About time
Come on - we are dealing with VERY antiquated systems that are truly past their prime.
Microsoft will kill support for its unloved Windows Vista operating system a few months ahead of its Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 planned end-of-the-road-for-updates deadline. The company said yesterday that a Vista service pack-free OS will no longer get MS support after 13 April this year, leaving the flaky platform …
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/end-support-windows-xp-sp2-windows-vista-without-service-packs?os=other
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"If you're running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and you're not ready to upgrade to Windows 7, you should install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), a free update. "
Support for XP SP3 will be around a while more.
By then Ubuntu will be at XP level of functionality :)
The article may be technically accurate, but it is misleading.
Windows 2000 is the only OS that will no longer be patched, security fixes or otherwise.
It is true that users of Vista and XP may need to apply a later service pack to maintain support, but the way the article is written some people could be forgiven for thinking that fixes are being completely dropped..
Exactly, complete headline grab. All this means is you need to install a service pack, then you're completely supported again.
If there is one thing Microsoft did right with XP/Vista/7 its the reliable support lifecycles which are pretty simple to understand.
- Stick to the latest SP, and you're supported for 5 years from launch entirely, then supported to some extent for 10 years.
Very few other companies offer this schedule and reliability and headline grabs as this seek to demonise Microsoft for taking a decade old product out of support and by telling people to upgrade their 4 year old version of vista with a FREE service pack.
at the other two nay sayers :/
He may just have antivirus and antispyware installed !!! SHOCK !!!!!!
or am i justified in thinking that you two belive windows with all the extra crap installed is secure just because it gets updates ??
my god those comments are born of fail lived of fail and will die of Fail ...
You are incredibly naive if you believe that antivirus software can protect you from all past, present and future threats. In fact, signature-based antivirus software is entirely reactive, and is therefore useless against new and unknown malware.
Similarly, Windows updates alone aren't enough to protect your Windows PC from all threats. Installing OS updates and running an up-to-date antivirus solution and both essential layers of security. Neglect either one and you are exposing yourself to unnecessary risk.
Some of us will be using linux by the that. I am since 2003 -- only use windows xp for office work, or study. As for our family? I bought them a mini mac, and they can surf the internet, and watch movies etc... without having to update this or that. I am not saying that the mac is perfect, but due to its minority status it much safer for less techy users.
Paris, Cause she doesn't need that many updating.
It is like saying "3 years ago, we issued a recall because of faulty engines, you chose not to bring your car in, and now we've expired the recall, as it costs too much to support! You had three years to get it looked at, and you refused for whatever reason. You want it fixed now, you have to pay"
Seriously, I am concerned that people expect continuously free support for software that is so outdated that it should be in a museum.
I guess you get the support you pay for!
It's even worse than that, in fact. It's more like "3 years ago we offered to replace the faulty engine in your car for free and you ignored us, but we've been continuing to support you free of charge anyway. Now we can't do that any longer, unless you let us replace the engine, which we're still happy to do completely free at any future point of your choosing."
For those wondering about SP3 support ending, it's on 21/04/2010, months ahead of SP2 support ending. The reason being that SP2 end of support was an arbitary date whereas SP3 comes under the 24 month standard. This may be extended, but realistically Windows 7 is your best bet and has proven very stable and user friendly since release.
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-gb&C2=1173
I'll be sorry to Windows 2000 ride off into the sunset...hats off to one of (if not) the best releases of Windows ever.
I reckon that I'll keep running it for a while--it's not likely that AV software vendors are going to drop Win2k immediately and plenty of other software still works fine there as well. If it works, if a system is behind an external firewall, a third party browser is used and nothing's too broken--why fix it?
“Microsoft believes it is important that all customers take action prior to the end of support date, not only so that they know their options and can prepare, but also to ensure their environments are as secure as possible,” said the company ....
I did. I bought a MacBook, and I'm delighted with it.
Other good ones - today ready GNU/Linux, FreeBSD
almost ready -
ReactOS (a almost ready drop in Win2000/XP API clone, but open sourced, coded neatly and w/o 95% of all the holes and bugs) -> this one may be ideal for Win2000 diehards once it's declared beta which for FOSS, unlike closed sourse, means pretty stable....
Good riddance to Vista. Can we reclaim the unused milage out of it, the vast over pricing when it came out means I would at least expect the same support as XP. Afterall I didn't get a free upgrade to Windows 7 and only had it twelve months before moving upto Win7.
Then again Windows 7 is dreadful for me. Sick of problems with the flaky load of rubbish.
Me: I only use XP for some apps that ONLY work on Windoze......
Methinks:
Update the system.
Mirror a bunch of drives.,
Drop them in to back up and a couple of computers....
Keep them all OFF LINE forever - and not because of idiot Microsoft and their spyware; but because their shit software is so prone to getting hacked and whacked and jacked (off).
I only do it because MS and it's great innovations and worthless security - has cost me about 1000 X what the software cost me.
Bargain.
Not.
(Foot Note: Free Ubuntu has actually value added to my computing life - because I am not spending days on end scanning my system add infinitum because of all the Malware that flips all the switches in XP, that Microsoft does nothing about and it's worthless security is totally incapable of stopping anyway)
There's eight machines in the house and six have gone from XP to 100% Linux (Ubuntu and Debian), none of the prime users of the WinXP virtual image in a closed sandbox (the only safe way to run this companies OS'es IMO), two remain with Windows XP/Ubuntu and OpenSUSE/Win7 dual boots. WinXP is OK its finally stable after so many years...Windows 7 (which shipped with the unit) has already crashed, bluescreened and refused login, hence OpenSUSE was installed side by side to allow the data to be placed on a much safer system as well as provide recovery. If this is the latest and greatest of that other OS, there is NO WAY I'd recommend sourcing such a flaky system, LINUX thinclients all the way baby.....
Another MS is useless rant, huh?
I have an eeePC, WiFi'd to a Livebox. When the computer is on, and in range, it is connected. I run Avast. I run Firefox with NoScript and AdBlock Plus and TACO just for privacy reasons. I browse sites, develop small web apps (PHP stuff), download things, watch programming on-line (like the Eurovision network broadcasts of the winter olympics).
The OS is XP SP3. PDFs by Adobe (with scripting disabled). YouTube et al by Flash. And I think carefully before I authorise anything to run on my machine.
Funny. I have had to reinstall zero times.
I have been hijacked zero times.
Malware/antivirus scanning takes time but reports nothing.
All these people screaming about how easy it is to infect, hijack, and destroy Windows - what the f**k do you people do? Or maybe you do nothing? Security is not the sole provenance of the operating system. Nothing is immune, so you - yes YOU - need to take some basic security measuress yourself:
1. External firewall. Most half-decent routers will do this. If you're using a cable modem you probably will have zero protection here. Sort it out, your first line of defence is a barrier between you and the world. Do NOT rely soley on a firewall program running on your machine. That should be one of your last lines of defence, not your ONLY one. For if a Bad Guy[TM] is able to attempt to crack your router... well... hell, they haven't made it to your computer yet.
But remember - he with the most firewalls does not win. It is only a part of the equation.
I'm going to make NO comment about running as "administrator" on a Windows machine. Microsoft cocked this up in the transition from Win32 (which had no levels) to WinXP (which does), hence a staggering number of things EPIC FAIL unless you are running with admin rights - some printers, some WiFi cards, a lot of software that doesn't need to be admin. Indeed, Window's own updater is silent if you are in a limited account (which suggests if you habitually log in as a limited user, you may miss important updates?). This is a big steaming heap of FAIL.
My mother knows little about security. She has a limited account so her effects are limited. I run with admin settings so when I want to play with the system settings or change the default printer, the machine doesn't start an argument with me. Because of this, and XP's default is to have everybody as admin (changed in Vista, but UAC is worse as too many inconsequential notifications and people will just click-accept without reading the message...) you have to be extra vigilant.
2. Don't install every blinky-flashy whoo-hoo piece of shit software that catches your eye. You have no idea how many ex-pats computers I've had to reinstall because their bloody children install EVERYTHING they can download (what the hell does a person need eighteen different animated mouse pointers for? and is one that's Lucky Luke twirling a lassoo going to be any good for knowing where the pointer hotspot is?).
When you look and see orgasmically-awesome software, go make a cup of tea. Ponder the question. "Do I really need this?". You probably don't. Some things are essential, some things will just become clutter.
3. Do not permit anything that feels like running on your system TO run on your system. The world and its donkey knows Adobe is massive fail. Yet somehow I succeed in running Reader and Flash with few worries. Why? It's because I blacklist anything that isn't specifically whitelisted. I don't look at PDFs from places that sound a bit 'dodgy', and to be honest I don't tend to visit those sort of places.
We all know the sex shop on the corner with the painted blue door. That doesn't mean we all go and look around...
4. Wwwwwaaaay too much software offers features that are counterproductive from a security viewpoint. Look at the options in your software. Is there stuff running JavaScript interpreters (i.e. PDFs)? Disable. How about phone-homes? Disable them. If you can't disable, don't use the software.
Major governments advise their citizens not to continue using any version of MSIE. Are you?
[I don't use IE8 because of standards non-compliance and lack of decent plugins]
5. Set your updates to "Notify but don't install". You are a moron if you consider it so much of a hassle to keep your computer up to date, however it is essential to not install automatically for three reasons:
a. Several installs require your computer to be restarted. This is not necessarily convenient. Some installs can be deferred until shutdown time. This may not be convenient when the machine is a netbook/laptop and you want to shut down quickly 'cos you're on the move...
b. You can choose to defer updating for a day of two to keep an eye on El Reg to see if there's anything odd in the update.
c. You get to pick'n'choose what you install. Like WGA and its horribly evil Win7 incarnation.
6. Antivirus. Essential. People will argue long and hard about which is best. My personal experience is Norton is like cancer (as I write this I'm Googling for error 9999,172 to see why the sodding uninstaller won't on a friend's machine).
I found AVG to report too many false positives. Once in a while is one thing, but AVG took it to the point of annoyance.
I won't touch Orange's antivirus product since I caused a scare at the local library back in 2007 (before I had ADSL at home). Big flashing on-screen logo complete with siren noises. What was "infected"? A _TEXT_ file that I was loading into Notepad to cut'n'paste into Yahoo! mail to email to a friend in Scotland. THAT was the infection. A sodding TEXT file. [ eventually had to put it inside a zip inside an encrypted zip and email that!]
So I choose Avast. Oh, wah! it's such a bother wah! to go to their website and wah! get a free licence key once a wah! year. FFS, if people can't be assed to do that, it makes me wonder what OTHER important things they can't be bothered to do. wah!
7. Be vigilant. Some evil bastard is always attempting to find ways to your computer so they can run clever and complicated distributed systems to leverage the weight of many against their chosen enemy, but it a religious war, a difference of opinion, or just good ol' fashioned blackmail. Botnets are evil, but then so are most immoral ways of making money. You can read all about it in El Reg.
(no number) While I have serious psychological issues with an operating system that offers the ancient hangover of a case sensitive filing system (my all-time pet hate of any form of Unix), not to mention I prefer the 'device' based filing system to a mount tree (it worked well under RISC OS, it is only Windows that offers such an icky implementation); there is one thing I absolutely cannot argue. That is, the downloading and creation of a LiveCD bootable version of xubuntu on an SD card with casper-rw so you don't need to set it up over and over. If you need to do any work with a site that may be compromised, or if you are a total tinfoil-hat freak, you can boot off the SD card, browse and save stuff to said SD card, then turn off WiFi and reboot into Windows. It is a totally sacrificial OS because reinstalling is totally point'n'click with the USB LiveCD installer, plus that casper 'partition' gives it persistence across sessions. For base security, you just can't get better than an entire OS running standalone off an SD card, that you can recreate with minimum hassle as and when you want.
Seven rules (and a comment) to maintain sensible security.
Yes, Ubuntu is - generally - an all-round better product.
But no, Windows is not THAT bad if you employ a modicum of intelligence.
Then again, if fixing your Microsoft machine cost you 1000 times what the software cost (as you say), then it suggests that not only would you appear to be incompetent to apply basic security measures, but stupid to boot - repair shops obviously see you coming and rub their hands in glee... or are you just exhaggerating for effect?
Security is not a state of budget or a technical innovation.
Security is not a "my OS is better than your OS" holy war.
Security is a state of being. Never lose sight of that.
Nice run down of what to do with windows. The reality of windows is slightly different. Windows majorly fails in three key areas: the registry; this is a nice idea but is very badly implemented leading to bloated size and orphaned keys (mostly the fault of rubbish installers), IE; employing the same engine to browse the machine and browse the web inextricably linked ( major no, no) and the totally crap file system design that leads to chronic fragmentation within months.
Equal machines ( ie the same one) after carefully installing business software and few other apps on XP. After less than 6 months usage XP crawls and GNU/ Linux is still as if it were first installed. Sorry I have given up on MS sorting their act out and have finally returned to GNU/Linux after many years in the wilderness tempted by the solid W2K and this time I am staying put.
of 'upgrading' to windows 7
Exactly why should I want to go through all the pain and hassle of installing a new operating system in this PC at the cost of £100 or however much a decent copy is.
If I wanted to do that I'd install linux again and have all that fun for free.
As for my copy of XP being owned by trojans and other such nasties that will steal my banking /credit card details and send them to China/Vietnam/or where ever the crooks are, thats exactly why I installed linux in the first place.
Note to M$ : I'll buy windows 7 when I get a new PC , not before, AND still instal a linux distro on a partion.
Personally I don't give a flying f*ck, as I have been planning and conducting my migration to Linux for some time and it's looking good for OpenSuse 11.2
Sorry Ubuntu fan boys, it just doesn't do what it says on the tin, does it ?
Us rats are leaving the sinking ship.
Mind the gap Bill, your gonna need a life raft.
I think it is a smart move.
ALF
Well said,
unfortunate that Microsoft didn't realise this before embarking on their path to oblivion.
Ubuntu penguin heads haven't seen anything like it, yet they dream of their OS emulating Microstien's newer monsters. When Ubuntu is half as stable I might review it again. But for the most part the Microsoft despising idiots who write in to the forums are enough to keep me well away from that Distro in future.
Best thing to do with the Win2k box is simply unplug it, uninstall the firewall and all the other baggage and use it as a stand alone system for everything which requires NOT being attached to the net. You get to keep all you old, working applications too. Bloody marvelous !
ALF
"But for the most part the Microsoft despising idiots who write in to the forums are enough to keep me well away from that Distro in future."
i'd call that "mission accomplished"
the last thing those "microsoft despising idiots" want in their midst is a cribbing point and click bozo, who assumes he's a geek because he can open up word or exel.
that's your typical win-win situation. bill / balmer happy as they still got sheep to play with, sheep happy as they like to be played with, idiot happy as they simply cannot be arsed.
Windows 7 is a smooth operating system, if you're a punter end-uzer. I have to run Windows XP for quite a few reasons, least of all for gaming. Civilization 4 WILL NOT WORK in Windows 7. Period. Granted, last patch for it was Sep07, but WTF? Yes, it technically is not Windows' fault, but the software companies (who had PLENTY of advance notice), however, older software/games that were developed and reached end-of-life long before Vista was born have no chance. And of course, VMs don't (yet) have native gfx support, so Civ4 in a VM is out of the window(s) :P
Another thought, what will happen to Windows XP Mode in Win7 when XP hits EoL? Technically, it's a feature of Win7, which should still be supported..... But then, Win8 will probably be out by 2014 (hopefully) and all our problems will go away (again)...
Civ 4 works fine for me in Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Same for all my friends, both steam and non-steam versions.
I've got Warlords and BTS installed, although it definately worked before installing BTS. And I can run 'original' Civ 4 rather than Warlords and that works too.
I've tried about 100 games so far in Win 7 and only a couple of them have still refused to run acceptably after a bit of poking.
Is this right? I installed Win 7 on my laptop and have a copy of Civ 4 Complete that I Was going to install on there. I know there is a lack of updates for Win 7 on the Civ site, but there is a link here
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=330948
Which would seem to explain how to do it, not tried it yet though.
I spent most of the weekend playing Civ 4 on my Win7 machine. Worked just fine.
I didn't even have to do anything to get it working, just fired up Steam, installed it and played it.
I don't know what you're doing wrong, but the last game I couldn't get working in Win7 was one of the Quest For Glory games. Hell, my g/f is even playing Starcraft 1 on one of my Win7 boxes and that's ancient.
Ok ubuntu isn't perfect but I like it - it reminds me why I got into computers in the 1st place because I want to experiment & see what they do not have Microsoft tell me your machine will do this or that.
I like xp dont get me wrong, but upgrading to windows 7 will cost me (software & some new hardware whereas Ubuntu wont (well 10p for a cd)) - & I doubt my old(ish) laptop will get along with it - hence I'm switching now that way by the time by xp is no longer supported Ubuntu really will be a much better replacement & I'll already know how to use it.
& by-the-way the whole Linux can only use about 5% of all hardware myth - total crap its about 99.9% (and without installing 3rd party drivers)
Try wine for windows. No joke, they make it -- I don't use WIndows, but apparently wine is more compatible with older games and such than Windows Vista and 7 are (and for old like DirectX3 games, more compatible than XP...), so these games won't work on windows directly, but will with wine.
Secondly, I think vmware at least does provide hardware acceleration, including for 3D -- but maybe only for Linux.
"Secondly, I think vmware at least does provide hardware acceleration, including for 3D -- but maybe only for Linux."
AFAIK, virtualbox also supports 3d but it's experimental, and since i don't play games, i don't really know how good it is.
i run virtualbox on linux as the host, but i see no reason why this wouldn't work with windows as well.
Toyota would like to announce that any Toyota car made before 2004 is now "out of support".
Toyota garages will refuse to repair such cars.
Older Toyota cars may exhibit unpredictable behavior at traffic lights and roundabouts, if those road features were built after 2009.
Any safety defects on older Toyotas cars will not be notified, or subject to recall.
Toyota disclaim any liability for crashes caused by older Toyotas.
If you are worried about your seven year old Toyota crashing, then Toyota recommend that you buy a new Toyota.
“Microsoft believes it is important that all customers buy more Microsoft products prior to the end of support date, not only so that they can come to know and love Microsoft more dearly, but also to ensure Microsoft's continued survival in the worldwide marketplace ...”