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Although I feel everyone should have upgraded from XP by now, this a ingenious way for Google to increase chrome's market share. Being the only supported browse

by nivla 13y ago

Although I feel everyone should have upgraded from XP by now, this a ingenious way for Google to increase chrome's market share. Being the only supported browser after XP EOLs will definitely catch the attention of the corporate world. Wonder if Firefox will offer something similar.

eli 13y ago
Didn't Firefox already end support for XP? I'm sure it's a non-trivial amount of work to maintain compatibility.
- iwasakabukiman 13y ago
  According to their support docs:[1] Firefox 3.6.28 and Firefox 12 are the last versions of Firefox that will work with the original version of Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1. They won't be updated with security and stability fixes. In order to keep your computer and personal information safe, we recommend that you upgrade for free to Windows XP Service Pack 3 and install the latest Firefox. [1] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox/download-and-install/firefox-versions-and-languages https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox/download-...
- freehunter 13y ago
  I was doing an install of a bunch of computers for a local company's call center in 2009. Old throw-away machines that didn't need internet access but needed a browser to view the intranet and play media files (they did phone surveys for radio stations and would play music over the phone). I was brought on for my Linux experience, but there was one box out of 28 that we could not get working with Linux for one reason or another. They had me install Windows 98, and the only browser that would play media from their intranet on Windows 98 was Firefox 2.x (I can't remember the exact version). It wasn't a fun experience, but color me surprised that Firefox 2.x would work on Windows 98.
- JohnTHaller 13y ago
  Firefox will likely remain supported on XP for even longer than Chrome. Firefox was still supporting Windows 2000 when Chrome was originally launched... at which time Chrome only ran on Windows XP or better. At the time of Chrome's launch, Windows 2000 was still within its support lifecycle and would be for another 2 years. Firefox 12, released just last year, was the last version to support Windows 2000 despite the fact that Windows 2000 was end of lifed in 2010. If they stick to the same old OS support timeframe, Firefox would support Windows XP through 2015.
gabemart 13y ago
> Although I feel everyone should have upgraded from XP Why do you feel that way? I'm typing this on XP installed on an IBM Thinkpad X41 from 2005 that I use every day for writing. I find it hard to imagine what benefits I could get from upgrading this machine to a different OS.
- nivla 13y ago
  >Why do you feel that way? Because it is a very old OS that lacks new features, stability and security improvements. I am just curious, is there a reason why you haven't upgraded to Windows 7? If it is the feel and look, there are themes you can use to revert it back and if it is compatibility, Windows 7 is backward compatible for most XP apps.
  - oscargrouch 13y ago
    XP is slim and minimalist.. the standard user just want to use the tools they are used to.. also XP will be economic about the machine resources it use.. Security for instance its more of a hacker thing.. to a more technical aware audience.. and we are a minority, in the tech consumer market.. I i were MS CEO i would have created a branch from XP and advanced in two lines of OS.. win 7 family and a XP family, of a more bare OS with less obnoxious things and that could bootup fast with a minimal UI.. I dont know what happen with tech companies down the road, that with time they forgot this minimalism, this zen way of doing technology that probably was the thing that make them sucesfull when they were tiny and irrelevant.. I think, thats one of the secrets that have maded Steve Jobs so sucesfull in the things he were doing.. So if we think well about why people stick with XP, its not just about the OS they got now.. but because of every "evolutionary" step in new OS's nothing really appeal to the real life user (not us, tech people and power users).. Sometimes even the "new new" sometimes its a step behind, in terms of what the OS really offer.. (compare what you got with XP for instance versus ChromeOS)
    - lucb1e 13y ago
      If you're looking for a minimalist system, you should totally look into Linux after XP. It's not that hard to do the basics, and the installers really guide you through everything. If you do a lot of writing, browsing and emailing, Linux is just as easy to use as Windows. More advanced things like, say, file permissions, yeah I cannot say that they're easier, but you had to learn how to use that on Windows as well. That's something people often forget since they're already used to it. Anyway, if you need any help (pre or post install), there is contact info on my profile.
azakai 13y ago
> Being the only supported browser after XP EOLs Don't Firefox and Opera also support XP?
IvyMike 13y ago
> I feel everyone should have upgraded from XP by now I don't know the answer but it could be a big factor: Is Win 7 as easy to pirate and update as XP was?

by nivla 13y ago

eli 13y ago

Didn't Firefox already end support for XP? I'm sure it's a non-trivial amount of work to maintain compatibility.

iwasakabukiman 13y ago
According to their support docs:[1] Firefox 3.6.28 and Firefox 12 are the last versions of Firefox that will work with the original version of Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1. They won't be updated with security and stability fixes. In order to keep your computer and personal information safe, we recommend that you upgrade for free to Windows XP Service Pack 3 and install the latest Firefox. [1] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox/download-and-install/firefox-versions-and-languages https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox/download-...
freehunter 13y ago
I was doing an install of a bunch of computers for a local company's call center in 2009. Old throw-away machines that didn't need internet access but needed a browser to view the intranet and play media files (they did phone surveys for radio stations and would play music over the phone). I was brought on for my Linux experience, but there was one box out of 28 that we could not get working with Linux for one reason or another. They had me install Windows 98, and the only browser that would play media from their intranet on Windows 98 was Firefox 2.x (I can't remember the exact version). It wasn't a fun experience, but color me surprised that Firefox 2.x would work on Windows 98.
JohnTHaller 13y ago
Firefox will likely remain supported on XP for even longer than Chrome. Firefox was still supporting Windows 2000 when Chrome was originally launched... at which time Chrome only ran on Windows XP or better. At the time of Chrome's launch, Windows 2000 was still within its support lifecycle and would be for another 2 years. Firefox 12, released just last year, was the last version to support Windows 2000 despite the fact that Windows 2000 was end of lifed in 2010. If they stick to the same old OS support timeframe, Firefox would support Windows XP through 2015.

gabemart 13y ago

> Although I feel everyone should have upgraded from XP Why do you feel that way? I'm typing this on XP installed on an IBM Thinkpad X41 from 2005 that I use every day for writing. I find it hard to imagine what benefits I could get from upgrading this machine to a different OS.

nivla 13y ago
>Why do you feel that way? Because it is a very old OS that lacks new features, stability and security improvements. I am just curious, is there a reason why you haven't upgraded to Windows 7? If it is the feel and look, there are themes you can use to revert it back and if it is compatibility, Windows 7 is backward compatible for most XP apps.
- oscargrouch 13y ago
  XP is slim and minimalist.. the standard user just want to use the tools they are used to.. also XP will be economic about the machine resources it use.. Security for instance its more of a hacker thing.. to a more technical aware audience.. and we are a minority, in the tech consumer market.. I i were MS CEO i would have created a branch from XP and advanced in two lines of OS.. win 7 family and a XP family, of a more bare OS with less obnoxious things and that could bootup fast with a minimal UI.. I dont know what happen with tech companies down the road, that with time they forgot this minimalism, this zen way of doing technology that probably was the thing that make them sucesfull when they were tiny and irrelevant.. I think, thats one of the secrets that have maded Steve Jobs so sucesfull in the things he were doing.. So if we think well about why people stick with XP, its not just about the OS they got now.. but because of every "evolutionary" step in new OS's nothing really appeal to the real life user (not us, tech people and power users).. Sometimes even the "new new" sometimes its a step behind, in terms of what the OS really offer.. (compare what you got with XP for instance versus ChromeOS)
  - lucb1e 13y ago
    If you're looking for a minimalist system, you should totally look into Linux after XP. It's not that hard to do the basics, and the installers really guide you through everything. If you do a lot of writing, browsing and emailing, Linux is just as easy to use as Windows. More advanced things like, say, file permissions, yeah I cannot say that they're easier, but you had to learn how to use that on Windows as well. That's something people often forget since they're already used to it. Anyway, if you need any help (pre or post install), there is contact info on my profile.

azakai 13y ago

> Being the only supported browser after XP EOLs Don't Firefox and Opera also support XP?

IvyMike 13y ago

> I feel everyone should have upgraded from XP by now I don't know the answer but it could be a big factor: Is Win 7 as easy to pirate and update as XP was?