[Reaction]Microsoft stops supports on XP

XP's pending end of support has been a long time coming. I, for one, am actually looking forward to its support demise. In a rapidly evolving technology world, it makes little to no sense to run the same desktop operating system for more than 11 years. Similarly, Microsoft has since already ended support for versions of Windows prior to XP (including 3.x, 95, 98, 2000, and ME) years ago, and support for Vista will end in April 2017, and 7 in January 2020.

On a side note, only Windows 1.x and 2.x have been supported longer than XP, those versions having ended support (along with 3.x, NT 3.x and 95) on December 31, 2001. Of course, things were way different in the technology sector back in the 1980s and 1990s. Another sidebar: on EGC's desktop thread, I post screenshots of my desktop, which have Microsoft's XP End of Support countdown gadget, and occasionally make reminders of the time remaining in those posts.

MKGirlism said:

Let's explain it a bit more clear.
Left = Home users.
Right = Business users.

Windows 1.0 <-> Windows NT 1
Windows 2.0 <-> Windows NT 2
Windows 3.x <-> Windows NT 3
Windows 95 <-> Windows NT 4

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Actually, the first Windows NT release was version 3.1, in July 1993, having been numbered at 3.1 to match the contemporary regular (DOS-based) Windows version out at that time. Between NT 3.1 and 4.0, there were also versions 3.5 and 3.51. All of the NT 3.x versions had pretty much the same look and feel (user interface) as regular Windows 3.x.
(Side note: Windows NT actually began its development life as a rewrite of OS/2, initially developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM. After the Microsoft/IBM partnership ended in 1991, IBM did their own rewrite of OS/2, releasing it as version 2.0 in 1992, while Microsoft turned what they had written of OS/2 into a offshoot of their existing Windows product.)

I honestly don't understand why people insist on using XP. Blindies are using incredibly outdated technology such as it and it really holds back the possibilities for improvements on their software. As a developer it is irksome to have to develop for XP because some people won't just jump and upgrade, because there's a lot of benefits to upgrading, such as better system capabilities and more security. Not every update to Windows is great but hell, 7 is a great option and will be maintained for several more years to come.

Honestly, the only good thing that XP is left for aside from the legacy look and style is that you can use the same XP serial key on multiple installs, unlike Windows 7 and Vista, in which it's one key per Windows install, but maybe that's just my opinion.

Zach said:

Honestly, the only good thing that XP is left for aside from the legacy look and style is that you can use the same XP serial key on multiple installs, unlike Windows 7 and Vista, in which it's one key per Windows install, but maybe that's just my opinion.

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Volume licensing keys has always worked that way.

XP keys actually have a disadvantage when it comes to certain things - you can't use an OEM key on retail media, and you can't use a retail key on OEM media. Nasty when it comes to bloatware clearing.

I've worked with Volume License Keys, even Windows 7 was unlimited in its usage, using VLK Licenses.
We needed to have these kind of Keys, as we had to (re-)install about 600 Laptops per month.

Zach said:

Honestly, the only good thing that XP is left for aside from the legacy look and style is that you can use the same XP serial key on multiple installs, unlike Windows 7 and Vista, in which it's one key per Windows install, but maybe that's just my opinion.

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Actually you can activate Windows with the same key twice every 90 days. I believe there is a limit up to 5 times.

Buoysel said:

Actually you can activate Windows with the same key twice every 90 days. I believe there is a limit up to 5 times.

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Actually, things are a bit complicated. As long as it's the same or similar machine, it'll pass. Always.

Even if it doesn't, an automated phone call will fix it fast.

Sometimes, when you upgrade to a better edition (but not a newer version), activation might spontaneously fail, too. If it happens, just retype your product key. Then it'll get itself fixed up, too.