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Microsoft ending support for Windows XP and Windows Vista


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Old 19-04-2015, 14:29
TelevisionUser
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I think the daft Start screen and the stupid decision to remove the Start menu was what stopped Windows 8/8.1 to become as popular as XP and Windows 7. I don't know what Microsoft was thinking of when they decided to remove the Start menu. If they wanted to make their operating system for tablets and desktops, they should have put the Start menu (instead of the Start screen) in the desktop edition and left the Start screen in for tablets.
It wouldn't have been rocket science for Microsoft to have an initial start up configuration menu so you could tailor the operating system format to your own particular device and for desktop PCs to have a choice between the Metro or Classic Start options. Then everyone would have been happy.

I personally wouldn't use XP now on security grounds and Stig above is right in that there are half a dozen or more programmes now that tame Win 8/8.1 to make it look like a traditional desktop environment.
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Old 19-04-2015, 17:22
Fried Kickin
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It wouldn't have been rocket science for Microsoft to have an initial start up configuration menu so you could tailor the operating system format to your own particular device and for desktop PCs to have a choice between the Metro or Classic Start options. Then everyone would have been happy.
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I wholeheartedly agree
Win8 with a choice of Classic or Metro could never have been seen as a negative.
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Old 19-04-2015, 19:08
alanwarwic
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Well it was Microsoft trying pushing its app store as the future.
They never quite succeeded in selling a cut price Win 8 with the app store taking prime place.

With the same happening with RT it has to be how we have come to get a free Windows 10 upgrade.
That way they might just convert Windows 7 to the app store as the main focus, but without as much a fuss.
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Old 19-04-2015, 20:55
Maxatoria
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I wholeheartedly agree
Win8 with a choice of Classic or Metro could never have been seen as a negative.
yep, and there was its major downfall in that for businesses deploying it by the bucket load it would require a lot of retraining and once they saw the exec's who authorised most of it get the boot and plenty of bringing it back to the fold with windows 10 they've decided to take a break and miss the windows 8.x build

The idea of a one binary everywhere was a good one and was tried before in the nt4.0 pe format which didn't really work but i suppose they thought it was enough of a break to give it a trial
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Old 27-04-2015, 19:50
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The choice of classic or metro needs to be in PC settings, Replacement for Control Panel these days.
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Old 16-12-2015, 15:19
oilman
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Old 03-03-2016, 13:00
Gary_Oldham
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I finally relented and upgrade an old laptop to Windows 10.

Big mistake.

First the WiFi didn't work and all the fixes on the internet did nothing - but that's no problem I thought - I'll just get a usb WiFi adapter. So I did.

Then Windows did an update and now the WiFi doesn't work again.

Time to bin Windows
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Old 03-03-2016, 13:12
s2k
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First the WiFi didn't work and all the fixes on the internet did nothing - but that's no problem I thought - I'll just get a usb WiFi adapter. So I did.

Then Windows did an update and now the WiFi doesn't work again.
Was it a TP-Link adaptor by any chance? I had terrible problems with mine when upgrading from 7 to 10. I think the issue was that the Win7 driver was interfering, as when I did a clean install and let it auto-detect as a Realtek one it has been fine since. Prior to this every other reboot I would have to re-connect the USB for it to work again.

I have to say in my particular instance I had a fair few problems going from 7 to 10 but on friends and family's computers it has been smooth sailing. At the time it was particularly awkward as it wasn't easily possible to do a clean install either.
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Old 03-03-2016, 21:06
Stig
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I finally relented and upgrade an old laptop to Windows 10.

Big mistake.

First the WiFi didn't work and all the fixes on the internet did nothing - but that's no problem I thought - I'll just get a usb WiFi adapter. So I did.

Then Windows did an update and now the WiFi doesn't work again.

Time to bin Windows
Did you upgrade from XP?
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Old 03-03-2016, 21:14
TelevisionUser
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Did you upgrade from XP?
That was going to be my question too! Getting drivers back on to XP to get it to work again can be a pain.

Unless the laptop's going to be used as a gaming machine, I'd suggest buying and trying a Linux Mint disc from Amazon or Ebay and installing that (get the correct version - 32 bit or 64 bit).
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Old 17-03-2016, 14:32
hyperstarsponge
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Windows Vista is not long now:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/lifecycle
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Old 17-03-2016, 18:49
TelevisionUser
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Yep, just over a year left before Vista becomes unsupported .

I think it was a bit unfair of Microsoft not to offer Vista users a free upgrade to Win 10 because any PC or laptop that was bought with Vista pre-installed ought to be able to cope with Win 10.

Vista users will eventually have to pay now to upgrade to Win 7, 8.1 or 10 or use a free Linux operating system if they want a safe and secure laptop or PC.
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Old 18-03-2016, 11:31
hyperstarsponge
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Yep, just over a year left before Vista becomes unsupported .

I think it was a bit unfair of Microsoft not to offer Vista users a free upgrade to Win 10 because any PC or laptop that was bought with Vista pre-installed ought to be able to cope with Win 10.

Vista users will eventually have to pay now to upgrade to Win 7, 8.1 or 10 or use a free Linux operating system if they want a safe and secure laptop or PC.
Well my last computer was Vista so its lucky I could afford get a newer one when I did, Free upgrade to 10 would be nice for users of Vista. One small problem is that they put Vista support stickers on machines that are not up for Vista back in its day. Let alone Windows 10.
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Old 18-03-2016, 20:48
TelevisionUser
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Well my last computer was Vista so its lucky I could afford get a newer one when I did, Free upgrade to 10 would be nice for users of Vista. One small problem is that they put Vista support stickers on machines that are not up for Vista back in its day. Let alone Windows 10.
^^^ I do agree with this and that's why, among other things, Vista got a poor reputation for growling along slowly and crashing. Had they waited a year or so then technology would have caught up with the operating system - Moore's Law and all that.

Vista significantly improved with the service packs but by that time the reputational damage was done and it was widely regarded as a lemon.
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Old 05-04-2016, 21:34
cnbcwatcher
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Yep, just over a year left before Vista becomes unsupported .

I think it was a bit unfair of Microsoft not to offer Vista users a free upgrade to Win 10 because any PC or laptop that was bought with Vista pre-installed ought to be able to cope with Win 10.

Vista users will eventually have to pay now to upgrade to Win 7, 8.1 or 10 or use a free Linux operating system if they want a safe and secure laptop or PC.
They really should have offered Vista users free upgrades to Windows 10. I'm amazed that there are still users out there For their sanity's sake they should at least upgrade. I remember fixing someone's Vista laptop a few years ago and I nearly threw the machine against the wall. It was painful to use. Were Vista users offered free upgrades to 7 or 8.1 (or even the original W8)?
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Old 06-04-2016, 19:28
TelevisionUser
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They really should have offered Vista users free upgrades to Windows 10. I'm amazed that there are still users out there For their sanity's sake they should at least upgrade. I remember fixing someone's Vista laptop a few years ago and I nearly threw the machine against the wall. It was painful to use. Were Vista users offered free upgrades to 7 or 8.1 (or even the original W8)?
I agree that they should have offered free upgrades to Win 10 not least because it would help Win 10 adoption figures. In the first quarter of this year, 1.6% of desktop PC users used Vista which might still translate in to millions of users worldwide.

As far as I recall, I don't think Vista users were ever offered free upgrades to win 7 or 8. I think Microsoft directed people to some upgrade webpage which offered ways of getting paid upgrades but it's so long ago that I can't remember the details.
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Old 06-04-2016, 19:49
Stig
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I agree that they should have offered free upgrades to Win 10 not least because it would help Win 10 adoption figures. In the first quarter of this year, 1.6% of desktop PC users used Vista which might still translate in to millions of users worldwide.

As far as I recall, I don't think Vista users were ever offered free upgrades to win 7 or 8. I think Microsoft directed people to some upgrade webpage which offered ways of getting paid upgrades but it's so long ago that I can't remember the details.
The problem with Vista was it ran on hardware that wasn't good enough. PCs that old would struggle with Windows 10. I've actually upgraded a laptop through Vista, 7, and 10, and it's really only just usable with 4GB RAM.
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Old 29-07-2016, 18:47
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The problem with Vista was it ran on hardware that wasn't good enough. PCs that old would struggle with Windows 10. I've actually upgraded a laptop through Vista, 7, and 10, and it's really only just usable with 4GB RAM.
That's why I'm sticking with W7. I bought by 7 year old Acer Aspire 6930G with Vista just before W7 was released and I was offered a free W7 upgrade. I've enquired on both W7 and W10 forums if I should upgrade from W7 to W10. Not surprisingly most of the W7 guys say stick with W7, but I was also surprised that most of the W10 guys suggested the same as the upgrade could be quite problematic and, at best, time consuming and not straightforward, and not something the average user should embark on due to known driver issues with this computer (Acer themselves recommend not to attempt the upgrade).
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Old 02-09-2016, 01:33
Sexbomb
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Wonder if it's worth adding vista to this thread title soon, next year it's next
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Old 02-09-2016, 06:07
finlux
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Wonder if it's worth adding vista to this thread title soon, next year it's next
Good idea, although there are less people using Visa than XP.
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Old 11-12-2016, 19:29
Sexbomb
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Vista now been added to the end of support thread for xp as I asked for it to be added, only 4 months until this one bites the dust.
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Old 11-12-2016, 19:52
TelevisionUser
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Vista now been added to the end of support thread for xp as I asked for it to be added, only 4 months until this one bites the dust.
^ That was a very good idea since Vista will soon become completely unsupported with no more security updates.

If anyone still uses Vista on a computer that's still connected to the internet then I'd suggest starting to look at replacement operating system options right now.

For example, earlier on the year, I helped someone upgrade their laptop's operating system from Vista to Windows 7 (which is supported until spring 2020).
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Old 11-12-2016, 22:08
radioanorak
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I didnt understand the panic when XP became unsupported.
I used long after & I dare say many thousands world wide are still using it now.
The same will apply to Vista.
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Old 12-12-2016, 15:45
hyperstarsponge
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I had a Vista machine once but now I just use the smartphone for the internet.
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:46
TelevisionUser
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I had a Vista machine once but now I just use the smartphone for the internet.
...in which case, I'd suggest using BitDefender Free from the Google Play store to keep malware at bay (assuming it's an android phone).

I didnt understand the panic when XP became unsupported.
I used long after & I dare say many thousands world wide are still using it now.
The same will apply to Vista.
However, using an unsupported operating system with no updated security patches to access the internet means that the computer will be significantly more at risk from malware, etc. and situations like that are best avoided.
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