Computers and Software : Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…

Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…

Here's another great article. I encourage you to need the whole thing, but I've posted a summary with the link below:


But what if Microsoft’s scariest nightmare comes true? What i[f] Windows 7 becomes the next Windows XP? What if most users refuse to upgrade and continue to use Windows 7 until 2020 when support expires, and even beyond.

We believe this is a very probable scenario for the following reasons:
1. Users are frustrated and feel Microsoft betrayed them.
2. Lots of Windows 10 bugs!
3. Windows 10 collects very private information about its users — more than Windows 7 does.
4. Windows 7 still runs fine.
5. Old peripherals might not work on Windows 10.

http://windowsreport.com/windows-7-new-windows-xp/

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…

The real funny thing is that according to last month's internet bot stats, ~10% of PC's are still running XP. (A reminder: XP was introduced fifteen years ago.)


They say genius skips a generation. Mom's a genius, so I guess I'm a genius too

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


The real funny thing is that according to last month's internet bot stats, ~10% of PC's are still running XP. (A reminder: XP was introduced fifteen years ago.) - em745


I also saw a recent article about that:

Windows XP standing the test of time despite no support from Microsoft
http://windowsreport.com/windows-xp-support-microsoft/

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


Lots of Windows 10 bugs!


in my particular case i have noticed bugs and i been on it since Dec 1st 2015. but really only one i notice at the moment...

while it's not a show stopper, when i click the 'search the web and Windows' thing and type in things like 'about' etc (which selects 'About your PC'(with system settings listed there to)) and then you press enter (when it's highlighted) but nothing happens and just stays there like you never pressed the enter key on that screen(everything else seems to still function like normal though outside of that). well normally it's supposed to load it up but it currently does not load anything like that if i go through there (which is quicker then the more traditional ways) and instead have to go through other ways like 'Start > Settings > System > About' etc to access it which does work to access that same thing. it's just a bit annoying as typing 'about' in there is much quicker to access it vs doing it the old fashioned way.

but i don't know if that's super common or not as it seems to be really acting up after the recent 10586.420 build released very recently. hopefully in next months (at least i think it's next month) more major release that this issue will be gone.

even before the 10586.420 build i still got the issue occasionally but now it seems permanent as after my PC updated to the 420 build i rebooted and tried doing that and it did not work. even after a reboot i think i got it to load up once like it should and then after that it went back to not working again(this was even after the windows fix thing below took place).

i suspect it's going to be a while before Windows 10 is Windows 7 level stable over a wider range of PC's.

side note: for kicks i just tried the 'About' thing and it apparently works again. wtf! ; hopefully whatever it was is gone but ill find out soon enough as i continue to use my PC as the days and weeks pass to see if it pops up again.

but overall i like Windows 10 more than Windows 7 even though it's not as polished in terms of general stability.

but with that said... ill probably eventually have to mess with my sisters laptop to get it back to decent running order as she apparently got forced into the Windows 10 upgrade automatically and said her HDMI port no longer seems to work in Windows 10. i am thinking drivers or possible clean install will probably fix it though. but then again her laptop might be fairly old to where there might be no specific Windows 10 drivers. but i am still waiting on her giving me the model of it so i can look into it.

p.s. on a side note... it's kind of messed up that my Windows 10 installation apparently had some messed up files even though i clean installed it less than a month ago. i ran this which is the first thing listed (i.e. "Check and repair corrupt Windows files") here... http://goo.gl/ELBYRY ; i got the "Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and repaired them" after the scan was finished.

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My Top 100-ish Movies of All-Time! = http://goo.gl/EYFYdz
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Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…

I'm sticking with XP. LOL!

7 seems okay (except for the Win10 malware) but some of my old software doesn't run and I use Movie Maker quite a bit and they ruined it in 7. Also, it's a huge resource hog.

So I will probably transition to 7 slowly about the time they are getting ready to end support.

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


I'm sticking with XP. LOL! I use Movie Maker quite a bit and they ruined it in 7. - MonkeyMayhem


I am not much of a Movie Maker user. I used it once in Windows XP. I didn't install it on my Windows 7 box until I needed it (eight months after I switched to this computer). And I've used it once.

Although the Windows Live version of Movie Maker was different, the only real problem I had with it was getting my video saved in a wide screen format. To solve that problem, I downloaded wmv-aspect-ratio-changer.cab from http://www.komeil.com/download/1752. I then successfully used that to to fix the Windows DVD Maker Aspect Ratio problems noted in: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-pictures/windows-dvd-maker-aspect-ratio-problems/cae6ec0e-87af-46a4-8af2-6a525e7f8955?page=4

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


Also, it's a huge resource hog.


Windows 7 a resource hog?

if you truly believe that your PC had got to be quite old as just about any PC hardware not TOO old can easily run Windows 7.

nowadays... just about everyone should have at least 4GB of RAM as going much under that and your general system performance will suffer. 2GB or less is just flat out not enough RAM as modern web browser can burn through that fairly quickly. get a new PC as if your PC is quite old, even some really cheap PC's now will be a big performance boost.

p.s. Windows XP should not be used at this point (just based on that Microsoft has not supported it for about 2 years now) for a OS your using to go online etc. it's a 15 year old OS on top of it.


So I will probably transition to 7 slowly about the time they are getting ready to end support.


Jan 2020 Microsoft stops support of Windows 7. why would you wait that long to change to it? ; does not make any sense.

i can understand someone not upgrading to a new OS too quickly but to wait that long is going to the other end of the extreme.


and I use Movie Maker quite a bit and they ruined it in 7.


i am not familiar with that software but i would imagine there has to be decent alternatives that are more modern?


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My Top 100-ish Movies of All-Time! = http://goo.gl/EYFYdz
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Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…

LOL!

You're clueless.

As well as my 12 year old Dell laptop that runs GREAT I also got an even older server box that I built in the 90's running NT and 98se and a 10 year old lapshade iMac with that awesome G4 processor - THEY ALL RUN GREAT!

I also got a newer one but the old ones run better/ less fancy stuff to gum up the works.

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


You're clueless.


trolling? ; you honestly think what i said is wrong?

if your on a modern OS (which damn near everyone for a main computer should be on Windows 7 or newer at this point(assuming we sticking to Windows based computers)) then what i said about ram is quite accurate.

2GB is really THE minimum (for Windows OS's that ain't ancient) but 4GB or more is best for general use. i got 8GB though which makes it so RAM will not be a issue on my computer for the foreseeable future as for general use it's not going to become a issue for many years.

i am not saying your 12 year old computer will suddenly drop off a cliff but if it's not got sufficient RAM it can really slow things down even if the CPU is still half way decent assuming your not using super old OS's. because i am sure my older computer i had in 2006 (so 10 years old) would still be alright for general use IF it had more RAM. but upgrading RAM on that just ain't worth it given it's expensive for old hardware. like is rather expensive for old/slow RAM where as the modern stuff is cheaper and you get much more of it. i.e. it's just not worth putting money into that old 10 year compter. which is why i just removed the old motherboard/cpu/RAM in my main PC case back in May 2012 for my current setup as it was a big preformance boost for not much $$$ (about $220-230 if i recall correctly).

p.s. i know with some linux OS's you can get by with lower amounts of RAM but on a mainstream level Windows is the standard so i am mostly referring to Windows based computers. but even with Linux... given modern browser can burn up RAM rather quickly you still need sufficient RAM otherwise overall computer performance will suffer.


I also got a newer one but the old ones run better/ less fancy stuff to gum up the works.


you telling me your 12 year old etc computers run faster/all around better then the newer ones?

if so, i call BS.

comments like these and you call me clueless?


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My Top 100-ish Movies of All-Time! = http://goo.gl/EYFYdz
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Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…

I have an older desktop computer that I assembled in 2009 that contains a quad-core processor and 12 GBs of RAM.

I recently decided to give Windows 10 another shot and, lo and behold, it still had problems.

I tried to play a flash-based game and the damn thing wound up overheating. This absolutely did not happen when I reverted back to Windows 7.

Microsoft still has kinks to work out. I doubt the July 29th deadline will stick around. I'm willing to bet that they will extend it.

Besides, it seems as though they're leaning more towards apps and having less to do with running actual programs, i.e. solitaire, even though you have to pay to play. I noticed that my main drive wound up saving around 30 GBs of space.

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


I have an older desktop computer that I assembled in 2009 that contains a quad-core processor and 12 GBs of RAM.

I recently decided to give Windows 10 another shot and, lo and behold, it still had problems.


it just minor stuff or showstopper issues?

if it's not a showstopper i would probably just keep Windows 10 personally. in fact, they releasing a next bigger update for the OS early next month the last i heard (should have updated official ISO's etc).

p.s. i had some issues with Windows 10 since i been on it Dec 1st 2015 but they worked themselves out. nothing show stopper level as Windows 10 has been quite stable for me outside of those things.


I tried to play a flash-based game and the damn thing wound up overheating.


you sure about this?

i just don't see how a flash-based thing could cause your PC to overheat in Windows 10 but not in Windows 7.

either way, if something is overheating... clearly it's not Windows fault. likely a hardware issue. even if it's something in Windows 10 triggering it, that just shows you your hardware is not that stable to begin with. assuming nothing is wrong with the hardware, try blowing all of the dust out of it etc as that can help alot with heating issues. i use a air compressor to blow out my computer case about twice a year and you can see it noticeably helps with lowering CPU and especially GPU temps when they get under a load as the temps don't get as high.


Besides, it seems as though they're leaning more towards apps and having less to do with running actual programs


Yeah, it seems they are trying to do their app thing but i don't see it catching on with the masses personally. it's like they trying to turn Desktop's (and the like) into some tablet type of thing as i just don't see the benefits of using their app stuff vs just using a regular web browser etc.


I noticed that my main drive wound up saving around 30 GBs of space.


Windows 10 don't take up that much space when it's clean installed.

you can try running 'disk cleanup' as that can free up a lot of space on your Windows boot drive in some cases.

note: once that 'disk cleanup' is running you might need to check 'clean up system files' to get maximum free space out of it. that slowly builds up over time as i run it once in a while as not all that long ago i ran it on my sisters laptop (which had Windows 7 on it at the time) and it literally freed up i think it was about 20-30GB of space. if you been using Windows 7 for years it will likely be able to free up a fair amount of space by running that, especially with the 'cleanup system files' option from within the 'disk cleanup' program.


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My Top 100-ish Movies of All-Time! = http://goo.gl/EYFYdz
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Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


try blowing all of the dust out of it etc as that can help alot with heating issues.

That was my main issue. I was able to resolve it per your advice.

The processes in the Windows Task Manager didn't seem abnormal after I had cleaned it with an air compressor. It just wound up being bad timing I suppose.

Windows 10 isn't as bad as I had thought. I did keep my reservation so I could upgrade whenever.

After you work out the kinks and such, it really isn't all that different from Windows 7. I did have to disable and uninstall a bunch of apps (albeit manually through Windows PowerShell), but it ran smoothly thereafter.

I don't use Edge or anything, so I removed that since it was running in the background.

Spybot Anti-Beacon kills the telemetry hosts. That was also useful when upgrading to Win 10.

I was just annoyed by the persistent KB patches from Windows Update in 7. I finally caved-in and upgraded.

Thank you for your suggestions. It is really insightful.

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


I was just annoyed by the persistent KB patches from Windows Update in 7. I finally caved-in and upgraded. - Utpe


Yes, navigating Windows Update in 7 became something of a minefield. But with the appropriate Windows Update settings, it actually wasn't too hard to avoid Windows 10 patches. The only thing I might have done differently would be to install Ultimate Outsider's GWX Control Panel sooner. I installed it on 7/13/2016, about two weeks before the Windows 10 offer expiration, prior to upgrading my Windows Update Client to 7.6.7601.23453.

The irony is that in early 2015, we had articles like this one:

Microsoft CEO Nadella: We Want People To Love Windows 10, Not Just Use It
http://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/300075482/microsoft-ceo-nadella-we-want-people-to-love-windows-10-not-just-use-it.htm

The reality turned out somewhat different. Yes, we want you to love Windows 10, so we're going to force it down your throat!

And some people just didn't feel the love:
http://betanews.com/2016/07/28/microsoft-facing-more-lawsuits-over-forced-windows-10-upgrades/

Thankfully it sounds like you weren't too adversely affected, Utpe.

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


That [overheating due to dust buildup] was my main issue. I was able to resolve it per your advice.


Yeah, it's something i generally do at least twice a year to keep dust from getting things to heat up especially when you put them under a full load for any length of time (which happens when i encode x264 video (generates CPU heat) or run a game (for GPU heat) but i don't really play games much anymore) you can see a clear heat difference on the programs that i got that monitor CPU/GPU temps as both run quite a bit hotter when the dust builds up beyond a certain point which blowing out my case at least twice a year seems to fix that issue (i never had any stability issues even when that happens but seeing a noticeable heat drop is just all that much better for the components long term). three times is probably more optimal though (like once every four months or so) in my case but it just probably depends on how quickly dust builds up in your case in how often you need to blow it out as someone i know seems to have dust build up noticeably faster than mine does.

i just got one 120mm fan pulling air out of the back of the case (which i had since i think 2008(it's not the stock one that came with the case as that one died i think 2 years after i got it which was March 2006)). the PSU (power supply) has a fan but it does not move much air as i just don't think the PSU is being stressed that much (so i think the fan stays at a really low speed) as my computer does not drink the juice like some computers can when you get monster CPU's and GPU's which can have fairly high power consumption especially when unload a big load. i got a Seasonic PSU which when i got it back in Nov 2012 it appears they are either THE most reliable PSU or pretty close to it (as people seem to say the tend to have the least failure rates) and they got a 5 year warranty to back it up to which mine is still under warranty til Nov 2017 as i have always had bad luck with PSU's dying so this time i went with a high quality one as in the past i still had mostly quality PSU's but they always seemed to die not long after the warrant was up.

ill see how Seasonic does as it's my first time with that brand as before i had... roughly a couple Antec brand and one Enermax brand(about $110) and most recently before my current Seasonic was Rosewill which is the worst one yet as it had a 2 year warranty and died before 3 years. my current one is this... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817151093 ; which is funny as the 520 watt actually costs slightly more than the 620 watt one there at the moment. basically i had about 3-4 PSU's die on me and only 1-2 hard drives with the second hard drive being pretty recently which is pretty old anyways being it's a 200GB IDE Seagate which i would estimate is roughly 13-ish years old as the only other one i had die on me was a IBM 40GB which was back around 2003-2004 when it died but it was covered under warranty. but the 200GB IDE still 'somewhat' works as roughly a few months ago i had a power outage which sorta took out my OS on my SSD drive (no physical damage to it though as in short i had to clean install windows 10 back to it) and that's apparently when the 200GB IDE started acting up as it would not let my computer boot up basically so i remove it and connected it to a old PC i got running Linux and it would mount in read-only mode so i could get the data off of it but cannot write anything to it in that mode. but i decided to put it back in my main PC at that time (which is connected to a controller card with one IDE slot) and basically formatted it and transferred the files back to it thinking it might have been a fluke but then recently while i was trying to access it etc it started to hang my computer and tried rebooting and could not boot etc and i immediately knew it was acting up again so i powered the computer off and removed it and got the data back off of it using the linux computer and at this point i am just not going to bother with that hard drive anymore as it's pretty much shot even though technically i can still read data from it on the linux PC. but i recently got a USB 3.0 external hard drive dock (along with a USB 3.0 controller card for my main computer) as this way i can remove some of the smaller hard drives from inside my computer which i just removed the 250GB Western Digital (which i had since 2006 and it's still going strong) to use in the dock and ill likely remove the 400GB hard drive to once i get around to getting a HGST 4TB hard drive probably within the next 6months-1year as i am still debating on whether i want to just keep the 1TB/2TB hard drives in there with the 4TB or just leave the 4TB as external storage space as i can basically make a backup copy of all of my data on the 4TB so if any of the other hard drives fail i won't have to worry about losing any data as i was using DVD recordable media but at this point hard drives are actually cheaper than using media and much faster to as to get the equivalent storage space on DVD-R(or +R) media i would have to buy about 8-9 100 pack spindles which are about $25-30 each (for 'Verabtim' brand which is basically the best) which even if you figure $25 per 100pack and get 8-9 of those that's at least $200-225 where as a good brand 4TB hard drive (basically the same storage space as those 8-9 100pack DVD-R's) is only $140-160. plus, the hard drive route is MUCH faster and takes up less space and uses less of your time. so now i think, for the most part, ill only be using recordable DVD for more family stuff like pictures/videos to have a backup copy outside of the hard drive copies to help minimize the chance of data loss. but for other stuff the hard drive's is just going to be best which is where most of my storage space goes to.

NOTE: i leave my main PC on all of the time.

ill stop babbling now ;)

p.s. if you want to see if your computer is rock solid you can run programs like Intel Burn Test or Prime95 for CPU stability or for GPU i used Furmark as those WILL heat up your CPU/GPU more than any regular program will but if those don't cause any issues then you know your system will be stable for general use. i got Real Temp v3.70 to monitor my CPU temp and GPU-Z for GPU temp monitoring.


Windows 10 isn't as bad as I had thought. I did keep my reservation so I could upgrade whenever.


It's actually good assuming your hardware is compatible (it's not like Windows 7 to Windows 8 which was a clear drop off due to Windows 8's interface when it was released which was made for Tablets and not for people who actually wanted to use their computer/laptop. in fact, Windows 8 is the only OS i have not used from Microsoft at some point (i briefly tested it out in a virtual machine and it sucked) and i been using them since Windows v3.11 then Windows 95 and so on). but obviously there has been some kinks in it (as i have had some issues but nothing show stopper though) but like i was saying people can't stay on Windows 7 forever simply because Microsoft stops support of it in Jan 2020. that's why it's always a good idea to at least register Windows 10 with your computer so you can change over to it in the future if you need to. so you could let it activate with your PC and then go back to Windows 7 if you want for now and if your still using your computer beyond Jan 2020 then you could switch back to Windows 10.

but like you said you are good now as Windows 10 will always be available for your computer now even if you choose to stick with Windows 7 for another 2-3 years or so as i would imagine by then you would think MS would get their act together.

p.s. i went to Windows 10 on Dec 1st 2015 as i waited a while so they worked out any of the more obvious flaws which you know was going to be there.


I did have to disable and uninstall a bunch of apps (albeit manually through Windows PowerShell), but it ran smoothly thereafter.


there really should not be much stuff to mess with once it's clean installed. sure, we all do some configuration to our liking but it's not got a bunch of crap in it that really needs to be uninstalled.

i don't use Edge either mostly because it's more of a memory hog like Chrome is which is why i tend to stick with Pale Moon x64 (basically a Firefox variation). but i will say memory usage aside Edge does seem to feel pretty smooth in it's overall operation. plus, i am still waiting for someone to port over uBlock Origin (i.e. uses less resources than the popular Adblock Plus) to it.



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My Top 100-ish Movies of All-Time! = http://goo.gl/EYFYdz
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Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


If we are still using PCs in the next 15 years, I'll be shocked and appalled.


personally i think and hope the opposite of that as it would suck if desktops completely disappeared.

PC's just offer more power for less $$$ and have a bigger screen and you can do more with them. pretty much the only drawback... no portability. but i think that's what cell phones are for. i never understood the whole tablet appeal as i would rather have a decent laptop since it's a fully functioning computer instead of a basic internet machine that a tablet is pretty much.

it's just a shame a lot of average users are using all of these cell phones/tablets and the like to get online nowadays. it's a watered down experience.

while i imagine the peak of desktop's has passed, simply because all of these modern cell phones/tablets are here to say, i think there should always be some sort of market for them just given the larger screen size/power for less $$$ thing.


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My Top 100-ish Movies of All-Time! = http://goo.gl/EYFYdz
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Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…

Of course PC's will still be around. There will still be plenty of professionals and amateurs who need powerful computers for video editing, graphic design, desktop publishing, composing music, etc.

Many older people can't read the tiny displays on laptops, tablets and cell phones. And they have zero need for portability.

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Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…

You know, I have this funny feeling that, even though desktop PCs will still be around, more people will resort to just using laptops for their computing needs. It seems a lot more convenient to have a portable device than owning a major rig which takes up a lot of space.

People can basically use a laptop for most everything. You can upgrade a few components if need be. Simply plug your monitor, keyboard, and mouse into the required ports and you should be good to go.

Eventually, I'll consider purchasing one in the future. I do have an older laptop from 2011, but the only video port available is VGA, while my monitor uses HDMI.

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…

Us olds need a desktop we need the bigger screen because our frail old eyes are failing us..




MORE COWBELL!
we are legion

Re: Windows 7 is the new Windows XP, here's why…


Us olds need a desktop we need the bigger screen because our frail old eyes are failing us..


that's a legitimate point there to.

but even regardless if you got 20/20 vision or not... who don't want a good sized screen? ;)

even outside of more power for less $$$ that desktops offer... a bigger screen is a solid reason why i generally like desktops over tablets and phones as those can be alright for looking something up quickly online but for those of us who want to use our computers your quite limited with tablets as they are pretty much just basic internet machines is about it.

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My Top 100-ish Movies of All-Time! = http://goo.gl/EYFYdz
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