4 ms·

One of the greatest factors that's been holding MSFT back in recent years has been its need to maintaining this backward compatibility (among other things).. S

One of the greatest factors that's been holding MSFT back in recent years has been its need to maintaining this backward compatibility (among other things).. Sure, with an OS like Windows (which, let’s be honest, much of the world depends heavily on) it's somewhat necessary, but the plug has to be cut somewhere. I’d say in the case of XP that should have been a few years ago, but, at this point, 2014 makes sense as it gives Windows 8 some time to mature in the market before forcing mass enterprise adoption. This need to maintain backwards compatibility has presented a huge competitive disadvantage for them as players like AAPL, who freely ditches compatibility in favour of performance (and sales) regularly, can produce higher quality products utilizing the latest technological developments. MSFT seems to have finally realized this (likely in part due to looming threats to its dominance and in part from what appears to be a refreshed outlook on product development), and this is for the better. ..And come on, you're really still using XP?

Piskvorrr 15y ago
Yes, quite a lot of notebooks (not to mention netbooks) still use XP around here (most were upgraded from Vista); usually not directly exposed to the internet. They're sloooooowly getting replaced with new hardware with W7, but yes, XP is still the predominant OS around here. For the users, "nuke and reinstall" is still faster and cheaper than "buy a new OS, and install"; and there is a significant "screw this, I'm getting a Macbook" crowd amongst those who would consider an upgrade. As for me, personally - I use XP when I need IE, and then in a limited VM, for as long as needed; so the scenario of always-on, open-to-internet XP box doesn't apply. (I would still be using XP today - but for a new laptop with Vista and no upgrade options some time ago: it drove my frustration high enough to leave Windows as my primary OS altogether.) So yes, I use XP in a limited way, if I need it.
- simba-hiiipower 15y ago
  Well if IE is so important to you and you're running it virtually anyways, might as well jump up a couple generations and grab the Windows 8 Consumer Preview: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-preview http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-previe... I have to say that in using it over the past few weeks as essentially my primary OS I'm really liking it and actually think MSFT's heading in a good direction with it. Plus you get IE10.
  - Piskvorrr 15y ago
    That's a limited OS (legally, not technically) - an evaluation version, to be precise. "Don't want to buy Win7 (right now)? Buy Win8 (in a little while)!" just substitutes one expenditure for another (IANAL, but it doesn't look like you could use an evaluation version of Windows for an unlimited time). But getting to try IE10 and IE10metro is useful, I agree.

Piskvorrr 15y ago

Yes, quite a lot of notebooks (not to mention netbooks) still use XP around here (most were upgraded from Vista); usually not directly exposed to the internet. They're sloooooowly getting replaced with new hardware with W7, but yes, XP is still the predominant OS around here. For the users, "nuke and reinstall" is still faster and cheaper than "buy a new OS, and install"; and there is a significant "screw this, I'm getting a Macbook" crowd amongst those who would consider an upgrade. As for me, personally - I use XP when I need IE, and then in a limited VM, for as long as needed; so the scenario of always-on, open-to-internet XP box doesn't apply. (I would still be using XP today - but for a new laptop with Vista and no upgrade options some time ago: it drove my frustration high enough to leave Windows as my primary OS altogether.) So yes, I use XP in a limited way, if I need it.

simba-hiiipower 15y ago
Well if IE is so important to you and you're running it virtually anyways, might as well jump up a couple generations and grab the Windows 8 Consumer Preview: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-preview http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-previe... I have to say that in using it over the past few weeks as essentially my primary OS I'm really liking it and actually think MSFT's heading in a good direction with it. Plus you get IE10.
- Piskvorrr 15y ago
  That's a limited OS (legally, not technically) - an evaluation version, to be precise. "Don't want to buy Win7 (right now)? Buy Win8 (in a little while)!" just substitutes one expenditure for another (IANAL, but it doesn't look like you could use an evaluation version of Windows for an unlimited time). But getting to try IE10 and IE10metro is useful, I agree.