Important notice to Windows XP users.

[Bender]

idk why i still see people using Windows XP?
To all Windows XP users on this forum April 8 is the end of support, from
April 8th you wouldn't be receiving updates from Microsoft, which will make some you
happy.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-SG/wind ... pport-help
Says:

Don't let your PC go unprotected.

I protect my PC by not installing any of your recommended programs and keeping it lean, mean and clean. .
Jokes aside this IMO is also an alert to lazy developers who've used tonnes of BIOS calls in their OS, as Microsoft will stop posting updates to old Windows XP which relies on BIOS, all the major corporations (offices, software companies, etc.) will stop using Windows XP as doing so will be a security risk, although I can myself make a 100 jokes about Windows Updates but the truth is that some of these contain vital security fixes which really protect your computer (they may be ____bloated_____) but for larger institutions security is very important. And as they will upgrade to new Windows version (7/8) which support UEFI booting, manufacturers will finally have no reason to keep legacy BIOS and that's where Real Mode OSes will be out of use.
I'd now prevent using BIOS as far as I can, except for video modes, A20 and some memory detection I don't think there is any reason to use the BIOS.
As a side note to those who are still using Office 2003, it carries the same fate as Windows XP.
The reason why I think so many people use XP is that it lasted for a long time, it was released in 2001, then Vista came out, it was crap so one bothered, finally Windows 7 was out in the end of 2009, so 9-10 years is a long time, and many people didn't bother to upgrade to 7.

[Combuster]

I'm especially curious to see how the upcoming hacker party is going to work out, considering how many of these devices are connected to the internet (including a bunch things you don't quite want there)...

[hometue]

I guess the hackers are gonna have a fun time with those systems then. Or they could migrate to one of the OS we have made

[Bender]

After taking a look at Combuster's links I just hope the end of Windows XP is an April fool from Microsoft.

[Brendan]

Hi,

After taking a look at Combuster's links I just hope the end of Windows XP is an April fool from Microsoft.

It's not. A joke would be Microsoft shifting to a "rolling release" distribution model...

Note that the idea of ATMs suddenly becoming less secure is pure nonsense - these machines aren't normal desktop things being used to browse facebook and download pirated music from peer-to-peer sites. It's more likely that switching to a newer version of Windows (that has had less time to mature) would increase the risk of security problems.


Cheers,

Brendan

[Rusky]

The problem is when someone finds a vulnerability in XP they can use to break into ATMs. Before, Microsoft would fix it and the ATM could be patched. Now, the only option is to pick a different OS.

[Owen]

Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 (the most recent XP derivative for embedded point of sale/ATM applications) receives extended support till 2019.

This covers a narrower portion of the operating system than full XP support (For example, I expect IE security holes will go unpatched), but is likely to cover everything that your average ATM will encounter.

[qw]

Man I'm old. I remember when XP was something new. I've been using it until last year.

[onlyonemac]

Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 (the most recent XP derivative for embedded point of sale/ATM applications) receives extended support till 2019.

Is that by any chance what the UK self-service checkouts run? I saw one booting up yesterday, and it was still on XP.

[qw]

Hey, I found the perfect solution!

[Bender]

Hey, I found the perfect solution!

Windows3.jpg

Yea, till Windows 7 everything was "near to" ok, but with Windows 8 they've done a large mistake, with this (sorry! for the large image):

I'd prefer using what Hobbes said. I wonder what'll happen if they keep making such crucial design mistakes.

[iansjack]

Come back when you have sold over 200,000,000 copies of your OS and ask again.

[VolTeK]

Yea, till Windows 7 everything was "near to" ok, but with Windows 8 they've done a large mistake, with this (sorry! for the large image):

Because you are the GUI guru, and you know just what a perfect GUI is.

There is no perfect GUI.

What the hell do you know? Just like 1000's of other newbies i've seen join an OS/Systems design forum who have posted this image to try and "prove" windows is doing wrong. What does the image prove? That "if it hasn't worked before, it will never work" ? I'm sorry! You've never been in the business then! There are no constant variables here. We've had Tablets and Smart phones since, so it Will balance itself out.

[Bender]

Yea, till Windows 7 everything was "near to" ok, but with Windows 8 they've done a large mistake, with this (sorry! for the large image):

Because you are the GUI guru, and you know just what a perfect GUI is.

There is no perfect GUI.

What the hell do you know? Just like 1000's of other newbies i've seen join an OS/Systems design forum who have posted this image to try and "prove" windows is doing wrong. What does the image prove? That "if it hasn't worked before, it will never work" ? I'm sorry! You've never been in the business then! There are no constant variables here. We've had Tablets and Smart phones since, so it Will balance itself out.

Ah, expected this kind of reply from VolTeK, as usual no change.
Those aren't my opinions, there are a lot of people who write on blogs, and a whole team of geeks who think Windows 8 Metro User Interface is a failure on PCs. Mistakes can be forgiven but in a place like software industry, where everyone is pushing ahead, I doubt it's safe to commit mistakes.
Now if a user says I cant work with Metro UI, what you'll say? Write your own OS and see? Or...?
I was myself excited with the Metro UI, MS finally decided to give up the old Start Button interface and shift to the new UI, but users don't change their habits. They still want that Start button, the same start menu and the same programs. As for Tablets Android is already there...... It'll be hard challenge to bring down Android. Nokia collapsed for that reason.

[iansjack]

I think your mistake is to think that Microsoft care what "a whole team of geeks" think. We've already established that the opinion of geeks is very important to you, but Microsoft's purpose in life is to make money, not win aclaim from geeks.

The bottom line is what counts. How many copies of your OS do you sell. Over 200,000,000 copies already can't really be deemed failure. Remember that exactly these sort of complaints were raised about just about every version of Windows when it was new - geeks hated XP regarding it as a dumbing down of 2000. And as for the Mac OS - very few people tooks that seriously.

I suspect that Microsoft understand history rather better than you - or a bunch of geeky bloggers - do.