For you own safety, you should never Check for Updates in Windows

hello10 said:

I asked this question in one of my posts here before.

If an MS OS can totally operate a space vehicle going to the moon or Mars today, which would you have on yours: Windows XP or Windows 10?

What OS is used on spacecraft. I don't imagine any MS software makes the shortlist!

hello10 said:

If an MS OS can totally operate a space vehicle going to the moon or Mars today, which would you have on yours: Windows XP or Windows 10?

Steve C said:

What OS is used on spacecraft. I don't imagine any MS software makes the shortlist!

Hello10 may be thinking of this report...

Microsoft's Windows XP got a surprise endorsement as triumphant NASA scientists hi-fived coworkers just before sitting down to take press questions after the historic landing of the Curiosity Mars Rover.

In a video captured by Boing Boing blogger Xeni Jardin, the Windows XP startup screen flashed in the background behind the scientists as they congratulated each other on the successful mission early Monday morning.

but...

One thing's for sure. Windows XP is not running Curiosity. That's powered by VxWorks, a lightweight real-time operating system built by a company called Wind River. "We don't use Windows XP on the rover. Our critical systems are not based on the operating system," says Jeff Norris, a manager of planning and execution NASA's Jet Propulsion laboratory.

It's not exactly a shock that NASA is still using some old-school technology to run projection screens in its press briefing room.

https://www.wired.com/2012/08/mars-c...ty-windows-xp/

At the heart of the space flight computer, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter employs the next generation of space-qualified processors, based on the 133-megahertz PowerPC processor. While this speed may seem slow... it is fast by space standards. Commercial chips must be significantly enhanced and undergo long-duration testing to prove they will survive the unforgiving radiation environment of space.

... Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's operating system is called VxWorks.

Command & Data-handling Systems - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

VxWorks is a real-time operating system (RTOS) developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of TPG Capital, US. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems requiring real-time, deterministic performance and, in many cases, safety and security certification, for industries, such as aerospace and defense, medical devices, industrial equipment, robotics, energy, transportation, network infrastructure, automotive, and consumer electronics.

VxWorks - Wikipedia

Bree said:

Hello10 may be thinking of this report...

I wasn't aware of that and the related reports.

I was simply giving the readers food (pause) for thought: the importance of stability, reliability, safety, etc. in everyday (home and business) as well as critical (space travel) applications; regardless of age, mechanics, hardware specs, and marketing ploy.

Steve C said:

What OS is used on spacecraft. I don't imagine any MS software makes the shortlist!

If the commercial varieties were taken into account, I believe an OS of the Unix/Linux lineage would have a better chance than one from MS. But then, I don't know what's in the mind of the space people.

hello10 said:

If the commercial varieties were taken into account, I believe an OS of the Unix/Linux lineage would have a better chance than one from MS. But then, I don't know what's in the mind of the space people.

Ground based servers and supercomputing, it's Unix mainly...

Since its inception in the mid-1980s and continuing today, the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division has pioneered many technologies and techniques that have become standards for integrating supercomputers into a production environment. In fact, many other successful supercomputer centers around the world have adopted the architectural and operational models first implemented here.

NAS History

Hi there
Windows server 2003 though was extremely stable and I think XP came largely from Windows server 2003. Windows server 2003 also could address more than 4GB RAM even though it was a 32 bit OS.

I think some people might have rated Windows 2003 server as the high point for Ms OS'es as everything seems to be going away from a proper professional OS to one largely based on consumer and home users who often want their computers to behave simply as mobile phones with large screens.

I'm not sure how the latest Windows server versions work - but probably would be far too expensive and fiddly to use as a desktop OS.

I used Windows 2003 server as a desktop OS successfully for years too -- very easy to modify it for desktop use !!! - At that time the TechNet program was available so one didn't have to spend a fortune to try out Server type OS'es.

How to convert your Windows Server 2003... to a Workstation!

In fact I might do this again as a VM since I'm already using XP as a VM for running software to create customized Vinyl discs for people -- the W2003 server would be a lot more stable and can address more memory too using I think NUMA type of addressing.

Interesting project

Thanks @Barman58

you got me thinking again about OS'es.

This project seems to me much more interesting than braving the Christmas shops !!!!!! I've still got my TechNet iso and keys are valid.

Cheers

jimbo

hello10 said:

stability, reliability, safety...

Since when have I felt those for an MS product? During the times of MS-DOS1.1 and 2.1 (not sure of the versions now), I had Norton Utilities on hand as an insurance, but the stability and reliability issues were mostly blamed on the quality of the diskettes or floppy drives.

Barman58 said:

NT3.5, NT4, and Windows 2000. Windows XP

I had very bad experiences with NTs. Made me work overnight to recover from crashes many times. Felt helpless to prevent or minimize pain of the accidents (?) even with cartons of diskettes for backup.

I remember I liked Windows 2000 because it was the first MS OS (?) to block 3rd-party programs from writing over the library files. Before it, Windows was notorious for crashing after restarting following installation of 3rd-party programs because the latter were scrambling the former's innards. You kept your fingers crossed hoping the newly installed program would not break your Windows, and you had the Windows diskettes ready for reinstallation while you restarted the computer.

That's the irony at the time. On one hand I believed Windows was inefficient, unstable, and not really concurrent because it was sitting on a DOS platform. On the other hand, I felt more assurance with Windows sitting on one because I had many DOS repair & recovery tools ready for the unpleasant.