5 ms·

The newer versions of Windows have much higher system requirements. Seriously, get out of your rich man's ghetto at least occasionally. Many people still run ve

by copx 13y ago

The newer versions of Windows have much higher system requirements. Seriously, get out of your rich man's ghetto at least occasionally. Many people still run very old computers because they do not have the disposable income to buy new ones. My computer can run the newest version of Windows but I have a Windows XP/Win 7 dual boot setup. I keep Windows XP around because of old games from the Win9x/WinXP era which do not work (correctly) on newer Windows versions. Unfortunately, there is no WindowsBox (i.e. a DOSBox equivalent) yet. I have tried virtual machines but the experience was not positive. They are for running old office apps, and tend to fail miserably at running DirectX games.

Crito 13y ago
Rich man's ghetto? Give me a break, we have to look to really the bottom rung classes of 3rd world countries to find people unable to scrape enough money together over a decade to buy half-decade old hardware needed to run a copy of Vista they would inevitably pirate. Anyone in a first world country with internet access can find old PCs capable of running more than XP on craigslist or the local equivalent for literally a couple of dollars. Anybody without internet access won't be getting any support anyway. Seriously, machines from 2009 are half a decade old at this point, they are cheap as dirt. You "need" XP for your games? Well fine, keep it around, but expecting free support for that is nuts. Talk about a first world problem...
- vxNsr 13y ago
  Unless this third world country is the south side of Chicago you're very wrong. Over the summer I worked with a non-profit who's only mission was to get computers into the houses of people. we were working with <2gb of ram and hard drives that topped out at 50gb, I don't even want to think about the processor.
  - Crito 13y ago
    I would say that doing it in small-scale bulk is a different animal than an individual doing it for them-self.
  - rbanffy 13y ago
    These machines seem like excellent candidates for running Linux with a light desktop environment. If the owners will not spend money on software that's Windows-specific (chances are they'll need modern browsers and Microsoft doesn't offer one for XP), why install Windows on them?
    - vinceguidry 13y ago
      If you want people to use the computers, you need a version of Windows. I'm not saying that Linux machines are unusable, just that normal people won't use them.
      - vxNsr 13y ago
        Something like this, even people who don't have a computer at home have used one at cafes and the library, these people generally don't have time to waste on learning a new interface.

by copx 13y ago

Crito 13y ago

Rich man's ghetto? Give me a break, we have to look to really the bottom rung classes of 3rd world countries to find people unable to scrape enough money together over a decade to buy half-decade old hardware needed to run a copy of Vista they would inevitably pirate. Anyone in a first world country with internet access can find old PCs capable of running more than XP on craigslist or the local equivalent for literally a couple of dollars. Anybody without internet access won't be getting any support anyway. Seriously, machines from 2009 are half a decade old at this point, they are cheap as dirt. You "need" XP for your games? Well fine, keep it around, but expecting free support for that is nuts. Talk about a first world problem...

vxNsr 13y ago
Unless this third world country is the south side of Chicago you're very wrong. Over the summer I worked with a non-profit who's only mission was to get computers into the houses of people. we were working with <2gb of ram and hard drives that topped out at 50gb, I don't even want to think about the processor.
- Crito 13y ago
  I would say that doing it in small-scale bulk is a different animal than an individual doing it for them-self.
- rbanffy 13y ago
  These machines seem like excellent candidates for running Linux with a light desktop environment. If the owners will not spend money on software that's Windows-specific (chances are they'll need modern browsers and Microsoft doesn't offer one for XP), why install Windows on them?
  - vinceguidry 13y ago
    If you want people to use the computers, you need a version of Windows. I'm not saying that Linux machines are unusable, just that normal people won't use them.
    - vxNsr 13y ago
      Something like this, even people who don't have a computer at home have used one at cafes and the library, these people generally don't have time to waste on learning a new interface.