4 ms·

Unless MS changes their free upgrade policy to be every version of Windows since XP instead of 7 nobody using Vista / XP will upgrade because its expensive. Th

by zanny 11y ago

Unless MS changes their free upgrade policy to be every version of Windows since XP instead of 7 nobody using Vista / XP will upgrade because its expensive. Though the market share of XP has been dropping. The only real users left are those who don't know what an OS is and only uses it to check AOL in ie6 and businesses who are too stupid to upgrade their horribly dated software.

kisna72 11y ago
I would say its mostly people whose bosses think upgrading from windows XP is a extra cost they dont need.
Someone1234 11y ago
I have to say, in general, that Microsoft's "messaging" about how the free upgrade will work has been riddled with bad communications. It is like the XBone incident all over again. Instead of simply just spelling out with a very straight forward table what will be eligible they kept releasing vague and confusing press releases. I've read articles which have claimed (amongst other things): - Windows XP+ will be eligible (untrue). - Pirated copies of Windows will be eligible (untrue?). - Everyone can upgrade but there is a subscription fee (untrue). - Windows 8 and 8.1 gets the free upgrade only (untrue). And many others. Microsoft could trivially have let people know exactly what to expect a year ago when they announced this program. It is a good program, I mean free stuff, but the messaging on it was just awful. PS - I still, to this day, don't feel like I have a complete overview of what is and is not included.
- sp332 11y ago
  Pirated copies of windows will get to upgrade, but they will still be illegitimate. I think it's a security and support issue. It's just cheaper and safer to have the pirates running the latest version of the software.
  - Someone1234 11y ago
    Then why not XP copies? That's strangely inconsistent.
    - zobzu 11y ago
      Upgrade path from xp is inconsistent even to win 7
  - zanny 11y ago
    I thought they went back on letting pirates get legit Win10. You need a valid CD key or something for the update process.
userbinator 11y ago
As someone who is still on XP after having tried all the newer Windows versions (and forced to use some), I don't think it's worth relearning everything and finding out that a lot of the functionality that you used to rely on is now either completely missing or terribly dumbed-down. All the little irritations add up. We've probably long passed the point of "sufficient for the average user" in terms of OS features, as things like Chromebooks have shown, but even for not-so-average users like me who do mostly embedded work with some desktop application stuff, it does what I need without getting in the way. I'd sooner switch completely to Linux, which I've been working with on my servers, than "upgrade"...
- SimpleXYZ 11y ago
  Windows XP is technology from 2001. A lot has changed in the last 14 years.
  - userbinator 11y ago
    ...and a lot also hasn't. What has changed, has not all been for the better. http://boingboing.net/2012/08/23/civilwar.html http://boingboing.net/2012/08/23/civilwar.html
- yuhong 11y ago
  examples?
  - userbinator 11y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_Vista http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Win... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Win... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Win... (There's no article I can find for Windows 10 yet.)
    - yuhong 11y ago

by zanny 11y ago

kisna72 11y ago

I would say its mostly people whose bosses think upgrading from windows XP is a extra cost they dont need.

Someone1234 11y ago

I have to say, in general, that Microsoft's "messaging" about how the free upgrade will work has been riddled with bad communications. It is like the XBone incident all over again. Instead of simply just spelling out with a very straight forward table what will be eligible they kept releasing vague and confusing press releases. I've read articles which have claimed (amongst other things): - Windows XP+ will be eligible (untrue). - Pirated copies of Windows will be eligible (untrue?). - Everyone can upgrade but there is a subscription fee (untrue). - Windows 8 and 8.1 gets the free upgrade only (untrue). And many others. Microsoft could trivially have let people know exactly what to expect a year ago when they announced this program. It is a good program, I mean free stuff, but the messaging on it was just awful. PS - I still, to this day, don't feel like I have a complete overview of what is and is not included.

sp332 11y ago
Pirated copies of windows will get to upgrade, but they will still be illegitimate. I think it's a security and support issue. It's just cheaper and safer to have the pirates running the latest version of the software.
- Someone1234 11y ago
  Then why not XP copies? That's strangely inconsistent.
  - zobzu 11y ago
    Upgrade path from xp is inconsistent even to win 7
- zanny 11y ago
  I thought they went back on letting pirates get legit Win10. You need a valid CD key or something for the update process.

userbinator 11y ago

As someone who is still on XP after having tried all the newer Windows versions (and forced to use some), I don't think it's worth relearning everything and finding out that a lot of the functionality that you used to rely on is now either completely missing or terribly dumbed-down. All the little irritations add up. We've probably long passed the point of "sufficient for the average user" in terms of OS features, as things like Chromebooks have shown, but even for not-so-average users like me who do mostly embedded work with some desktop application stuff, it does what I need without getting in the way. I'd sooner switch completely to Linux, which I've been working with on my servers, than "upgrade"...

SimpleXYZ 11y ago
Windows XP is technology from 2001. A lot has changed in the last 14 years.
- userbinator 11y ago
  ...and a lot also hasn't. What has changed, has not all been for the better. http://boingboing.net/2012/08/23/civilwar.html http://boingboing.net/2012/08/23/civilwar.html
yuhong 11y ago
examples?
- userbinator 11y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_Vista http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Win... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Win... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Win... (There's no article I can find for Windows 10 yet.)
  - yuhong 11y ago