7 is already being adopted at a shocking rate and just because XP still hangs on doesn't mean that you wont start to have problems with software compatibility. Every software company is going to keep making their software XP compatible for as long as they need to: software aimed at schools and corporate networks will support the platform longer than other programs. There's a very big difference between running into software compatibility issues and not being able to find any software, I never said that you wouldn't be able to find software that does work: I said you'd start finding software that didn't work. If your confident that all the software you plan to use will continue to support Vista then you don't have a problem but when you get involved in a general topic post the information you're going to get is meant to inform everybody, not just the specific situation you're picturing.

Listen, this isn't the kind of forum for arguments, read the post and if it doesn't make sense or you disagree ask a question don't get defensive, especially if somebody is trying to answer a question you asked.

[Crash~Override]

Buddy, you are taking this completely wrong...if you go through the thread again...you will see that I was replying to your original statement "But third party software is already starting to be vista only, so you might need to worry about that. "

Maybe you took it the wrong way and started arguing...anyways lets just drop it. No need to make this into a mess.

And thanks for the replies...I appreciate you taking time and reply. Thanks and have a great day

[Adamsappleone]

So I want to know some opinions/facts as to what will be the future of windows XP.

It's been nice month or so since windows 7 has been "officially" released and lots of people have got their hands on it.
What do you think this means for those people who still buy netbooks (those tiny little atom powered laptops) with windows xp loaded...

How long will microsoft support XP? Will xp users still receive security updates from microsoft?

I myself am using netbook (asus 1005ha) and I really love XP on it. I have tried windows 7 but it really drains the battery fast and seems a bit slower than xp.
So naturally it's not the best way to go...

What do you guys think? How long will XP be officially supported and do you guys still prefer XP or the new and shiny windows 7 ?

PS: I dont really care about vista. I am skipping that generation completely...I am sure most of you people will agree with me

Hiya Crash,

Officially; Xp is supported through 2014;
Article here; http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208800494

MS support options for XP users here;
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/support/default.mspx

[chuckc]

How much memory is needed for Vista and Windows 7? For most business apps, XP runs with less than 1GB and satisfactorily with 1GB. Businesses, and probably schools, that have a large number of computers can't easily upgrade software until all their computers have been upgraded to meet the requirements of the newer operating system. Then there is the matter of older printers, scanners, etc. Not all of the older peripherals have drivers for Vista and Windows 7. I'm not defending XP either, but sometimes businesses, schools, and even government agencies are slow to upgrade. Does anyone know when airport radar systems stopped using vacuum tubes?

[khakilang]

How long Window XP going to survive is depend how how well Window perform in term of sales. If Window 7 doesn't work as well like Vista than they have Window XP to fall back. So wait for another 3 years and see.

[Adamsappleone]

How much memory is needed for Vista and Windows 7? For most business apps, XP runs with less than 1GB and satisfactorily with 1GB. Businesses, and probably schools, that have a large number of computers can't easily upgrade software until all their computers have been upgraded to meet the requirements of the newer operating system. Then there is the matter of older printers, scanners, etc. Not all of the older peripherals have drivers for Vista and Windows 7. I'm not defending XP either, but sometimes businesses, schools, and even government agencies are slow to upgrade. Does anyone know when airport radar systems stopped using vacuum tubes?

These are minimum requirements;

To install and run the core functionality of Windows Vista, you need:
An 800 MHz processor
512 MB of RAM
A 20 GB hard drive with 15 GB of free space

If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

As far as Radar goes, vacuum tubes are still used in some radar systems today.