Zombie OS: Windows XP still powers 181M PCs two years after support ends

Tech Connect ^ | April 11, 2016 | Gregg Keizer

[rockrr]

I was in an elevator in a hotel in Vegas and saw (about) the same thing, except it was a Windows 7 box that would load to the desktop and then crash and restart.

[MEG33]

I loved my XP. computer. It burned out and I had to buy Vista,,,Thank heavens that one would not turn on one day and I promptly bought a windows 7...still going well..Liked it a lot. Keeping it to travel with.
A week ago I got a new larger laptop with 10 and after a few days of making it like my own, grudgingly like it better...

I am now going to upgrade my 7 to 10.

Patience paid off. Old dog can learn new tricks.

[Still Thinking]

Even though Microsoft retired Windows XP two years ago, an estimated 181 million PCs around the world ran the crippled operating system last month, according to data from a web metrics vendor.

So if Microshaft officially believes in a thing it's not crippled, but they can cripple it by withholding the royal blessing??? Bullcrap. "Crippled" is what works poorly or to advance the interests of someone other than the customer, you know, like WX.

[Dead Corpse]

At the risk of being branded a heretic, I actually like Win 10.

[MEG33]

So do I.
;o)

[Dalberg-Acton]

The XP registry can be modified to receive update until 2019:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued-updates-for-windows-xp/

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2310301/windows-xp-registry-hack-keeps-the-security-updates-rolling.html

A warning:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/hacked-windows-xp-still-updates-still-a-bad-idea/

[upchuck]

For all the Win 10 users on this thread: Please download and use the free Win 10 telemetry utility from Spybot. It enables you to turn off most, but not all of, MSFT's intrusive telemetry.

[Neidermeyer]

They dont sell XP anymore? I was going to upgrade from windows 95 as soon as I found a set of XP floppy disks.
*****************
The upgrade should be to Windows 2000 Pro SP4 ,, I have a Hong Kong sourced disk of that I can send you... I think every copy of 2KPro and XP in China uses the same key as Microsoft never enforced any anti-piracy rules for s/n’s known to have been distributed in China ... they wanted market share and only us dumb Americans were forced to pay for our copies.

[martin_fierro]

I once heard a Muzak version of “Marrakech Express” while dining at an Ohio Turnpike eatery.

Weird stuff on that stretch o’ road.

[Oztrich Boy]

‘Secure’ is a relative term. If the XP system is not connected to the internet, there is little risk

____________________________________________________

Apparently not true. My XP machine has never been connected to the internets.

Yet the kind folks at Computer Support occasionally ring me to inform me that they are getting suspicious messages from my Windows Computer, and can they assist me to correct the problem

[dayglored]

> There are at least 100 million stations that will never leave Windows Chi Rho (XP) behind.

Windows "Cairo" was the project at Microsoft in the early 90's to change the nature of information storage and retrieval (among other things) and while it never shipped as an OS, it spawned content indexing, the Win95 GUI, and much else, including the much-anticipated but never realized "OFS" (Object File System).

I heard stories years about how "XP" got its name from "Cairo" as "Chi-Rho" because it was the shipping system that was (finally!!) going to have all the Cairo features, but of course it didn't...

And then Vista was going to (finally!!) have all the Cairo features, but of course it didn't...

Nice to see "Chi-Rho" rise yet again... :-)

[ConservativeWarrior]

“I think you are making the assumption that anyone is looking for new bugs and security flaws in XP...”

_________________________________________________

A completely unsupported and non-updatable system still in use by over 10% of the population?

You bet people are still finding (and exploiting) security flaws in XP.

[ConservativeWarrior]

“Irrelevant, do not connect with squat, so where is the security risk?”

_________________________________

Your use case is the exception. The vast majority of Xp machines are connected to the internet.

[SMM48]

Yet the kind folks at Computer Support occasionally ring me to inform me that they are getting suspicious messages from my Windows Computer, and can they assist me to correct the problem.

I get those calls about once a week. Sounds like the same Indian guy every time. Sometimes I play with him and sometimes I tell him to FO.

[Monty22002]

I know, can’t say anything good about it or else you’ll get slammed. The default luddites all bawl. I like Win10 just fine, much better than 8 and a bit better than 7.

[yuleeyahoo]

It does include a lot of ATM’s.

I work in an industry that uses a lot of computerized equipment that is too expensive to change out just because there is a new OS.

Most of this equipment uses proprietary software created by/for the equipment’s manufacturer and are incapable of receiving just as OS update. The whole machine must be replaced. Depending on the machine that’s anywhere from $50,000 - $1,000,000 +.

We still have some machines that use Win95. XP is on the majority of the systems.

[paladinan]

:) Hey... it’s like trying bourbon—you know if you like it or not, pretty quickly!

If I don’t like bad pseudo-touch-screen in the first 20 minutes, do you really think I’ll learn to love it in the hours and days that follow?

[doorgunner69]

Your use case is the exception.

So what? You are the one that decided to preach to me about the error of my ways, unbidden.

[ConservativeWarrior]

“So what? You are the one that decided to preach to me about the error of my ways, unbidden.”

_________________________

Lighten up, Francis. Don’t flatter yourself by thinking I was responding only to you.

Most on FR stand to benefit from informed opinion of a security professional in the know (me) and should not be led to believe they are not at risk by someone in an atypical situation (you).

[editor-surveyor]

.
Are you a Chi Rho practor? :o)
.