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Slashdot Asks: Will You Need the Windows XP Black Market?
NicknamesAreStupid (1040118) writes "As Whoever57 pointed out, there are some who will still get support for Microsoft Windows XP — the 'haves'. However, most will be the 'have nots.' Anytime you have such market imbalance, there is opportunity. Since Microsoft clearly intends to create a disparity, there will certainly be those who defy it. What will Microsoft do to prevent bootleg patches of XP from being sold to the unwashed masses? How will they stop China from supporting 100 million bootleg XP users? And how easily will it be to crack Microsoft's controls? How big will the Windows XP patch market be?"
There are a lot of businesses still on Windows XP; if you work for one of them, will the official end of life spur actually cause you to upgrade? (And if so, to what?)
Seriously? Nobody even bothered to read the first sentence of the submission?
Looks like XP, mostly works like XP, closer to XP than Win 8, easier upgrade path than Win 8, lower rate of support calls from friends and family ...and in my experience, it's lighter and faster and more responsive than XP. So, no, I won't be laying out hundreds of pounds/dollars on a new machine or even more hundreds on replacing all the software that will not work on Win 8.
"Cock Up Your Beaver" does not mean what you think. This sig is intended to clog filters and annoy do-gooders
If UK govt paid $9M for 12 months, how much does it cost to upgrade 680,000 PC's? A lot of them will probably need new hardware.
At a pure guess of $500 per PC, including new Office licenses, some new hardware, labour, etc. over 12 months, $9M is only 3% of the total cost. They could invest the upgrade money and make a profit from buying extended support.
what on earth does that sentence mean?
What do you mean what on earth does that sentence mean what on earth does that sentence mean - the haves?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Can an unused retail copy of XP be activated? Will MS support THAT?
What will I do? Probably keep working from a known image and patch it up as best I can.
In other words, the same thing I've done with legacy DOS, 95, Novell, 98 and 2k systems.
My hope is that at some point I can find a low-overhead Linux or BSD system to use as a VM host, and then have access to every operating system since the dawn of the 4004.
Futurist Traditionalism
It's DAZzling :)
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
I had to read this 3 time to verify that i was not still drunk 3 times to verify drunk that i was still not drunk.
Arrrrr... Pirate support desk, XP division... What ken I do fer ya matey?
Yes hello, I'm trying to search for a pirate's favourite letter, but nothing's coming up under 'R'.
Yad think it's R but it's really the C.
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
iTunes 11.1.3.8 is listed/rated "Gold" so, yes, iTunes works.
Then it must have changed very recently: garbage in 1.7.5 (December 2013), gold in 1.7.15 (April 2014). I wonder what breaking change Apple will introduce in the next version.
It clearly states that anyone supporting XP after Microsoft disowns to OS is a 'CRIMINAL'.
Under current copyright law, Microsoft could make a good faith case that anybody else providing modifications to its copyrighted operating systems is committing criminal infringement of copyright. I don't see how stating a reasonable interpretation of current law is "propaganda".
Actually, as tested in EU courts
Slashdot is subject to the jurisdiction of US courts, not EU courts.
you are just as entitled to use it with or without the official support of the original manufacturing company.
Using it doesn't include modifying it, which is what third parties providing support would have to do in order to let their clients keep using it without known security holes. And there's precedent against that: Apple successfully sued in the United States a company that was selling PCs along with the patch to run OS X on them. Put Apple v. Psystar in your favorite web search engine.
Nobody in their right mind is going to resort to the black market for XP support for a business -- it'd be like *inviting* the crackers into your network.
Home users either won't know how or won't care to bother. Most people I know who are still running XP have been virus-infected for months or even years. As long as it lets them play YouTubes, check their gMail, and surf Crackbook they just flat out don't *care* that the machine is infected.
Hell, most of them don't even realize the adware popups they keep seeing are due to an *infection*, not "bad behaviour" on the part of the aforementioned websites. One fellow I knew used to complain about the "popups from YouTube" all the time, 'cause all he ever did was YouTube and Crackbook. As far as he was concerned, it was YouTube that was putting up all the porn ads.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
"As Whoever57 pointed out, there are some who will still get support for Microsoft Windows XP pointed out, there are some who will still get support for Microsoft Windows XP — the 'haves'
what on earth does that sentence mean? this is even worse than Timothy's earlier oversight of re-running the same article less than a week after its first run. we know slashdot doesn't pay editors to edit, but could they at least show enough pride in their job to read what they post?
This kind of poor quality work is what long ago dissuaded me from ever paying for a Slashdot subscription. I block ads, too, since before my karma level gave me the option of having Slashdot do it for me. That was all before Malda sold out to Dice Holdings. It's not improved since.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
I'm a Windows XP user. I see no need to upgrade. The only circumstances in which I would upgrade is either I can't find hardware to run XP on or the data I process (documents, music, video) have no applications I can use on XP. These circumstances forced me from 98 to 2000 and now XP.
Yes, I'm going to have to take care to stop being infected by malware. Good anti-virus, good firewall, Chrome browser, safe surfing habits, care with email.
If you would like a similar analogy people drive old cars with drum brakes, no seat belts, no air bags and no crush zones in modern traffic. They see no need to upgrade as well. Just take care and be sensible.
How would [providing third-party updates to Windows XP components] be different from (i.e. less legitimate than) publishing a device driver, AV suite, or other system-level software?
Device drivers, antivirus suites, and the like don't need to replace Windows system files with fixed versions of the same code to function. Windows updates do. And because they'd be providing versions of the same (Microsoft) code without the permission of the owner of copyright in that code, they would likely infringe* Microsoft's copyright.
* Slashdot posts aren't Legal Advice(tm).
The question that should be asked, does WINE support the custom driver for a CNC machine that is still in operation? The one off device in some back government office? The answer is no.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
For any scammer who pretends to install an XP patch, but actually installs malware.
Not every story is about an imagined divide. Some have an imagined divide whereas others do not.
My business uses software that was written for serial communication that simply doesn't work on windows 7, nor 8. The cost of replacing the software is more than having a couple dozen thinkpads with windows xp installed handy in case one goes down and we can't get support. At that we've even tried to have new software written and the vendors who took on the task simply couldn't get it to work. Then we run into the damn hardware problem I still can't find a serial to usb adapter that runs across at 1200 baud.
Given that somebody clearly took the trouble to make Unofficial patch sets for Windows 98, we can fully expect unofficial patch sets for Windows XP
http://www.mdgx.com/upd98me.ph...
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
Linux has a Dramatically better hardware support than XP,Vista,7 or 8 has combined. Only a fool that knows nothing of linux would ask the "expensive to replace peripherals" raging bullshit line not knowing that linux has such better hardware support than Windows, that many times a device actually works BETTER under linux.
But don't let facts like that slow down your bullshit tirade.... please continue... I so would love to hear more of your "superior race" Mein Furor... We all know that you are too stupid to actually research the crap that spews forth out of your mouth... and we all really love the flow of foamy shit that daily comes from your mouth as "advice" or passed off as "knowledge" by you.
How would [providing third-party updates to Windows XP components] be different from (i.e. less legitimate than) publishing a device driver, AV suite, or other system-level software?
Device drivers, antivirus suites, and the like don't need to replace Windows system files with fixed versions of the same code to function. Windows updates do. And because they'd be providing versions of the same (Microsoft) code without the permission of the owner of copyright in that code, they would likely infringe* Microsoft's copyright.
* Slashdot posts aren't Legal Advice(tm).
It wouldn't be possible to provide only a binary patch that contains just the modifications to said files? That would also infringe copyright?
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
You don't pay for a subscription to reward the editors. You do it because occasionally someone will say something so insightful you want to review everything else he's ever written here.
But your payment does reward the company and its staff. There is no way around that. They don't deserve it, their shoddy work hasn't earned it, and no fringe benefit of extra database access is enough to convince me otherwise.
Your value system may vary. I for one was speaking for myself.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
Linux has a Dramatically better hardware support than XP,Vista,7 or 8 has combined.
Dramatically better on the whole? Perhaps. Better for every particular device? Not necessarily. There are probably plenty of edge cases that have an XP driver and no Linux driver at all. Does SANE support the Microtek ScanMaker 4850 flatbed scanner yet? It appears not.
you need to upgrade. Sooner or later one of the poorly policed ad networks will serve you up a virus. I run some ads off my home page to pay for hosting/etc and I stick to google's ads because so far every site I browse has been shut down at least once when their ad networks served up a virus. Angry Nintendo Nerd, Spoony Experiment, Something Positive. All of them. Heck, I think even Penny Arcade's been nailed.
:(...
It's not a matter if if, it's when. Which is why I'm posting from Win 7 today
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Good day Cryacin, my name is John. I'm calling from Windows Service Center to talk to you about a problem with your Windows computer.
I beg your pardon sir?
No, I'm calling from Windows Service Center. We often call Windows users who have Windows computers that have been infect...
No, we are not within cannon range of your "ship"!
Sir, are you sitting in front of your Windows computer right now? It is urgent that you solve your malicious software infection urgently. Can you see a key on your keyboard with a Windows icon on it?
*Sound of distant thunder*
*Sound of glass shattering*
*Sound of wall collapsing*
Sir, we need to speed this up. Just Google "team viewer" and install it on your Windo...
*Sound of screams and cutlasses striking against metal*
Sir, I'm going to have to call you ba.....
*Static*
The objective of applying security updates from Microsoft is to make your OS safer by applying fixes delivered by a trusted party. MS may not be perfectly "trusted" but at least it has to worry about the liability of any fishy piece of software they install in your computer. On the other hand any source from the "black market" can simply deliver rootkits and any kind of malware disguised as security updates which certainly defies the purpose of applying updates.
Do you actually have experience or are you just making things up? Are are you willing to both write a driver and port the software for me that controls a chemistry instrument that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, uses some proprietary PCI card (or worse yet, ISA)? The instrument runs absolutely fine now, and will for years (I managed one instrument controlled by a Mac from the mid 80s), but would either cost a lot to upgrade to Windows 7, or require a new instrument. Instrumentation companies are like this. They do operate stupidly, are stuck in the 80s, and I'd love to smack them, but like it or not, in vertical industries, the choices are few and far between, and *very* expensive.
So what do you do? The hard part is some of these instruments generate a lot of data and require access to network servers. Dedicated, firewalled LANs will suffice here. Windows XP is going to be running for another ten years or more.
The whole problem revolves around the fact that in many industries computers are treated as "hardware" not "software." I mean you only replace a pump's pressure switch when it fails. We in the computer industry have been successful in pushing our technology into all kinds of places where it's invisible and just seen as a "controller" or a "switch" and treated as such. And it's not entirely the fault of the users of these devices either. The thought of securing and updating the firmware on these devices has really only been something anyone worried about recently. When was the last time you did a firmware update to your lawn sprinkler controller? Add internet capabilities to it, and suddenly it's a security hole requiring weekly software updates. How does this relate to XP? Well for a lot of people and industries, their instruments and devices are in their mind much like the sprinkler controller in your garage. They are just tools and they don't think about the software security, updates, EOL, etc. They've never had to before. It's a brave new world we've started, and this Windows XP EOL issue is just the beginning of our problems with this new "internet of things" idea. Which is brilliant, but fraught with all kinds of danger.
I'm sure when you signed the legaly binding contract to get the source code that you'd have to have to modify to compile to get the binary patch, their was a clause prohibiting you from distributing any binaries from the source or derivatives of the source.
You don't need the source code to make a patch for a binary - there are a million cracked computer games out there that were patched by third parties without access to the source.
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
As Whoever57 pointed out, there are some who will still get support for Microsoft Windows XP pointed out, there are some who will still get support for Microsoft Windows XP pointed out.
Pointed out some who will still get support for Microsoft Windows XP pointed out.
Found the [CTL] V key, did ya?
The year of the Linux desktop is finally here!
Why do pirates speak in a West Country accent? Did they all ship out of Torquay or Bristol?
An actor named Robert Newton, from Dorset, played both Long John SIlver and Edward Teach (both from Bristol) in Disney movies in the 1950s. He used a West Country accent to be appropriate for the characters. Apparently, it stuck when other actors were designing their own performances.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
ReactOS has been in alpha for at least the last 9 years, since I first heard about it.