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Microsoft is worried that still Microsoft XP is the worlds second biggest OS They will stop updating XP with security patches in April and after that they predict that the XP users will catch the plague.

This topic has been discussed before, but it’s worth mentioning again here. The most effective way to protect systems in the current environment, where drive-by download attacks are so popular with attackers, is to keep all software installed on them up-to-date with security updates. But on April 8 2014, support will end for Windows XP. This means Windows XP users will no longer receive security updates, non-security hotfixes or free/paid assisted support options and online technical content updates. This venerable platform, built last century, will not be able to keep pace with attackers, and more Windows XP-based systems will get compromised. The best way to stay ahead of attackers in 2014 and beyond is to migrate from Windows XP to a modern operating system that can provide increased and ongoing protections like Windows 7 or Windows 8, before April 2014.

For some reason Microsoft forgot to Mention Suse Redhat Ubuntu Manjaro Mint Mageia. They are all providing "ongoing protections" and do not have a history of Virus infections.

If the 30 % that use the XP OS do clearly flag that they will convert to Linux..Microsoft will provide continued support for XP for several more years.

They are walking on a tight rope here were they are describing XP as a security risk - in order to increase the Windows 8 sales.

Since Windows 8 is really unpopular and rather unusable in a business setting - Windows 7 might be the alternative for the many XP users.

But Linux is now the biggest OS in the world and still growing - so the attempts to bind and lock down the customer to Windows 8 might backfire.

It might help Windows 8 if MS would not reduce the hardware to only run Window 8 (You cannot run Win 7 or Linux on Win 8 hardware) - keeping options open is alway a good business strategy.

More here

MS is their worse enemy.

My mom's royally pissed that they're ending support. She doesn't want to upgrade from XP.

I told her I'm more than willing to get Linux going on her machine and tutor her up for it, but she's afraid she won't have time to actually do it and learn it.

She will have to invest the time one way or the other I guess.
So give her Zorin with the XP look. She will not notice the difference - just lie and say it is Windows XP. It might not get you to heaven, but you will have a happy mother

The problem with fully "grown up" people is the fear of change (my father is the same). They hear "Linux" and you can see the sweat breaking out on their forehead because it represents "change" - which is horrible.

(You know how it is - they did screw up your beloved Gnome 2 and you are still in denial about the fact that it is pretty much gone by now )

Since most of this is in the head only - they need that little white lie.

I did install Mageia for my mother - and that went just fine because she did not even know what Linux is and has never heard of it.
She did not know how to be afraid of it. She wants here browser, mail and Skype to work - and that it does. So she is happy with it.

She will probably never know that she is using Mageia - and she does not care. The problem with my father is that he has heard of it - enough to fear the change.

So make it look and work like XP and make sure she gets the same programs - and Just call it W(L)in XP. I bet she will not miss de-fragmenting the disk or the constant resource hogs that AV programs represent.
It can look and feel exactly like Windows XP - the task is to avoid the dreaded "change".

.."Grown ups" don't like that

And if she misses the bluescreen; Linux has a screensaver for that

dedanna1029 wrote:My mom's royally pissed that they're ending support. She doesn't want to upgrade from XP.

I told her I'm more than willing to get Linux going on her machine and tutor her up for it, but she's afraid she won't have time to actually do it and learn it.

I installed Linux on my mum in law system and she is pretty darn happy. As long she can get on Firefox and Thunderbird to checheck email she is a happy camper.

Just install it and tell her is the new MS like I did

Hey Folks,

viking60 wrote:For some reason Microsoft forgot to Mention Suse Redhat Ubuntu Manjaro Mint Mageia. They are all providing "ongoing protections" and do not have a history of Virus infections.

Don't forget straight up Debian (Ubuntu's sexy older sister)... even with big fat Gnome it runs pretty slick and dare I say "stable as hell". It can also run some lighter desktop environments like LXDE and XFCE (which is what I am using right now).

dedanna1029 wrote:My mom's royally pissed that they're ending support. She doesn't want to upgrade from XP.

My dad is exactly the same way... unfortunately I can't switch him to Linux because he needs to use a bunch of Intuit software like Quickthis and Quickthat and Quicktheotherthing.

I can just imagine that Microshaft will also release a new version of MSE in mid-April which will require Win7 or better - and that no further updates will be offered for the XP-based version.

HF,
Snork.

Yupp Debian should have been among those mentioned
Rock solid and stable with tons of software...

Yeah, my mum won't go for it. She, like so many others, has so much data that she needs to save on her Win XP machine, along with programs she has to have. I'm going to keep on her about it, but I'm doubting she'll go for it. She thinks she's in a world of shite anyway, whatever she does, and in a way she'd be right. She seriously doesn't have the time to deal with things like this, and they've effed up what she has seen to being her ease of use, and her way of doing things.

I'm not going to lie to my mum. That is all. I can't eff with her personal data anyway.

dedanna1029 wrote:She thinks she's in a world of shite anyway, whatever she does, and in a way she'd be right.

That sounds like the case for a lot of people it seems.

dedanna1029 wrote:I can't eff with her personal data anyway.

I worry about the data on my dad's PC because it includes Social Insurance Numbers, tax information, book keeping info of other people. The fact that he refuses to even consider any Linux distro without even seeing them means I (and probably you as well) have to come up with some other workaround to make things happy again.

S

Exactly. She had to get a new lappy since. I suggested a Lenovo Think pad i5 that she went for. It came with Win7, and I think she's "OK" with it. At least if it ever does have to happen, it will be easy to get Linux on it.

She was happy to see a trick that viking gave to keep getting updates for XP on her desktop PC. It looks like she was already set for them though - she kept getting updates without it, and still does.

Oh, and viking, I don't "do" 'buntu-type distros. If I did, I'd put the Zorin on her computers.
I have a serious dislike of Shuttleworth and his distro.

With the need for stability that she has, I'd probably install Arch or Manjaro, and set it up with a nice easy desktop for her to use. I've come to see on more than one occasion that any Linux distro can be set up to run just like Windows, even told her that.