I just read that over 60% of businesses still use WinXP -- few jumped to Vista ( probably why they offered the 'downgrade' to XP on new machines). And they're not leaping on to W7/8.

They estimate that around 40% will stay with XP after support gets dropped next year -- mainly banks and other non techie businesses.

I unsderstand that security is supposedly better in W7/8, but I think that the message here is businesses folks know how to use XP, and don't really like the way the new stuff looks and feels. I tend to agree.

Just my 2 pennies,

hj

 

The jump from xp to 7 is really that much. Its pretty simple to get the hang of. I just upgraded to 8 and can see why people wouldnt want to change to 8. It definitely takes a while to get used to it, especially for non techie people.

Edit:
I think the main thing is that xp is just so easy to use and works so well that its not worth it for a a lot of companies and people to upgrade unless they have to.

 

I haven't read much on this HJ but that sounds about right.

We have about half of our machines migrated over to W7 now. Overall, I'm liking 7 better than XP and XP was pretty darn good. I've got Vista on one laptop and I despise it. After working with W8 over the last few months on my kids' laptops, I can honestly say that it has been an exercise in frustration, futility, and a plain out aggravation.

Maybe I just haven't immersed myself fully enough in the W8 platform / experience, but if this is the future of Microsoft operating platforms, I can foresee myself eventually switching over to MACs.

 

W in 7 64 sucks , Win 8 sucks much worse . You need a note pad for 8 to remember how to do anything , MS is in the toilet . Change to that extreme is not need for the average user . X P all the way to the end ..

 

The main reason businesses still run XP is its compatibility..

Windows vista, 7, and 8 have plenty of bugs and compatibility issues..

I just upgraded a customers 15 XP computers to windows 7 and still chasing issues caused by the upgrade..

Windows vista and 7 have better security, but the first thing we do is have to disable most of it to get software to run..

Windows vista, 7, and 8 suck.. I wish they would bring XP back..

If Apples were cheaper I would be recommending them

 

Pretty much my exact sentiments. We have one old desktop still on XP, one desktop on 7, one laptop on 7 and one laptop on 8. The kids get the XP and the 8, the wife and I use the 7 machines. I am very comfortable on 7 (the laptop came with Vista, which stunk, but came with a free upgrade to 7 when it was released, which I like very much). Like John said, I haven't had any issues with 7, and the transition was seamless, with very few differences. Granted, I am not a power/business user, nor do I use any arcane or specialized software packages.

Win8 is a disaster. I get the Metro interface (it's really intended for touchscreens), but I don't like and don't use it. However, IMHO, where MS screwed the pooch was to significantly change the desktop interface (when you get out of the Metro UI) and operation. I HATE rollover/popup menus, which is how they replaced the Start button.

Jason

 

I'm another who laments XP's eventual demise---just as I was getting so used to it!

Win 7 does have compatibility issues but since most of my beloved purchased software is from late 2000 that's understandable I guess. With so much being pushed towards the "cloud computing" nonsense a lot of software is no longer necessary.

I'm somewhat in process of building or adding to a computer that will run XP exclusively, even to the point I'll buy an authorized MS version of it. When that's done and I've secured a great or better music player/ripper/burner I'll seek to disable or delete most of the Win 7 libraries---I HATE that feature!

End of life for XP is April '14 so gotta get things in order before then!

 

I've been using Windows 7 since it was in beta (there were some "unofficial" beta builds circulating around at the time). I find I get a bit lost when I get back on an XP box - I forget where things are LOL... 7 does have its issues, but I've learned over time how to deal with them - the only real issue I have with it right now is that is so heavily bloated, it runs slooowww, compared to XP or Linux.

I refuse to touch Windows 8. Period...

Linux isn't a good gaming platform, otherwise, I'd be using it exclusively...

 

What M$ doesn't understand is that in a remote, non-manned/attended platform, stability is critical. Or in SCADA systems, where downtime simply isn't an option.

Almost any kiosk you see is still running XP. Why? Because the hardware is static (i.e. they're not upgrading the video board every week like a gamer), and it has to be up and running 24/7 for days on end. Maintenance, if done at all, is done only weekly or monthly, and the only attention the machine gets is weekly dumping of the change or bill acceptor.

SCADA systems, especially in utilities (i.e. electric, sewer, water, etc) HAVE to be stable, and run with 100% performance, straight out of the box. I know someone who still maintains his town's water supply SCADA system on an XP laptop, simply because they don't have the time or resources to make sure anything ELSE will work when crunch time occurs. According to him, a definition of "stable" requires DAYS of non-stop testing, to make sure ALL possibilities have been covered. And apparently ANY utility is the same.

Do you want your Electric Power company to have the same problems with it's grid distribution control that you have with your web browsers and e-mail programs on a daily basis?

Note, however, that most of these embedded systems and kiosks won't be replaced any time soon, nor their components. So operationally, they CAN still run XP for the forseeable future.

The "ending" of support simply means they won't be issuing any more security updates and patches.

-blaine

 

Have you done any online searching on how to disable the unnecessary features of Win7? Things like the Aero Desktop, animations, etc. Shutting those things down help significantly. So does more RAM.

Jason

 

There are a lot of technical reasons that prevent people from moving forward to Win7, not just the user experience. We have a lot of lab stations at work that stay on WinXP because they need to run some specialty software that is not available for Win7, or some form of software was written in-house that does not translate to Win7.

As a few others have said, Microsoft ending support for WinXP doesn't really mean anything. It just means no new security patches, etc. I can't imagine much activity is going on anyway.

 

Oh yeah, I've done a number of tweaks but it's still relatively slow...