Microsoft Stops XP Shipments; Win8 Details Emerge

[mgh 89]

According to today's newspaper, Microsoft has reported first-quarter revenue up by 66% to $4.8bn for its Windows division and up by 14% to $5.1bn .Office and Business Software.It is still sellinng its products despite the reported doom and gloom here.

[vololiberista 205]

The facts are that it's surely naive to think that any company with a new product will continue to sell its old products in competition with itself.

That is precisely what detergent and other multinationals do!! Watch your tv advertising!!!!vololiberista

[greggerm 312]

Just think - your son or daughter could have entered kindergarten when XP was first released and they will be into their second year at a college or university when XP is finally put to rest. That is a long time. Think of how much will have changed in that 14 year lifespan of Windows XP. Microsoft stopped selling FS2004 long ago, but that hasn't stopped some holdouts from sticking to their guns and using the older simulation. The same can and is said about users of XP. For some users, there is no compelling reason to SWITCH to a new operating system (or flight simulation) if their existing one is functioning as they wish. If its not broken, some users feel it's not worth fixing. I feel this is completely legitimate. BUT, if you are going to purchase a new computer, or perform a massive upgrade to an existing one, even the most die hard XP user would have to admit that the prospect of using Windows 7 (arguably Microsoft's best OS to date) on a nice new computer would be a pretty situation to be in. With the capabilities of current hardware and W7's ability to leverage it, even the most stalwart of XP users must recognize that on new gear, W7 is the way to go.Microsoft's move is to cease SELLING Widows XP which will prevent any new installations on new equipment from occuring. It is not uninstalling XP from your computers, nor are they stopping support and security patching... that ends another four years from now in 2014. ~---~In my opinion, spending any time or money reverting a brand new home computer to XP would be folly. Moving down to XP provides no tangible benefits in that case... W7's stability is UNMATCHED, and desktop performance with W7 is just as snappy, if not superior, to XP.Back to the car analogy:Your "2000 WinXP" model is/was certainly a great car. It has been reliable, functional, and fuel efficient. if you're driving it to this day, why stop! Just keep changing the oil and it will serve you well. The "2005 Vista" model did not win AutoTrend car of the year. It had some reliability issues and wasn't terribly good on gas. After a few recalls they got it humming nicely, but who would want to stick with that. She'll drive you around, but you'll have a bad taste in your mouth. The "2009 W7" model reversed the trend. Very reliable, fuel efficient, and has lots of new amenities. Sure, you don't need all the bells and whistles, but Microsoft improved the engine, ABS brakes, airbags... put in new seatbelts, and trimmed up the interior with some plush goodies. If you're still driving the 2000 XP, and all you need and want is a daily commuter vehicle, there's no need to move. If you're driving the 2005 Vista, you might have some compelling reasons to trade up. If you're driving an '09 W7, congratulations! If you AREN'T driving any cars today, or you need to change your computer to something more modern, which would you choose?

[UlfB 7]

Windows XP.In my view Windows XP is the best and most stable operating system that MS has ever produced. The two newer options are, as ever, reported to have numerous problems. I suppose `Don`t buy until at least patch 2`still holds good it seems ! Windows 8? (Wait till patch 2 !)I have bought a retail copy of Windows XP Professional inc servicePack 2 and I have a hard copy of Service Pack 3.........just in case I get superceded !Dave

IMO DOS 3 was the most stable operating system that MS has ever produced Only problem is that you cannot use modern hardware or FSX on that OS :( The same will happen with Win XP. In a few of years you won't have drivers for new hardware that work in XP. MS Flight 2.0 might not support XP. MS Flight 3.0 will only be supported on Win 8 and 9. The evolution of hardware and OS'es won't stop because of some of obscure FS community.Time to kiss goodbye to XP I'm using Vista 64, but will probably use Win 7 when I build a new computer next year. My tweaked Vista performs very well and I have less issues compared to using XP 32.My 2 cents :(

[mgh 89]

That is precisely what detergent and other multinationals do!! Watch your tv advertising!!!!vololiberista

Not really, that's aiming at different parts of the market. Microsoft does the same with its different versions of Windows 7.

[scott967 62]

I imagine by the time of Win 8 we will be facing the 2.2 Tb hard drive limit (3 Tb drives are already out in the wild), and BIOS will be updated to boot from GPT drives which XP 32 bit can't support (XP x86 can't even read GPT data drives).scott s.

[jbinner 15]

BIOS is already overdue for a replacement as well. UEFI is coming...will also replace BIOS.http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-uefi-firmware,2486.htmlAs for WinXP....I was able to order workstations from Dell up till this year with XP loaded. It CAN be had if you really want it. Thankfully, my company has adopted Win7 so we can order new machines with Win7 now. But XP is still loaded on the laptop I am typing this from. :)

I imagine by the time of Win 8 we will be facing the 2.2 Tb hard drive limit (3 Tb drives are already out in the wild), and BIOS will be updated to boot from GPT drives which XP 32 bit can't support (XP x86 can't even read GPT data drives).scott s.

[Cruachan 705]

It has obviously been superseded and is obsoploscent - I chose my word carefully.The facts are that it's surely naive to think that any company with a new product will continue to sell its old products in competition with itself.

Hi,I would suggest operating systems are in a different category and Windows XP should be treated as a unique case. Unlike other products which generally have obsolescence built into them to ensure either an ongoing market for newer developments or that they simply wear out with the passage of time, operating systems as successful as XP are always likely to buck that trend.It's plainly absurd to assert that XP is now obsolete when, quite evidently, it isn't. Those of us (60% of the user base, did I hear someone say?) who continue to rely on it do so in the confident knowledge that it will continue to satisfy our requirements for the forseeable future, or at least until Microsoft find a way to wrest control away from us. Doubtless in time they will, but for now they have no choice but to tread very warily for fear of upsetting the huge business community, never mind punters like you and I.I've said it many times before and I dare to repeat it yet again: Microsoft's error of judgement was in denying XP users a painless upgrade path to Vista or Windows7. If all I was running was a version of Flight Simulator under XP then I might have considered the 'upgrade' as the effort involved, while irksome, could be overcome within a few days. I suspect many of you jumped for that very reason. However, I share the problem that must be facing many others out there: a complex collection of sims and applications running on a system that is trouble free and performing well, and this happy situation was achieved after much effort spread over several years. What would I gain by starting all over again - ulcers I certainly don't need!Frankly I'm thankful that XP's stability and reliability has spared me from facing that unpalatable prospect, at least until 2014. So, for me, far from being obsolete, XP remains very current and a long way from being dispensible. If I could be the devils's advocate for a moment, perhaps Microsoft should give serious consideration to extending their support for XP beyond 2014. They won't, of course, and I can see history repeating itself with Windows 7. Microsoft will just have to accept that this is the price to be paid for having produced a successful operating system such as XP has proved to be quite demonstrably.Mike

[Chock 17,769]

I use XP on my main computer and it never has problems running anything that comes out, all the latest games and sims run okay, Adobe's CS5 applications are fine on it (not so on a Mac that doesn't have a more recent OS such as Snow Leopard). I have Vista on a laptop, but i was singularly unimpressed with most aspects of it, and Windows 7 is just a tarted up version of Vista. MS might stop supporting it, but as long as that remains the situation in terms of usability, I'll still support it.And I had a Mondeo (L Reg if I recall correctly, whatever version that was), it was a pretty nice drive but used to overheat when in traffic queues, so i flogged it and bought a Citroen Xantia, and that was a much better car.Al

[bobbyjack 61]

Seems to me that businesses are slow to upgrade because it's so expensive. Many of the really big ones use Linux, anyway. A couple of years ago the national chain grocery store near me put in self check-out registers. The OS, W2000 pro. I have XP on a desktop I use for FS9(but not often) and music composition. It is a fine workhorse. But my video editor was not made for it and won't work on it. Yes, games and what not work on XP, but my guess is that most people that still run XP (not gamers) don't have powerful enough boxes to run modern games. In my line of work, I see many everyday users that can barely run modern websites, much less modern software. I have XP on an old laptop that is on it's last legs. When it goes, I finally get in to W7. My daughter has it, but not me.My big computer is Vista. Had it since before SP1. It had a few bugs(so did XP), but I never had the trouble many seemed to have. W7 seems to me far more user friendly, secure, and I've been amazed at the trouble shooting.I have nothing against XP, but I'm ready for it to go. Bob

[Peter Clemenko 0]

Seems to me that businesses are slow to upgrade because it's so expensive. Many of the really big ones use Linux, anyway. A couple of years ago the national chain grocery store near me put in self check-out registers. The OS, W2000 pro. I have XP on a desktop I use for FS9(but not often) and music composition. It is a fine workhorse. But my video editor was not made for it and won't work on it. Yes, games and what not work on XP, but my guess is that most people that still run XP (not gamers) don't have powerful enough boxes to run modern games. In my line of work, I see many everyday users that can barely run modern websites, much less modern software. I have XP on an old laptop that is on it's last legs. When it goes, I finally get in to W7. My daughter has it, but not me.My big computer is Vista. Had it since before SP1. It had a few bugs(so did XP), but I never had the trouble many seemed to have. W7 seems to me far more user friendly, secure, and I've been amazed at the trouble shooting.I have nothing against XP, but I'm ready for it to go. Bob

Personally, I can see why businesses are going Linux. It is much more stable and much less resource hungry than Windows. I currently run a dual boot of Windows 7 64 bit and Ubuntu 10.10 64 bit on my desktop, and Windows 7 32 bit and Linux Mint Debian Edition on the laptop I take with me to use at school (and occasionally have some gaming or programming fun on as well). Overall, if I could, I'd go pure Linux, but most of what I have won't run on it sadly, even with WINE. Once I can play my main games and sims on Linux with no problem, I'm golden and will most likely format away Windows. The good news on that front is there is an unofficial Linux driver for video cards that now has DX10 and 11 support built in the driver.

[Glynn 405]

HelloI would not totally rule out further updates for XP as IPv6 will be upon us in the next year to 18 months.The XP support for IPv6 is decribed by MS themselves as "Experimental" The global businesses community especially in manufacturing are not able or willing to transition to W7 in that time scale.If my next Graphics card purchase will not run on XP64 that might encourage me to move to a newer OS, thats no biggie in the scheme of things.But at work we have manufacturing processes running into millions where all of the HMI (human interfacing) panels are running on XP.Now those few manufacturing processes in itself may not have much leverage with MS, but the fact that we also have around 100,000 employees a good percentage of which will have access to a workstation running XP and Office might make them pause for thought.And that is just one example of a global company, for every one of that scale there are a thousand smaller companies.I would think that XP will live on in some form for many years to come for the same reasons that UNIX systems are still so important to the business community.It simply works for the tasks required of it.

[Peter Clemenko 0]

HelloI would not totally rule out further updates for XP as IPv6 will be upon us in the next year to 18 months.The XP support for IPv6 is decribed by MS themselves as "Experimental" The global businesses community especially in manufacturing are not able or willing to transition to W7 in that time scale.If my next Graphics card purchase will not run on XP64 that might encourage me to move to a newer OS, thats no biggie in the scheme of things.But at work we have manufacturing processes running into millions where all of the HMI (human interfacing) panels are running on XP.Now those few manufacturing processes in itself may not have much leverage with MS, but the fact that we also have around 100,000 employees a good percentage of which will have access to a workstation running XP and Office might make them pause for thought.And that is just one example of a global company, for every one of that scale there are a thousand smaller companies.I would think that XP will live on in some form for many years to come for the same reasons that UNIX systems are still so important to the business community.It simply works for the tasks required of it.

Generally speaking, business refusing to go over to a newer version will just experience some major issues down the line when support runs out in a few years.

[Cruachan 705]

Generally speaking, business refusing to go over to a newer version will just experience some major issues down the line when support runs out in a few years.

Hi Peter,Then I would suggest Microsoft have a responsibility to provide the necessary support to facilitate the transition.Over the years the world has become so dependent on Microsoft software and Microsoft have profited hugely from achieving this position of monopoly, that they cannot now complain when a successful operating system like Windows XP refuses to die. It's no good saying that nobody was coerced into adopting a Microsoft based operating system. The fact is that the evolution of Microsoft's global domination has placed us all in a position of significant vulnerability with no realistic prospects of escape. Computing is supposed to be about making life easier for all of us, but when we who are still on XP are faced with the prospect of hours, if not weeks, of unnecessary work and expense to move our complex set of installations to a new operating system I have very little sympathy for Microsoft's position when they deliberately denied us an easy upgrade path.Doubtless we will be told that the technological hurdles were too great. Ten years ago this may have been true, but in these days of apparent miraculous digital achievements this has to be complete nonsense. In fact, it's far more likely that Microsoft considered it was uneconomical to invest the time money and effort to achieve this aim. Better to offload the responsibility and leave it to the customer to bear the brunt of keeping abreast of imposed change.Regards,Mike

[michal 44]

but when we who are still on XP are faced with the prospect of hours, if not weeks, of unnecessary work and expense to move our complex set of installations to a new operating system I have very little sympathy for Microsoft's position when they deliberately denied us an easy upgrade path.

Whining, whining and more whining :( I work in a small size company with many workstations running Linux, Windows, Apple OS, etc and there are no "weeks of unnecessary work and expense ..", there is skillful IT department that handles all upgrades with ease, and yes, everything is a business decision whether to upgrade and when but reading some of the above crap one can come to conclusion that nobody gets any work done because everybody bellyaches night and day about horror of upgrading and yes I have stuff at home that I also upgraded multiple times with no ill effects and no countless days, weeks lost in the process.