3 ms·

XP is a solid enough system for limited use cases. Keep it behind a firewall and don't ever touch a browser, it will run forever without a glitch. I wouldn't ca

XP is a solid enough system for limited use cases. Keep it behind a firewall and don't ever touch a browser, it will run forever without a glitch. I wouldn't call it "inferior". There may be things it can't do but if you're not going to use those features, so what? Upgrading a system just for the sake of upgrading is a waste of money. It's not just software tying a machine to XP but the hardware. A particular card may not have a 7 compatible driver. A penny-pinching executive will look at the very long number that is the cost of upgrading and decide to stay on XP and just replace parts (hard drive, monitor, etc.) as they break. Which may not be the smartest thing in the long run. I can see 7 lasting longer than XP as it's the last OS built primarily for traditional Win32 (Desktop) applications. 8 and 10 are transitioning to an OS for managed code and virtualization. If you have a legacy application you'll get the best experience on 7 (or XP, or Server 200X). All of the improvements to Windows are meant to make C# based programs work better. There isn't much to gain by upgrading an older codebase to the new OS. Of course people whose primary business is creating software think nothing of upgrading. To everyone else, writing new software is an expense. If the software you have does everything you need it to do, you're not going to rewrite it unless there is something to gain.

scholia 11y ago
> stay on XP and just replace parts (hard drive, monitor, etc.) as they break. Which may not be the smartest thing in the long run. Aye, there's the rub. Based on enterprise-class calculations (staff time etc), the cost of keeping an old XP PC running is dramatically higher than replacing it. You can get a tiny desktop with 4GB and a 1TB drive for less than $300, and cut your electricity bill as well. In accounting terms, you may also save money by reducing reboots and fast start-up times, esp with UEFI. Whether Gartner averages apply in a specific case is, of course, an entirely different matter. And, of course, if you've got a hardware lock-in that's no help at all ;-) I agree with your final paras. We can see where Microsoft is heading. Where the world will actually be in 2020-25 is another matter....
- whoopdedo 11y ago
  > Based on enterprise-class calculations (staff time etc), the cost of keeping an old XP PC running is dramatically higher than replacing it. You can get a tiny desktop with 4GB and a 1TB drive for less than $300, and cut your electricity bill as well. Have you seen how extremely short-sighted and quarterly report oriented some executives can be. You say "only" $300 but I regularly replace $30 hard drives (that I charge $80 for) and they thank me for it because I'm "saving" them $200.
  - scholia 11y ago
    Sad but true ;-)

scholia 11y ago

> stay on XP and just replace parts (hard drive, monitor, etc.) as they break. Which may not be the smartest thing in the long run. Aye, there's the rub. Based on enterprise-class calculations (staff time etc), the cost of keeping an old XP PC running is dramatically higher than replacing it. You can get a tiny desktop with 4GB and a 1TB drive for less than $300, and cut your electricity bill as well. In accounting terms, you may also save money by reducing reboots and fast start-up times, esp with UEFI. Whether Gartner averages apply in a specific case is, of course, an entirely different matter. And, of course, if you've got a hardware lock-in that's no help at all ;-) I agree with your final paras. We can see where Microsoft is heading. Where the world will actually be in 2020-25 is another matter....

whoopdedo 11y ago
> Based on enterprise-class calculations (staff time etc), the cost of keeping an old XP PC running is dramatically higher than replacing it. You can get a tiny desktop with 4GB and a 1TB drive for less than $300, and cut your electricity bill as well. Have you seen how extremely short-sighted and quarterly report oriented some executives can be. You say "only" $300 but I regularly replace $30 hard drives (that I charge $80 for) and they thank me for it because I'm "saving" them $200.
- scholia 11y ago
  Sad but true ;-)