I don't think XP needs to be kept alive. There's dosbox and GoG.com and for the games they can't get to work on newer operating systems, simply get a pre-xp system with an older OS. The only reason I think XP might need to be kept alive is for XP designed applications (business-specific stuff).

I've never heard of a game that would only work in WinXP and not in Vista or 7 or 8.

Yes, I do see programs and games that won't run in Windows 7, especially 64-bit windows. And even though there are MIDI workarounds for Windows 7, I still prefer Windows XP in this regard. There may be workarounds for most of the problematic programs but since I already have XP systems, I prefer to run those software on these.

Windows XP is my favourite, and I intend to keep it for Windows gaming. Once the life cycle support ends next April, I'll disable internet connectivity by disabling the wireless or wired ports through windows, to prevent XP connecting to the net due to stopped security updates after that.

I do have other systems with Win7x64, but Windows XP will remain as the alternative boot in these.

Currently my main XP system has Geforce GTX 280 with a Live! 24-bit 7.1 sound card. It already has PearOS installed for internet connectivity after the XP's life cycle ends.

My ASUS G73 notebook (core i7) has also XP installed in the other HDD. This notebook does not officially support Windows XP, but I installed it anyway with all working drivers from the respective hardware vendors, downloaded individually.

I have a few XP machines around here for older games, mostly AMD Athlon and A64 machines for my gaming AGP cards. You can build systems for very little money before they all get recycled and rare.

I built a completely loaded, overclocked P3-S machine specifically for 2000-2004 XP gaming--and also so that none of my newer computers would have to run it anymore. Windows 7 is so much better than XP it's not even funny. *ducks*

All games made after 2004 seem to work fine on Win7. Not to mention, many 2005 games seem to have much steeper requirements and really hit the P3/9800Pro setup hard.

As old as it is, I don't consider XP a legacy OS. A large number of businesses still run it, even on machines new enough to sport quad core processors. There are a few newer Win7 systems where I work, but unfortunately none of the workstations I use run it.

Well at my work 90% still use copy of xp instead of win7, and if they do have it they are crying for most older programs and drivers dont work as they need to.
That would say enough i will be using xp for another 3+ years.

I've been working on putting together this machine as a legacy XP box, mostly because I already have the parts:

Abit KV85
Athlon 64 3400 Venice
1GB RAM
XFX 7900GS AGP
ATI HDTV Wonder
Soundblaster Live! Value (SB0220)
Running WinXP Pro

I figure that I can connect to my TV and use it as an HTPC for playing MP3s. It should work pretty well. If nothing else, I could always just keep it around as a backup/spare PC.

Standard Def Steve wrote:

Windows 7 is so much better than XP it's not even funny. *ducks*

I found this to be a true statement on anything built for Windows 7, or that runs on Win7 and XP equally. I don't find that true of everything.

Every OS, including DOS, is simply there to run the applications you want. Regardless of how archaic an OS is, if it runs an app better than the alternative, it's the correct one. That's probably why so many businesses still run XP! 🤣

(Windows XP trembles in fear of the portentous threat posed by Windows Tiles) ....

I still use it as my day to day OS. Why? Because it works. 😁 Also, the interface is still better than any version of Windows that has come out since, the overall footprint of the OS is much smaller, and it has better support for running older games.

AMD/ATI just dropped support for graphics drivers on XP.

I switched to OSX86. I occasionally run XP from VM or dual boot. Now that Steve Jobbies is dead I don't expect Apple to hold it together, so I am preparing for a possible move back to Linux. I will refuse to go back to a microshit product.

I've been using the excellent 7 for years and I wish some of its shell enhancements would be backported to 9X.

I only really use XP for 2002 dork age nostalgia what with that theme system and etc. Goes great with the period builds from then making it appear like mainstream trash 😀

I'm quite happy with W7-64 but XP was my favorite OS. Though I hardly ever boot to it since moving to 7, I recently put together an XP "memorial build" using the parts from my previous main rig:

Asus M4A79XTD EVO
Phenom II 555 BE @ 3.8 w/ all 4-cores unlocked
AMD FX-class hsf
2x HIS Radeon 5770 crossfire
4gb ram
640gb hd
DVD-RW
USB3 card

I use it to run a few 32-bit only games like the Strike Fighter series and a dozen or so others, but mostly it's there as backup, and as a living memory of the great OS that was XP.

Anyone know how system activation will work after support for XP is dropped?

Unknown_K wrote:

AMD/ATI just dropped support for graphics drivers on XP.

False. Latest 13.4 is supporting Xp with all HD 5xxx-7xxx.
Even NVidia is supporting Xp drivers for all videocards (up to 7xx), you just need to select "all/beta" as the filter.
Maybe Intel will drop the Xp support for new 8-series chipsets... Currently Z87 have Xp drivers.

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

I still use it as my day to day OS. Why? Because it works. 😁

All my desktops and notebooks are using Xp as the main OS. The reason - look above. 😀
Win7 is installed as the 2nd-3rd OS and is used only for DX10-11 games and PCSX2. Because.

tincup wrote:

Anyone know how system activation will work after support for XP is dropped?

Dunno. We will see. But IMHO, if the MS will drop Xp activation support - we will just use VL keys.

False. Latest 13.4 is supporting Xp with all HD 5xxx-7xxx.

Except that 13.4 is not the latest. The 13.6 beta has dropped XP support. Supposedly, anyway... I'm not sure if anyone has actually tried installing it on XP.

XP hasn't been a stable OS in my experience. It wasn't good for the software we were using at work with its memory leaks and poor multithreading, it was full of security holes and I certainly don't miss doing a clean install every year to combat fragmentation and bloated system files. I guess I felt about XP the way some people feel about Vista: the added resource requirements (over Win2k) didn't justify the new features.

I have a netbook with Win7 x32 and I highly recommend it to anyone running programs that don't behave with 64-bit. If I find my apps still work with Win8.1 x32, I may consider upgrading. I still have an MSDN copy of XP collecting dust. Someday I'll find the perfect desktop for it...

TELVM wrote:

(Windows XP trembles in fear of the portentous threat posed by Windows Tiles) ....

Hehehe...Windows 8 is a complete joke, and Microsoft is trying to push the sales of the Windows 8 Phone...errr Tiles as hard as it can. Windows 8 Professional is cheaper than Win7 Home Premium over here now. (comparing the retail DVD versions).

As for XP, it's life cycle is coming to an end next year, but I'll continue using it like how I'm still using Win95c in my PII machine.

Windows 7/ Linux will remain as my main "connected" OS till Win9 comes out, IF it is not a direct or spiritual successor to Win8.

tincup wrote:

Anyone know how system activation will work after support for XP is dropped?

I'm not sure, but I think the corporate/volume version of XP Pro doesn't require activation. Of course, that's if you can find a copy and license key for it...

To the other remaining XP users out there: have you noticed that XP runs crappier and crappier with each subsequent new round of updates from MS? I would almost swear it was intentional, in an attempt to push people to Win7/8. When I put my legacy XP box together, I'm seriously considering just using SP3 and leaving the rest of it unpatched. XP SP3 positively screams until you download and install the current updates.

I'm getting ready to make the switch to Win7 for my main "serious business" PC in the next week or two. I've used it a bit and don't really understand why people gush over it as compared to XP. I guess I'll find out when I start using it 100% on a daily basis.

NitroX infinity wrote:

I've never heard of a game that would only work in WinXP and not in Vista or 7 or 8.

We've been over this before. For some odd reason, Microsoft dropped support for the DirectX Visual Basic interfaces in Vista/7, so anything that uses those will at least require the relevant DLL's to be copied over.