In various threads, people mention that they are still running WinXP? I'm curious as to why?
Along those lines, I don't see other MS Windows versions mentioned. Never Win 3.1 or 95/98/ME.
Also not Win 8/8,1, although a lot of people are still running Win 7.
Pro 64, v 19045 (but not relevant for this thread)
I have one system that still runs WindowsXP.
There is a device attached to the LPT port on that system and the software for it is only WindowsXP compatible.
The software vendor no longer exists but the hardware and software still work fine for their intended purpose.
So there you go.
My local hospital still has a couple of resonance imaging machines that can only be controlled by Windows XP. I couldn't believe it when I took my Dad in for a scan and spotted the front screen and interface of the controller. Apparently they cannot be upgraded (or the cost of new MRI scanners is prohibitive) but still work perfectly so remain in use.
Xp is common in industry like the others have mentioned. Military, Banking, Hospitals, Down to the kiosk at mcdonalds in some cases still use Xp.
The mantra of if it works don't fix it because in industry's case it can mean millions of dollars and the proprietary software in many cases is no longer maintained, it means that to replace that could cause millions in redesign, if there is no other offering then they would need to outsource to a company to design that infrastructure.
on the consumer side its because all windows have a cult following
Statistics - Legacy Update
as you can see xp is pretty popular.
I would also say that xp is middle ground to users so its like 95 -98 or 2000 just use xp over those 3, xp is basically 2000 just with a better skin but its got more recent updates because its all that and more, where 7 vista an 8 just use 10 its all those and more. 7 is good still vista and 8 imo are eh and 10 is just superior to all those, 11 is just eh its the second vista imo.
7 is still quite relative to 10 imo its the one to use if you really want driver support for devices from that era that never got parity to 10 or only partial parity. Like intel never made full parity for many integrated display adapters so it means those computers often have no opengGL compatibility on windows 10. But most software that runs on 10 will still run on 7.
I have a couple 20 year old computers that are only suitable to run Windows XP now. They started with IDE HDDs but I switched them to SATA HDDs because reliable replacement IDE drives were becoming impossible to get. I will keep them going as long as possible or until my wife make me get rid of them.
yeah exactly a lot of the time its just because the computers boarder certain era's. There is no point taking early PC computers like ones just after the Amiga sort of early into something like windows 10 and beyond.
like an earlier i86 variants or slot series or socket 7 for example they are to old now you cant do it and they won't have any driver support anyway and are to slow. At best late slot series and most likely early netburst pentiums is the cut off past xp i would say netburst bottom line is the oldest computers which can probably make it to 10 are like 20 year old computer now. I know slot series made it to xp because my first computer was one it can probably do 10 unsupported but it would be slow.
side note xp on 486 is a new thing as these were mainly dos era computers that made it as far as 95 and 98. The 486 was also the first cpu to have 1 million transistors so a big milestone.
Intel's legendary i486 CPU gets unofficial Windows XP support, ISO too - Neowin
Some legend has made it possible to run XP on 486.
I don't actually run them much any more, but I do have Win 3.1 and Win 95 Laptops and a XP desktop. The nice part about the XP desktop is that I have the original restore CD so I can install a Linux flavor, test it, and then go back to XP. The Win 3.1 laptop is a special use system. On it I have a Morse Code RX/TX program that works through the serial port and a home brew filter. The program is written in C, compiles with Turbo C, and runs in DoS. The program works great but the laptop has a burned out battery charger. So it takes a little work to get it initially running.
As far as others using older operating systems, I worked for the same company for 35 years, before I retired (2011). The entire time, we worked 100% government contracts. Of course, initially, there was no such thing as desktop computers. The best we could do was a serial terminal connected into the main frame computer, on our desk. But, as time went on our desktop PCs were usually about one release behind. But for program use, we were were required to use the OS that was specified in any particular contract (Unix or PC). So it was common to be several OS versions behind what was current. Updating the contract, to use a newer OS, was usually a long drawn out process. Often the program ended before we got through the process.
One time, I was asked to resurrect a small board testing facility, built for a foreign government, that was run 10-12 years earlier. The foreign government did not have the technical expertise to repair the system so they just wanted spare boards for swap and repair purposes. I never worked on the original program or even knew of it's existence, but I was tagged for the job. The board test facility was based around a Sun 3 Unix system on a Sun 1E VME system. A special driver was written to manage multiple external test stations. I had to search every where in our facility (1,000,000 sq ft) for the computer, chassis, and data on 9-inch mag tapes. It took about a month to assemble everything and get it all working again. The company made a bundle, because there was no effective engineering time involved (except for my time). Of course, the program engineer got all the accolades.
On another program, we were running Sun Sparc systems and using Solaris 9 (SunOS 5.9) and multiple language compilers (Ada, C, C++, Fortran, Java, etc..). We wanted to upgrade to Solaris 10 on x86 computers, but could not because of our contract. So we went through a six month period evaluating all of the available OSs and language compilers for compatibility. We evaluated everything we could find from IBM, Apple, and Sun Micro Systems. After six months, the winner was Solaris 10. Windows was a close second but lacked support in a Ada compiler. Then they went out and bought 10 new x86 computers, gave them to me and said, "make it so #1". And, yes, I was #1 at the time and there was no #2, 3 or 4. The difference between Solaris 9 and Solaris 10 was incredible. ZFS is beautiful thing.
And for those who are update shy, all Unix and Windows systems on the programs (OS. compilers, and development programs) were required by contract to be within 30 days of the latest updates. This kind of support was very costly for the government, but considered very worth while. Once in a while we would get a bad update. But that was usually quickly taken care of and resolved. We didn't sweat the small stuff.
Old computers can be fun to fuss around with, for at least a few of us Auld Fahrts.
I have a 20 year old eMachine that is both IDE and SATA capable, and will run Windows XP as well as Windows 10/Pro/32.
I run XP on an old IDE HD, and Windows 10/Pro/32, Micro, on an SATA SSD.
NO, there's no practical purpose involved, just nostalgia and being able to see what I can still do, at 80.
Thank Goodness, my main PC is a lot newer and runs the new Windows 11/Pro/64, 24H2, V2 just fine.
It's a micro version of Win-11, and boy is it ever FAST! Installed in only 10 minutes, with NO user intervention.
Y'all have a great Memorial Day,
TM
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