Posted on 01/04/2006 9:59:39 AM PST by ShadowAce
Microsoft set out to adopt a formal and rigid support lifecycle in 2002, back at a time when most analysts were expecting to see Windows Vista (then, "Longhorn") within a couple of years. My own point of view was that this lifecycle business had a lot to do with Microsoft's then-new volume licensing scheme, which among other things is oriented towards selling software subscriptions. If you're buying a subscription for software, you can see how lifecycle plans become important. However, delays in Windows Vista coupled with a questionable approach to "consumer" products means that 2007 will carry a few surprises unless policy changes are made at Redmond.
XP Professional and Home are divided into two general product categories for Microsoft, namely business and consumer products. XP Professional, as a business product, will receive mainstream support for two additional years after the release of Windows Vista (whenever that may be). After that, Professional will have an additional five years of extended service (minimum), though this could be lengthened considerably if the OS update after Windows Vista does not ship within three years of Vista's debut.
Mainstream and Extended support are virtually identical, with both carrying security updates, service packs, online support, and the availability of paid support. However, the transition to the Extended Support phase means that hotfixes that are not security related will be made available by a (paid) commercial contract, warranty claims can no longer be made, and Microsoft will not entertain adding any new features or design elements to the OS.
Based on the current timeline and our own expectations for the launch of Windows Vista, we estimate Windows XP Professional Mainstream Support ending in late December 2008, with Extended Support ending in December of 2013. It could stretch out longer, but we don't expect the window to be more than two to three additional years. After the Extended Support phase is finished, online support (knowledge base, FAQ, etc.) will continue for 10 years.
Windows XP Home is another story. As a consumer product, it suffers from two policy deficiencies. First, consumer products do not qualify for Extended Support, but instead move directly into the online support phase after Mainstream Support ends. Second, whereas business products are guaranteed Mainstream Support for two years beyond the release of the next subsequent version of a product (in this case, Windows Vista), consumer products do not get this built-in transitional period. The end result is that Windows XP Home will leave Mainstream Support and enter online support on January 1, 2007—in less than a year.
When that day comes, XP Home users may feel left out in the cold, because they will no longer qualify for security updates, and will not be able to purchase support from Microsoft. Finding this situation somewhat alarming, I contacted Microsoft's representation to clarify the matter. A Microsoft spokesman relayed the following to me:
"For consumer products, security updates will be available through the end of the mainstream phase. For Windows XP Home Edition, there will be no security updates after 12/31/06." Regarding paid support for problems unrelated to security patches, I was told that "Users who want to continue to receive support after the Microsoft assisted and paid support offerings have ended may visit the Retired Product Support Options Web site."
I urge Microsoft to reconsider this stance. There should be considerably more overlap in support for their consumer OS. While five years of support for XP Home may have seemed reasonable when it was expected that there would be little more than three years between major OS updates, the time it has taken to bake Windows Vista has thrown this out entirely. If Vista launches in October, it would give users a mere two months to move to the OS, or risk being unsupported.
I suspect that Microsoft will grant a stay of execution for Windows XP Home, because the alternative is to create a PR nightmare that would also leave customers fuming. Citing emerging markets in the past, Microsoft extended support for Windows 98 and ME by more than two years, and this decision was made long after Windows XP was released. Microsoft should extend support for Windows XP Home well into 2008. Otherwise users will have to hope that updates to XP Professional meet their needs, but it remains unclear if Windows Update will point XP Home users to updates to XP Professional.
I would like to point out there are almost as many desktop Linux users as there are Mac Users..
When I said that XP is not 5.1, one I was wrong with regards to XP Pro being 5., but in my experience XP home is more like ME in its usefulness; I get more people having to upgrade XP Home to XP pro, much the same way that Me users upgraded to 2000, or later to XP if they still had Me.
XP home and Me are useless, IMO.
Exactly - a friend of mine just called today with a terminal case - this problem is underreported in the tech press since it's so hard to characterize - but it's a real phenomenon even in my shop that has professional IT support, a secure firewall, and mostly knowledgable users.
I won't make any categorical statements on workstations - de gustibus non est disputandum - but I can state with fair confidence that W2K3 server is an improvement over W2K server, even advanced server. For one thing you get to run W2K3 Active Directory as a consequence, which is definitely an improvement over its predecessor.
As for the workstation OS holy wars I remain dispassionate. I have to support them all anyway.
Windows Me was the last non-NT kernel hack of Windows 98se.
The best way to lay your hands on XP Pro is to purchase a motherboard or hard disk from a PC vendor and get the OEM XP disk for half price. The OEM disk is typically offered for $149. The "upgrade" is usually priced at $199.
On my machine I do the following: Go to Start menu, Control Panel then Security Center. Click the icon for Manage Automatic Updates. You probably have the top box checked, check either "Notify me but don't automatically download updates" or "Turn off Automatic Updates".
I've got mine set to notify me but don't download.. but then again, we're networking 6 machines on a 56k connection and 3 people in the house are EQ/WOW players. We have to arrange download times carefully. When we had broadband, I had the updates auto dl and install.
On the other hand would it make any sense to upgrade the computers connected to the instruments? If they originally came with Windows NT, they're probably around 200-400 Mhz. You could probably redeploy newer computers that aren't worth upgrading to handle Windows Vista, but would run Windows NT 10 times faster or more. Windows NT 4 is compatible with Windows Server 2003, so it can be integrated with networks.
bump
Keep your registry and startup clean (I recommend EasyCleaner by ToniArts), and defragment regularly (the built-in Windows tool is fine for this). In conjunction with keeping your system virus- and spyware-free, doing the above should keep your system running as fast as it was when new. Faster, actually, since a big part of keeping the registry and startup clean is getting rid of a lot of the crap that every manufacturer seems to want to saddle new machines with.
Okay, we heard you the first time. Now kindly let the rest of us discuss the REAL operating systems! (btw, Ive had XP Pro running for 2 weeks straight w/o a reboot--ran every program too--office, quake4, far cry, mozilla, nero, etc..so there!)
Spyware is a huge player, most people just don't realize how much it slows things down.
My credentials are similar to yours and my experience is the same. XP and 2000 are very stable and reliable. I can tolerate Linux with 25 years of UNIX background. It's not a good fit for the unwashed consumer. It is perfectly fine as a server OS for web servers and databases. I also use it for some embedded systems when I'm not deploying on QNX.
But I would rather be the one to decide when to make the change. I'd hate to have have my apps break due to an automatic upgrade.
As someone familiar with Windows I would suggest people not listen to technical advice from people not familiar with Windows.
But just for information, Windows has several levels of automatic updates. One level, the one I mostly use, downloads at night , then advises you that they are available for installation. There is another level that installs automatically, and one that will reboot if necessary and the computer has not been in use recently.
Automatic updates could be a pain for someone on dialup.
It's almost always the first culprit not only in system slowdowns, but in "odd" problems that seem to span multiple programs or happen without user input. It seems that if it is possible for code to break a given program, someone has released that code on the internet.
..which is why I included the caveat. He asked me. I did not solicit nor intrude upon his question. Try to at least be civil, please.
I recently bought a new (non-big-brand) PC, obtained DSL service through SBC (they supply the latest 2wire modem), and have Norton AV, Zone Alarm, and Webroot's anti-spyware software. I thought a hardware firewall would also be beneficial.
I bought both Anonymizer and GhostSurf Platinum, but have been disappointed in both because they caused more problems than they solved. So I thought a hardware firewall would be beneficial.
I trust your opinions on these tech matters, so anything you can impart will be most welcome.
Hi. I don't know that much about hardware firewalls, but you might consider buying a router and using the firewall software that comes with it. Isolate yourself from the direct connection to the DSL line.
Thanks for your reply, MineralMan. Yes, that's what I thought was best to do. Just not sure the best way to go about it. When I ordered DSL from SBC, I discussed this with the person who took my order. He said he didn't think it was necessary because the 2wire DSL modem is "the latest" and supposedly acts as a hardware firewall. Bull!
90 posted on 01/04/2006 12:44:12 PM MST by Windsong
I consider z/os; z/vm ; System V and BSD Unix as real operating systems.
Anything from Bill Gates is a Personal Computer operating system.
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