Microsoft > Windows XP
Find Good Ssoftware forWindows XP.
Geek-9pm:
This thread is for those of you that know about good software still usable on Windows XP. Please add to this thread for the benefit of others that still use XP for any reason. My resown is my poor vision. And I am cheap. 8)
Here is where I found Firefox 52.9.03 32 bit browser.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/52.9.0/releasenotes/
They might take this ink down, so you may wish to put it in your backup stuff.
Here is a comment from somebody that also is happy with XP. He says there are more than two of us that like XP. :P
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Windows-XP-still-working-perfectly-in-2018-for-everything-that-I-was-doing-3-years-ago-including-the-Internet
He also says:
--- Quote ---Some people make a big fuss about the security risk of using XP however there is a security risk in using any internet connection. Windows is actually inferior in two ways. XP is not supported thus it receives no updates. Nothing is worse than wanting to use your computer and Windows 10 wont allow you use your own computer. Windows XP had an extremely simple restore function so if you did have a security issue then then computer could be easliy restored to a known point. This was so popular that microsoft immediately removed the function so that users would be again at risk in later versions.
--- End quote ---
Comment or link? ;D
camerongray:
As far as I can tell, Firefox 52.9 ESR went end of life back in September 2018 so it's already out of support essentially meaning there is no supported Firefox (or Chrome) version available for XP nowadays.
I dare say the guy in that link isn't a security expert, he feels to me to be more the "just install antivirus to be secure" type of person. When running outdated software you run the risk of complex security vulnerabilities remaining unpatched and exploitable. You only have to look at past vulnerabilities to see what sorts of things are possible. The SMB vulnerabilities that caused the whole Wannacry issue a couple of years ago, issues such as Heartbleed and Shellshock in the UNIX world are all the sorts of vulnerabilities that are only fixable by software updates. This also applies to the software you are running, if you're using an unsupported browser because it's the newest version that supports XP then what if there's a remote code execution vulnerability discovered in the browser that allows a webpage to access the underlying OS? You're going to have a bad time.
While I can't speak for everyone, I really can't see any reason for a regular user to need to stick with XP. I don't know about your specific requirements for accessibility features however Windows 10 still supports all the high contrast stuff that XP did and also supports much better DPI scaling than XP making it easy to make text larger. As for the cost, while what is "cheap" massively varies between people, I could pretty easily go and pick up a decent looking i5 desktop with Windows 10 for under £70.
Now as for the guy you quoted's "logic"
--- Quote ---XP is not supported thus it receives no updates. Nothing is worse than wanting to use your computer and Windows 10 wont allow you use your own computer.
--- End quote ---
So updates are purely there to annoy users and don't actually serve any purpose for security or reliability? That's certainly news to me. I totally agree that Windows 10's update policy is an absolute nightmare (and is one of the many reasons I tend to avoid Windows) but updates do serve a pretty important purpose.
--- Quote ---Windows XP had an extremely simple restore function so if you did have a security issue then then computer could be easliy restored to a known point.
--- End quote ---
I never knew that system restore was a time machine for your entire life allowing you to get your identity un-stolen and undo fraud committed against your bank account...
The guy also claims:
--- Quote ---A huge proportion of commercial computer users are still using XP because there is little need to upgrade and the cost would be substantial.
--- End quote ---
This was certainly the case a couple of years ago however in recent years I rarely see XP being used on any sort of end user workstation, even large companies who used to be fully XP have almost all moved over to Windows 7 or 10. I still sometimes see it in more embedded applications on things like ATMs and point of sale terminals however these devices should be on relatively restricted networks and often the operators will be paying Microsoft for extended support.
Geek-9pm:
About XP security flaws:
Here Wikipedia article about ATM software and hardware.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_teller_machine
The article was updated recently.
--- Quote ---...
According to the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA),[10] there are now close to 3.5 million ATMs installed worldwid
...
ATMs typically connect directly to their host or ATM Controller on either ADSL or dial-up modem over a telephone line or directly on a leased line. Leased lines are preferable to plain old telephone service (POTS) lines because they require less time to establish a connection.
....
Today, the vast majority of ATMs worldwide use a Microsoft Windows operating system, primarily Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Embedded.[citation needed][needs update] In early 2014, 95% of ATMs were running Windows XP.[64] A small number of deployments may still be running older versions of the Windows OS, such as Windows NT, Windows CE, or Windows 2000.
...
Linux is also finding some reception in the ATM marketplace. An example of this is Banrisul, the largest bank in the south of Brazil, which has replaced the MS-DOS operating systems in its ATMs with Linux.
...
--- End quote ---
My point here is that the XP thing was not considered a major issue in the octave article. It seems that other problems are of greater concern.
But the article does need to be updated. To date I have not had a security issues with Windows XP. The security issues I have come from people who take advantage of the crazy way the banks let anybody use your credit card information.That is not a thing related to the OS. It has to do with the policy of the banking industry.
About visual aids:
Right now I am using Widows 10 to write this post. However, Windows 10 does not seem to understand what I need. I can not read some of the messages it posts in a sidebar. And by the time I get my lope our, the message vanishes. So the Windows 10 accessibility features are a joke for anybody that really needs them.
I am able to post in CH with the aid of the browser, not the OS. I use the zoom feature in Firefox.
I spend about half of my time using Windows 10 and the rest either XP or Windows 7. Like the author mentioned,I find it easier to recovery a crash in XP than in Windows 10. And I do not know why.
When using Winslow 10 I use new versions of Chrome or Firefox. But for Windows XP I have to resort to the last version Mozilla made for Fire Fox.
Anyway, I am among the dwindling minority who are more comfortable using Windows XP rater that Windows 10. At least Windows XP does not nag me. Except that from time to time it reminds me support ended in 2014. :o
Wombs 10 is bad for my blood pressure. :(
BC_Programmer:
Windows XP and even early Releases of Windows have a lot of software resources available. Unofficial service packs and various addons like "KernelEx" can allow them to run software much newer than they could otherwise execute due to compatibility constraints. YOu can find something similar for Mac OS; Though I found PowerPC OS X a bit annoying to find software for, Mac Classic seems to have a lot of software packages including the semi-modern "Classilla" browser. In that context we can probably dismiss security concerns because it would pretty much require that the Classic OS be targeted to be appropriately compromised, so it's less of an issue there.
On the note of security considerations, though, I'm going to partly disagree with camerongray here. At least as it applies to end user consumer systems. Servers and corporate workstations should be kept up to date where possible.
(Mind, I also disagree with the quoted user- Aside from the points Cameron made, System Restore was not removed from Windows and still exists in Windows 10 and Malware often infects System Restore anyway.)
That said, In terms of security, I don't think that vulnerable software or exploits are something that a typical end-user is going to need to worry about, as Trojan horse malware has effectively a monopoly in terms of the infection vectors. People get infected through their own stupid decisions, like setting their AV to ignore and running that installer that the guy said was a false positive, or just happily giving full Admin privileges to this executable you downloaded because you want the shiny carrot on a stick that it claims to provide.
Interestingly, Wannacry actually provides a good example of this.
Consider that the Eternal Blue SMBv1 exploit allowed the malware to spread from one infected system to another *on the same LAN* (Not over the Internet, unless you specifically forward ports and stuff... in which case well have fun). This is obviously a massive issue for large corporate networks, (As seen with the NHS in that case) but despite the noise made about how important it is the patch it, the underlying problem- the patient zero- which was infected was almost certainly via more traditional means. Which also stresses the point: regardless of whether a system is patched, it could *still be infected* by Wannacry via more "traditional" approaches, and can then still spread it's infection to other unpatched systems.
>if you're using an unsupported browser because it's the newest version that supports XP then what if there's a remote code execution vulnerability discovered in the browser that allows a webpage to access the underlying OS?
I do not think that dreaming up what-if scenarios is particularly useful. One can presume of course that remote code execution vulnerabilities have been discovered in browsers and therefore they may remain unpatched going forward for an unsupported version. But knowing that, it is fairly easy to take precautions. Realistically, I'd argue that for the most part those precautions should be done generally, because even the latest releases of browsers are going to contain unpublished and unmitigated security exploits which could be being used nefariously. For example, IMO there is zero reason to ever allow Javascript to run on a webpage by default, except for known safe websites (In which case compromising a vulnerable system means compromising the website). Flash and Java are obviously completely out of the question to even be present to be enabled, too. This greatly reduces the attack surface area and removes the primary "drive by download" vectors, or in many cases makes them require some level of user interaction to for example download a compromised EMF file and then view it with a vulnerable viewer.
Another aspect is that while a system does not become less vulnerable over time, it becomes a far less likely target. Windows XP is arguably not "out of the woods" yet, but eventually it will be in the same bucket as things like Windows 95 and 98, which are not just a security sieve but a chute with included instructions, but it is unheard of that anything targets those systems for compromise, as the affected targets would be so low It's not worth it.
At this Stage I'd argue that as far as exploits go, XP is leaving the focus of malware authors who are now moving towards Windows 7 as their primary target as it nears it's Security EOL. of course I still think "as far as exploits go" is a rather small subset. No sense putting in all the effort to exploit a vulnerability or remote code execution when you can just slap your payload into a program that promises something people want. Nowadays you could probably get a good number of "pwned" systems by simply offering trojan backdoors in a 400KB "Read Dead Redemption 2 PC Conversion super compressed by SkIDmArK.exe" or something, telling them it's a false positive in the readme.txt ("why would they lie, I believe them and also want to play this game so IK throw logic out the window"). They run it, it does nothing, and so they figure it just doesn't work. Then a few months later they take their super slow PC in for service and the tech discovers how they got infected- That's right, their Outlook is missing a security update, so that must be what happened. They give some lecture on security updates and send the customer on their way. Who goes home "Now that my PC is fast again I wonder if that PC conversion of Read Dead redemption 2 will run?" And they start it all over again. Or maybe they see a silly doge screensaver.exe that they just have to have or maybe they see some awesome Windows Theme and must have it and must patch their DLLs and such with untrusted, admin-requiring software because they want the theme.
My analogy would be that as important as it is to make sure the castle walls have no easily accessed entry points or weaknesses, there is also no need to design a sophisticated battering ram to get access when the drawbridge attendant trusts everybody.
Geek-9pm:
BC, I hit the thank you button for that long replay. ;D
Sometimes when I work with XP I disable the Ethernet port. It is easy to do in XP. Near impossible in Windows 10. Instead, I pull the CAT 5 cable from the router when on Win 10. Likewise when using Windows 7.
It is now very hard to watch movies on-line In XP. So I spen time in Win 7 or 10 when on a site that does not like XP.
One problem is finding a AV that works with XP. My best resits are with Avast and Avira. The free versions, of course. Also I use Malware bytes free version.
Libre office works if you use an older version.
As BC said, the bad guys now are looking for ways to fool you with attractive offers. The risk of getting hit by a conventional virus attack is relatively low unless you do something stupid. I keep a second computer on hand for anything I think might be high a high risk. And I make frequent backups. 8)
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version