Microsoft to stop selling Windows XP on Monday

[Computer Hope Admin]

Microsoft Corp. is scheduled to stop selling its Windows XP operating system to retailers and major computer makers Monday, despite protests from a slice of PC users who don't want to be forced into using XP's successor, Vista.

Link

[stevejohnson1958]

All good things must come to an end, but I plan on keeping my XP for a long time...

Honestly...Vista doesn't impress me at all...this is truly a shame.  Thanks for the link Nathan...good read.

[Calum]

The world must move on.
I'm certainly not a Vista fan, I would actually count myself as a Vista hater, but I'm not with the legions of rabid die-hards insisting that a 7 year old OS is sold indefinitely just because they don't like the new OS.
I won't be purchasing Vista myself and don't see myself using it for some time to come, but I have some legal copies of XP and will continue to use those.
XP sales being stopped doesn't affect current users at all, they obviosuly have a legal copy as they're using it, right?

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

XP sales being stopped doesn't affect current users at all, they obviosuly have a legal copy as they're using it, right?

Just like how some people are still using old OS's like 98 and 2000.

[Calum]

Yes, it's exactly like that.  Keep using the OS you have as long as you like and no one will take it away from you.
No one loses out other than new customers.
And I for one would find it hard to recommend to someone who doesn't have a computer that they use a 7 year old OS, no matter how I feel about the new incarnation.
Imagine a car salesman (but one that doesn't rip you off, maybe an advisor?) recommending a 7 year old model rather than the latest one for the same price, it's a little hard to swallow.

[quaxo]

That's fine. I've got my XP and I'll  be keeping it.

[BC_Programmer]

XP sales being stopped doesn't affect current users at all, they obviosuly have a legal copy as they're using it, right?

Everybody I know besides myself that owns a computer has a burned XP CD. I still want to know where they got them. I'm the only one with a holographic CD...

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

I still want to know where they got them.

No you don't.

[BC_Programmer]

I still want to know where they got them.

No you don't.

oops- I mean, HOW they got them. what kind of devious things did they have to perform in a back alley?

[Calum]

I'm speaking legally.
Anyone with a pirated copy has no right to complain about anything.
They are very easy to obtain, knowingly or not.

[BC_Programmer]

Anyone with a pirated copy has no right to complain about anything.

True- but that never seems to stop them.

They are very easy to obtain, knowingly or not.

I indirectly got a small computer shop closed down (well not really, but they couldn't sell microsoft products anymore, or something), since one of the people I know got a computer from them, and they threw in a pirate copy of XP with it... That is, a CD-R with "Windows XP" written on it. They insisted that it was legal... Strange. It wasn't me that got them closed really, but when I told the person they were given a pirate copy, they E-mailed Microsoft...

Then again, my area has a high turnover rate for computer shops- probably for that reason.

[Calum]

If I saw someone selling pirated software I'd turn them in.
I just think it's wrong to make money that way.
I object to the obscene prices many companies charge for their software, but I still don't agree that that's a good enough reason to load up a shop with a truck full of CD-Rs and start selling them to unsuspecting customers.

[quaxo]

I object to the obscene prices many companies charge for their software, but I still don't agree that that's a good enough reason to load up a shop with a truck full of CD-Rs and start selling them to unsuspecting customers.

They're not always unsuspecting customers.

In Thailand, and many parts of Asia, there are shops that sell pirated movies, software, and games in just about every shopping mall. There are some malls (such as Pantip Plaza or Fortune Town's IT Mall) that have countless shops that carry pirated material and nothing else. You can get a DVD-R full of pirated software for about $3. They charge by the disc, and not by the contents.

Game publishers have actually started publishing games here which are labeled for sale only in Thailand at a much lower price than you can get them in the USA or other places (I payed about $10 for an authentic copy of Mass Effect, it's $50 in the US last time I checked). However, software companies like Microsoft won't offer such a discount and the average person here doesn't want to pay 3,500 baht (about US$120) for Windows XP Home or 17,000 baht (about US$530) for Windows Vista Ultimate.

It's not always that they don't know they're getting pirated copies, it's that they don't care given the price of getting an original.

[stevejohnson1958]

It's not always that they don't know they're getting pirated copies, it's that they don't care given the price of getting an original.

Not only is this true in 3rd world countries...it's the same all over.  Why pay full price, when you can get it cheaper...illegally?

Some just bypass the law because they take the attitude that "I'll never get caught!"  Keep looking over your shoulders...

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

are shops that sell pirated movies, software, and games in just about every shopping mall.

A lot of them are sold out in the streets or at small shops.

They do in fact make a lot of money, not saying it's right.

[quaxo]

Yeah, it's a shame. A lot of desktop computers and laptops here are sold without an OS package. I know Acer, ASUS, and BenQ all offer their laptops here without an OS. It lowers the overall price of the laptop, then the customer usually installs a pirated copy of Windows XP on it (or the shop who sells the laptop does it for them!). More than a few times has a computer been brought into my shop with the request of installing Windows on it. I politely tell them sure, I'll do it, and then I tell them how much the OS costs and that they'll have to buy a licensed disc. They usually huff and puff then walk out of the shop.

Funny thing is, I know I could install the pirated software here and get away with it. I just won't.

[BC_Programmer]

Funny thing is, I know I could install the pirated software here and get away with it. I just won't.

Kudos to you, serously. I don't know a single computer shop around (here) that even stops to think about what they're doing when they break rules like that- I walked into a shop once, asked if they had windows 98 CDs (as in to BUY) and he went in the back and came back out and gave me a burned copy- *censored*? I got it free (I would have refused to pay for it anyway, on account of only costing them the cost of the media), long story short, my Laptop now has it's OS CD.

I mean, they come off seeming all bound to the rules, but it doesn't take more then a small nudge (I'd be thankful if you could do this...) all because they think that that person might come back and actually spend some money.

Really it's just a case of the shop being far TOO friendly with customers.

[squall_01]

I'm not much of a vista fan, not saing that I really like it.  I like xp better but these are only my opions cause I been around alot of differnt OS. 

[BC_Programmer]

I tend to think of Vista on a computer as analogous to putting a old lady in a lamborghini- the car will never reach it's potential. (alright- cases can be made for memory and such, but performance-wise Vista will almost never touch XP)

[squall_01]

Too bad thats not all true 

[Calum]

I tend to think of Vista on a computer as analogous to putting a old lady in a lamborghini- the car will never reach it's potential. (alright- cases can be made for memory and such, but performance-wise Vista will almost never touch XP)

It's not meant to, and that's the point people are missing.
Due to the huge gap of 7 years between the two systems, the performance lag is also huge.
Think Windows 95 compared to Windows XP, and then some - Vista's gap is nowhere near that huge.
I hope this makes sense, I do know what I want to say but not sure if that said it.

[BC_Programmer]

I tend to think of Vista on a computer as analogous to putting a old lady in a lamborghini- the car will never reach it's potential. (alright- cases can be made for memory and such, but performance-wise Vista will almost never touch XP)

It's not meant to, and that's the point people are missing.
Due to the huge gap of 7 years between the two systems, the performance lag is also huge.
Think Windows 95 compared to Windows XP, and then some - Vista's gap is nowhere near that huge.
I hope this makes sense, I do know what I want to say but not sure if that said it.

I know exactly what you mean- basically Vista will have the edge when software/hardware manufacturers completely stop supporting it (that is, driver wise and such) or for core features, such as memory limits (this is the same story with 3.1 which couldn't handle more then 64MB, and 98 which I believe maxes out around 512 or thereabouts).

I just don't personally think a video card should require anything more then basic 2d functions simply for running an office application, but Vista requires a DX9 card- (or is that just for aero/aero glass?)

[Calum]

A 32-bit OS will not handle more than 4GB of RAM, period.
I believe that by the time 64 bit operating systems become commonplace Vista will be long gone anyway, so in that respect it doesn't have much of an edge over, say, XP.
I believe that the video card is mainly used for the new visual effects, including Aero - I just find it funny that Vista's requirements surpass many of my PC games' requirements.