Retirement of Windows XP,,,change to Linux?

human 19

I dont know how many people still use XP but maybe they wont want to fork out for a new OS which is completely different to XP (Windows 8) so I reckon we should be ready to give all the help that's necessary to help them change to a free OS with free software and free upgrades(especially for older machines)

I dont know if they even know about the planned obselescence yet.

If the media do wake up to this and people are taken by surprise, it would be good to let them know that there is an alternative to the MS options

If, on the off-chance that a load of people are taken by surprise, maybe we could look at running public library information evenings

I would be available in Longford/westmaeat/ Roscommon if there would be such a demand.

partyatmygaff

Tbh... the people who are still on Windows XP probably haven't upgraded for compatibility reasons or fear of change. Hardly candidates for migrating to Linux.

Even the tamest version of Linux is a bigger change to the system than the likes of Windows 7 or 8/8.1

periodictable

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Tbh... the people who are still on Windows XP probably haven't upgraded for compatibility reasons or fear of change. Hardly candidates for migrating to Linux.

Even the tamest version of Linux is a bigger change to the system than the likes of Windows 7 or 8/8.1

I'm on Windows XP simply because it was on my computer when I bought it.
The only change I've made is to use a different browser to IE.
I know about as much as about the software that works a computer as an IT specialist would know about my profession(forestry).
However, I'm aware of the retiring of Windows XP and it has occurred to me that I have to do something about it.
Any helpful advice appreciated.

Kevster

I've used every version of Windows since Windows 3.11, and Windows 8 is not actually that much different from XP. In fact, it's easier to use, and I use it currently on my personal laptop.

At work (I'm a bioinformatician), I wiped Windows 7 from a new machine and installed Ubuntu Server.

For common day-to-day use, I don't think you can get better than sticking with Windows. It is -and has always been- the superior operating system for the common user.

partyatmygaff

periodictable wrote: »

I'm on Windows XP simply because it was on my computer when I bought it.
The only change I've made is to use a different browser to IE.
I know about as much as about the software that works a computer as an IT specialist would know about my profession(forestry).
However, I'm aware of the retiring of Windows XP and it has occurred to me that I have to do something about it.
Any helpful advice appreciated.

Windows 7 will be the easiest to get used to. As for Windows 8.1, the jury's still out.

Can't go wrong with Windows 7 though.

If you want to go for something different (and free), try Ubuntu. If you want to be adventurous... well, there are hundreds of versions of Linux you can try.

Tom Dunne

Kevster wrote: »

For common day-to-day use, I don't think you can get better than sticking with Windows. It is -and has always been- the superior operating system for the common user.

I would be interested in how you would define a common user.

The reason I ask is that if you are just doing the usual e-mail, internet, social media, basic word processing and spreadsheets then Linux is in fact a viable alternative. Quicker boot times, no messing around with anti-virus and the like, smooth and crisp interface (see Linux Mint), I could go on.

Admittedly, for an all-round power-user like myself in an office environment, Linux just doesn't cut the mustard (see my long-winded rant about using Linux in the office from last year).

Lovely Bloke

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I would be interested in how you would define a common user.

Myself and my wife

There is no Linux flavour available that would enable my wife to use the computer for what she wants to use it for, without making changes to Linux out of the box - I am specifically talking about using Netflix, SkyGo and the BBC player. And Spotify.

These just work in Windows (incl XP), and don't just work in Linux, without some convoluted tweaking.

also, you talk about spreadhseets - I have found the LibreOffice suite less useful/powerful than the MSOffice suite, for my specific professional needs. I know Excel, and have no desire to re-learn Calc.

I use Windows 8.1 on a laptop at home, and I do not miss Linux - my wife uses Mint on her netbook alright, and speaks highly of it - but the fact that it is not all encompassing is a worry.

I'd love it if the next release of Mint/Ubuntu or whatever came with the Netflix tweak already installed.

Khannie

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Admittedly, for an all-round power-user like myself in an office environment, Linux just doesn't cut the mustard (see my long-winded rant about using Linux in the office from last year).

Depends on your office environment. I've been using it for over 10 years in work.

syklops

Khannie wrote: »

Depends on your office environment. I've been using it for over 10 years in work.

Not quite 10 years but:

Current Job: Linux base with WIndows VM for Word/Excel/Outlook
Previous Job: Linux base with WIndows VM for Word/Excel
Previous Job: Just Linux
Previous Job: Just Linux


Other positions I have had in the past, which were more Linux friendly, Linux was my base OS. Including one position where I we only booted into windows for Counter-strike.

There is no Linux flavour available that would enable my wife to use the computer for what she wants to use it for, without making changes to Linux out of the box - I am specifically talking about using Netflix, SkyGo and the BBC player. And Spotify.

These just work in Windows (incl XP), and don't just work in Linux, without some convoluted tweaking.

To be fair, Flash does not work out of the box on XP. Maybe the install is straightforward, but it does not come pre-installed. Same for silverlight. Im pretty sure it does not come preinstalled either.

Yes, I'll agree if you or your partner need something like Silverlight, which sky uses a lot, then Linux is not for you.

Installing flash on the distribution you have chosen should not be too convoluted.

If the media do wake up to this and people are taken by surprise, it would be good to let them know that there is an alternative to the MS options

If, on the off-chance that a load of people are taken by surprise, maybe we could look at running public library information evenings

I love your drive and passion, but tbh you are opening up a world of pain and hurt to yourself. I say this as someone who has supported non-power users on Linux numerous times before.

It starts out fun and exciting, you are bringing the freedom and choice that we love about Linux to a new group of people, then you have to concede that it is not perfect yet, but is great for web browsing, and light tasks. Then some application that they can not live without doesn't work easily on Linux, or they want to completely restyle the look of their menus becasue "thats how they have always their menus", which results in you coming across some weird GUI bug which isn't going to be fixed because no-one in their right mind wants their menus in that configuration, and the person you started off helping is now grinning smugly murmuring to themself "well on windows this just works".

I bought my sister a netbook for college, rang her up one day and asked her what she was doing, and she said she was installing a new kernel. Wo-hoo! I thought, she's caught the tinkering bug.

The idiots who designed the netbook installed in it a wireless card that did not have drivers in the main branch, and so you had to either install them manually or install a specific kernel for that specific netbook. Suffice it to say, she booted into the new kernel, and had no wireless, tried somethings to fix it online and managed to bork wireless on it completely. It started out as her tinkering on saturday morning, resulting in a panicked phone call from her sunday night and me talking her through fixing it over the phone late on Sunday evening.

Three months later she had swapped Linux for Windows.

chavezychavez

Only during the weekend, I wiped XP from my mothers laptop (HP NC8000) and installed Lubuntu 12.04 onto it.

She's 78, and hasn't an iota about PC, OS's etc, but I put a shortcut to Chrome and Skype on the desktop, and she is able to use it away. That's all she ever used and is happy to have them continue to work (albeit on a system that is running much faster than before)

My point in this is that most common users like Internet, Skype, photos and music. Once the user is limited to this set of functions, then, they could work on almost any OS.

Red Nissan

periodictable wrote: »

However, I'm aware of the retiring of Windows XP and it has occurred to me that I have to do something about it.
Any helpful advice appreciated.

What do you have to do?

It won't suddenly stop working on your PC ~ Windows 3.11 is still in use but is not supported anymore, it just means one may not be able to add new items to the existing PC. BUT, that PC may not be able to support said new devices psychically anyway so eventually one will need to buy a new uptodate PC ~ but only after the current one is found lacking.

croo

Red Nissan wrote: »

... it just means one may not be able to add new items to the existing PC...

I think the important new item they won't be able to add are security patches. This is the real issue behind MS dropping support. But then, XP probably never offered much in the way of security to begin with so I guess many will say, "what's new?"

excollier

I hope those who continue to use XP ( a fairly good OS for years) don't have their machines hijacked to a botnet due to the unpatched security holes that appear after April 8th. Could be the source of huge attacks in the future.
Just an observation.

Red Nissan

excollier wrote: »

I hope those who continue to use XP ( a fairly good OS for years) don't have their machines hijacked to a botnet due to the unpatched security holes that appear after April 8th. Could be the source of huge attacks in the future.
Just an observation.

To counter that point, the usage of XP will drop and most likely not be the primary PC in use, hackers efforts usually concentrate on the majority, as it always does, thus Windows 7 and the emerging Windows 8 will be the focus of attention for new attacks.

It is in with this in mind that I have gone back to Window XP on my main laptop and stopped any updates after SP2.

Johnboy1951

There is only one reason I can think of to use Windows in preference to any other operating system (besides personal preference after a comparison) ...... and that is a requirement to use some Windows specific software that is not only not available for other OSs but has no suitable alternative available (Silverlight for Netflix and such comes to mind here).

For a large number of people there is nothing they do that cannot be done using other operating systems ....... general Internet browsing; email; audio; video etc etc.

UCDVet

I would say that Windows 8 is a lot closer to Windows XP than Linux is.

syklops

UCDVet wrote: »

I would say that Windows 8 is a lot closer to Windows XP than Linux is.

You'd be right but I think the OP meant from a free alternative point of view.

excollier

Red Nissan wrote: »

To counter that point, the usage of XP will drop and most likely not be the primary PC in use, hackers efforts usually concentrate on the majority, as it always does, thus Windows 7 and the emerging Windows 8 will be the focus of attention for new attacks.

It is in with this in mind that I have gone back to Window XP on my main laptop and stopped any updates after SP2.

The hacker also know that many businesses are still using XP on multiple computers, easy target

PropJoe10

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

There is only one reason I can think of to use Windows in preference to any other operating system (besides personal preference after a comparison) ...... and that is a requirement to use some Windows specific software that is not only not available for other OSs but has no suitable alternative available (Silverlight for Netflix and such comes to mind here).

For a large number of people there is nothing they do that cannot be done using other operating systems ....... general Internet browsing; email; audio; video etc etc.

Gaming also, but hopefully that will change once Steam OS launches this year.

Hotblack Desiato

Red Nissan wrote: »

To counter that point, the usage of XP will drop and most likely not be the primary PC in use, hackers efforts usually concentrate on the majority, as it always does, thus Windows 7 and the emerging Windows 8 will be the focus of attention for new attacks.

And when they find a 7/8 attack it'll probably use Flash, Office or IE. Much of the code for these is common across all Windows versions. For example we still see patches for IE 6-11 across the board practically every Patch Tuesday. It's going to be trivial for these guys to wait for a 7/8 fix to come out, with details of the vulnerability it uses helpfully provided and all, then see if XP is also vulnerable. Chances are it will be.

It is in with this in mind that I have gone back to Window XP on my main laptop and stopped any updates after SP2.

Oh no. Lots of important fixes in SP3, never mind what's come along since. You're owned.

Red Nissan

ninja900 wrote: »

Oh no. Lots of important fixes in SP3, never mind what's come along since. You're owned.

That's as maybe, AND A GOOD POINT. My own machine works swimmingly up to SP2, and I've seen that a few times back when XP was current.

An Ri rua

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Tbh... the people who are still on Windows XP probably haven't upgraded for compatibility reasons or fear of change. Hardly candidates for migrating to Linux.

Even the tamest version of Linux is a bigger change to the system than the likes of Windows 7 or 8/8.1

That's not true. And its a slightly myopic view. I am working on XP right now. I bought it on an MSI U135 as it was a lot cheaper than paying for W7 and paying the extra for what really?? XP SP3 was very stable and at 220 odd for the U135dx, I felt it was a right bargain in 2011, with 3 more years XP support.

I also run an old Inspiron 1300 as a desktop replacement with 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 2.0 GHz and it dual boots with XP and Ubuntu 12.10.

So, I think there will be lots of people who have 'played' with Linux like me but are also in difficulty now.

I have tried Puppy Linux Lucid on both my U135 and a friend's U180 and am experiencing wifi problems. I've read lots of threads and know I can wangle through it all if/when I have to.

I have a few pertinent questions:-

-I have a 500GB external drive with Fat32. Can I just save all my files and exes to it in FAT32 and then be able to access the files through Ubuntu and some of the programs through WINE?
-When I have removed all that I wish to, can I simply load Linux over Windows and tell it to use all of the drivespace? (160GB, is there any point in partitioning for newbies?)
-Should I tick to Netbook remix or go for full Ubuntu on my MSI U135?
-On the Inspiron 1300, should I remove XP for space/security reasons or does it really matter once I boot into Ubuntu? If it easy to remove, I would like to.
-As I have a limited download midband plan, I'm wondering is it easy to copy Ubuntu from one machine to another? Or create a live usb that then consolidates the install once on the second machine?

Thanks in advance. Would really appreciate some daylight.

syklops

These questions would be better asked in a new thread.

-I have a 500GB external drive with Fat32. Can I just save all my files and exes to it in FAT32 and then be able to access the files through Ubuntu and some of the programs through WINE?

Pretty much.

-When I have removed all that I wish to, can I simply load Linux over Windows and tell it to use all of the drivespace? (160GB, is there any point in partitioning for newbies?)

Yes.

-Should I tick to Netbook remix or go for full Ubuntu on my MSI U135?

No idea. I've not used Ubuntu in ~3 years.

-On the Inspiron 1300, should I remove XP for space/security reasons or does it really matter once I boot into Ubuntu? If it easy to remove, I would like to.

From a security point of view, once you are booted into Ubuntu you should be fine. It will still take up space though.

-As I have a limited download midband plan, I'm wondering is it easy to copy Ubuntu from one machine to another? Or create a live usb that then consolidates the install once on the second machine?

Not really sure what you are asking. Download the ISO and create a live USB, LiveCD from it. Re-use it to install as many times as you want.

An Ri rua

@syklops Thanks very much

re the install, I just thought a decent size Linux distro might use up a lot of download. and if I already had it installed, maybe that install could create the live usb.

Thanks for such quick info. Really appreciate it. I have Unetbootin and have used it to test Puppy so I'm good to go.

PrzemoF

UCDVet wrote: »

I would say that Windows 8 is a lot closer to Windows XP than Linux is.

What "linux" do you have in mind? :rolleyes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=924k7CyWLJ0

xp look on anything you want: http://winxp4life.tk/ (I did not test it)

long_b

An Ri rua wrote: »

-Should I tick to Netbook remix or go for full Ubuntu on my MSI U135?
.

I'm dual booting Xubuntu on my U135 DX.
Think I found the Netbook remix a bit sluggish IIRC

human 19

-I have a 500GB external drive with Fat32. Can I just save all my files and exes to it in FAT32 and then be able to access the files through Ubuntu and some of the programs through WINE?

Yes, files can be later accessed from a FAT32. Another optionif you wanted to overcone the 4GB linit of FAT is to reformat the drive to ext4 which will be the same filesystem the linux distro (Operating system) will use on the computer.

.exe's run with varying amount of success on Wine. You might want to check out possible alternatives to windows programs first, Here ,for example:
http://www.tecmint.com/windows-alternatives-for-linux/


-When I have removed all that I wish to, can I simply load Linux over Windows and tell it to use all of the drivespace? (160GB, is there any point in partitioning for newbies?)

That is the default and easiest option. I recommend setting up a seperate /home partition so that when you are installing a later version of mint, or whatever, you dont lose whaever was within your /home folder. This includes files like music and docs, and also lots of settings for firefox etc.

The current Ubuntu and ubuntu-based distros mostly have a 9 month cycle before they stop providing updates. The next ubuntu (14.04) will be a 2-year release. If you want to wait slightly longer for the mint version, that is due at the end of May.
Next Mint Release

-Should I tick to Netbook remix or go for full Ubuntu on my MSI U135?
-On the Inspiron 1300, should I remove XP for space/security reasons or does it really matter once I boot into Ubuntu? If it easy to remove, I would like to.

I dont know about your particular netbook. Do you know if it is a 32-bit or 64-bit? If 64-bit , download a 64-bit OS.
If you choose to install over the entire disk during the install process , it will automatically wipe XP.
If you use one of the "guided" options, like "install alongside windows" it will keep XP and you can choose which one to boot into at startup. You could try this option first while testing linux and reinstall over the whole disk if you want.
Defrag windows first to compact the spread of data on the disk.

-As I have a limited download midband plan, I'm wondering is it easy to copy Ubuntu from one machine to another? Or create a live usb that then consolidates the install once on the second machine?

I use qt4-fsarchiver installed on a USB stick to copy and paste partitions. Doing it this way is a bit messy, as when re-pasted you have to change files to reflect the new partition identifiers. Easiest would be to doenload a "live" version of the distro which is then burned onto a disk of installed to a USB.

That way you can install this distro to various machines and tweak them afterwards.

You can keep an eye on linux magazines in Easons which have free discs with live distros. You can get an idea of the most popular ones from www.distrowatch.com

Most distros come with different desktop environments. Heres a vid with a brief description of the main ones:
you tube

human 19

syklops wrote: »

I love your drive and passion, but tbh you are opening up a world of pain and hurt to yourself. I say this as someone who has supported non-power users on Linux numerous times before.

I changed a friend from windows to Mint about 6 months ago. She only had minor problems since then, mainly losing items from the panel. She much prefers linux due mainly to no interminable waiting and reboots after updating, and the wealth of packages fron synaptic.
She installed skype on her own and was delighted that her 2 quid microphone just worked out of the box. She also installed a load of gamed for her 7yo daughter via synaptic.
She is even using noscript on firefox and watches American tv with the help of the media hint add-on.

I have another friend who was on vista and now just uses an old Ubuntu live CD which isnt even installed on the disk

human 19

An Ri rua wrote: »

I have tried Puppy Linux Lucid on both my U135 and a friend's U180 and am experiencing wifi problems. I've read lots of threads and know I can wangle through it all if/when I have to.

I have also had various network problems with puppy whenever I tried it, although I admit I didnt spend much time trying to correct them. There are plenty of distros which just work do I tend not to waste time on those that dont

human 19

Anyone listen to the Marian Finnucane show on the radio today? She had an "expert" on talking about xp updates ceasing. No mention of linux...just the microsoft press release about buying windows 7 or a new machine.
I wonder what those 2 experts on George Hook's show will come up with.

Here's an interesting snippet from the indo

"Last month, the Irish Government had to agree a €3.3m emergency payment to Microsoft to provide extra security cover for Irish Government PC systems that have not yet switched away from the Windows XP system.

The measure will provide several government departments with interim security support while IT managers upgrade computers to newer versions of Microsoft software, such as Windows 7 or Windows 8."

Fools. The demise had been flagged for years

PropJoe10

I was in my local Bank of Ireland there the other day and the two workstations at the customer service desk were both running XP Professional. Our money is in good hands, lads!