Why Windows XP's Demise Is Bad for Linux and Open Source

This article makes it sound like XP is going to turn into a pumpkin and stop working entirely.

tuxchick wrote:

Quoting:This article makes it sound like XP is going to turn into a pumpkin and stop working entirely.

It's not just Microsoft that will stop supporting XP, it's more the fact that all the hardware manufacturers will stop providing Windows XP compatible drives for newer peripherals and add-ons (printers, video cards, sound cards, etc.). Software companies will also eventually stop coding new releases for XP as well. So in a way, yes, it turns into pumpkin after a period of elapsed time.

Windows users had a pretty good ride in terms of getting security patches during XP's extended era.

In contrast, Apple loves to obsolete its OS releases and doesn't feel like it has to tell users anything. The updates just start flowing at some point. I think OS X only came out in 2000, and XP started up in 2001. How many OS X releases have been EOL'd since then? (Hint: I think it's all of them but the last two).

The obvious answer for both of these issues (including XP's many performance- and security-related sins) is to run a free-software operating system that you can upgrade and replace at will.

Quoting:... it's more the fact that all the hardware manufacturers will stop providing Windows XP compatible drives for newer peripherals and add-ons (printers, video cards, sound cards, etc.). Software companies will also eventually stop coding new releases for XP as well.

Given these facts, other key parts of the Windows XP OS and its 32/64-bit apps could very realistically soon become leaked out, reverse-engineered, or hacked-into. Also, such key parts of the WinXP OS and its 32/64-bit apps could eventually wind their way into Wine for Linux. See the LXer threads on the piece Meeting Windows User Expectations With Linux.

For me. the real question is how long will we be able to activate a Windows XP machine when it needs to be reinstalled?

It's a completely different issue for me.

* No more security updates *

The black hats will still find vulnerabilities in XP. And with nobody to patch them it becomes a malware playground. (Yeah, I know. As if it isn't already.)

There's a potentially huge commercial opportunity here for someone who could take the ReactOS base and make it into a working clone of XP.

>>>For me. the real question is how long will we be able to activate a Windows XP machine when it needs to be reinstalled?

For the next 20 years, just as " they " have done for the past 20 years, with or without uSoft's permission. And that includes businesses.

> For the next 20 years, just as " they " have done for the past 20 years, with or without uSoft's permission. And that includes businesses.

The enterprise version of Windows XP has never required activation. The OEM installs don't either. Only the retail versions require activation. But that's still a lot of machines.

Some, like Leo Laporte, are claiming that you can Keep Windows XP Secure After April 8 Support Deadline by following certain guidelines.

However, after over one full decade to Patch Tuesdays, no version of Windows has ever been declared secure by anyone -- including Microsoft.

The only method to truly secure Windows XP is to disconnect it from the Internet. A process now known as air gapping.

"The only method to truly secure Windows XP is to disconnect it from the Internet"

I would have said the only way to secure Windows XP is to disconnect it from the power supply. Boom Boom

The only way to secure Windows XP is to wipe it and install... something not by Microsoft.

> Some, like Leo Laporte, are claiming that you can Keep Windows XP Secure After April 8 Support Deadline by following certain guidelines.

From that link: Keep antivirus software up to date.

I expect that's going to be something of a problem fairly soon.