7 ms·

I am in this situation. A good chunk of my users are stuck on xp so I am stuck on supporting xp too. There is no way around this for me as the reason my users a

I am in this situation. A good chunk of my users are stuck on xp so I am stuck on supporting xp too. There is no way around this for me as the reason my users are stuck on xp is because of hardware. Arg!

chris_wot 11y ago
They can still install Firefox.
- nitrogen 11y ago
  Firefox probably won't help with non-browser software, if that's what the parent comment was referring to. I also have to develop an app for a client for XP because of some proprietary hardware that still doesn't have a Windows 7/8/10 driver.
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    Yes this is my problem. The hardware manufacturer does not want to support upgrades (they want to sell new hardware) and so I am stuck supporting XP. In my situation there is not even hardware the customer can upgrade to as the original hardware supplier has left the market. We are all stuck with XP until something catastrophic happens.
    - nitrogen 11y ago
      Is the hardware expensive enough that reverse engineering the driver would be economical?
      - danieltillett 11y ago
        It would be worthwhile doing, the problem is the cost is really high for an individual lab.
    - aidenn0 11y ago
      I know a chemist still stuck with a windows 98 machine for a similar reason (it's the most recent OS that a particular piece of lab equipment has a driver for).
      - nitrogen 11y ago
        There are developers out there who would be willing to write new drivers if the manufacturers won't and the labs are willing to pay.
        danieltillett 11y ago
        The problem is for an individual lab the cost is very high - there needs to be some sort of forum where labs can get together and put a bounty together for new drivers.
- danieltillett 11y ago
  The problem is hardware. The amount of equipment out there running on XP with no ability to upgrade is a nightmare.
- johnnydoebk 11y ago
  > They can still install Firefox. Latest versions of Firefox cannot be installed on XP. Though, Chrome still works.
  - jessaustin 11y ago
    This seems really short-sighted on Firefox's part.

chris_wot 11y ago

They can still install Firefox.

nitrogen 11y ago
Firefox probably won't help with non-browser software, if that's what the parent comment was referring to. I also have to develop an app for a client for XP because of some proprietary hardware that still doesn't have a Windows 7/8/10 driver.
- danieltillett 11y ago
  Yes this is my problem. The hardware manufacturer does not want to support upgrades (they want to sell new hardware) and so I am stuck supporting XP. In my situation there is not even hardware the customer can upgrade to as the original hardware supplier has left the market. We are all stuck with XP until something catastrophic happens.
  - nitrogen 11y ago
    Is the hardware expensive enough that reverse engineering the driver would be economical?
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      It would be worthwhile doing, the problem is the cost is really high for an individual lab.
  - aidenn0 11y ago
    I know a chemist still stuck with a windows 98 machine for a similar reason (it's the most recent OS that a particular piece of lab equipment has a driver for).
    - nitrogen 11y ago
      There are developers out there who would be willing to write new drivers if the manufacturers won't and the labs are willing to pay.
      - danieltillett 11y ago
        The problem is for an individual lab the cost is very high - there needs to be some sort of forum where labs can get together and put a bounty together for new drivers.
danieltillett 11y ago
The problem is hardware. The amount of equipment out there running on XP with no ability to upgrade is a nightmare.
johnnydoebk 11y ago
> They can still install Firefox. Latest versions of Firefox cannot be installed on XP. Though, Chrome still works.
- jessaustin 11y ago
  This seems really short-sighted on Firefox's part.