I'm Typing to You From a Windows XP Computer...

[landbeforetimelover]

Believe it or not, I'm typing this post from an old Windows XP computer.  For those of you not in the know, support for Windows XP officially ended in April of this year (2014).  This means there will be no more security updates or fixes from Microsoft for Windows XP.  

When I first joined the GOF forums here, it was 2007.  I was using Windows XP Professional computer.  Boy has the world changed since then.  We've got the mess that's Windows 8 (though that should be remedied by the next version of Windows coming out soon, Windows 10 - that's not a typo.  Microsoft is skipping "Windows 9").

Anyway, I'm typing to you from a Compaq Presario V5000 (pictured below).  I originally wanted this laptop very badly back in 2005, but decided against it and waited a year and got a Windows Vista laptop (BIG mistake).  The laptop is loaded with Windows XP Media Center Edition and has an AMD Turion64 1.79Ghz processor, 2GB of DDR Ram (upgraded from 512MB), and an 80GB ATA hard drive.  Honestly it runs pretty darn well.  I'm using Internet Explorer 8 just like I was back when I joined GOF (technically I was still on IE6, but that brower is so old I couldn't even load up most websites unless I upgraded to IE8).  

I got this laptop on eBay.  It looks BRAND NEW and they claimed it was only used for a few hours then put on the shelf and never used again.  SMART tests on the hard drive confirm it only had 8 hours on it when I got it!  Talk about a blast from the past.

I've loaded up some of the old programs I was using back then.  Office 2007, Photoshop CS3, Tradewinds, etc.  Really not a lot has changed and I can still use this computer today.  Of course Windows XP is a terribly insecure Operating System by today's standards.  But so long as you know what you're doing online and know how to avoid malicious sites and ads, you'll do fine.  

Anyway, I'm just reminiscing about the past and how much technology (and society in general) has changed since I joined GOF 7 years ago.  7 years really isn't that long, but a LOT of stuff has changed.  I hope GOF continues to exist decades longer.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate you guys and what this forum as done to affect my life.  I hope we all stay together forever.  It might be a pipe dream, but that's what I wish for.

EDIT:  Fixed image



This next picture is NOT a real photo of my laptop, but it gives you a more realistic idea of what it looks like in real life:

[Serris]

I've always used Windows XP. It's one of Microsoft's better operating systems with a clean and intuitive interface. And the search function doesn't behave oddly like Vista's.

I can only hope Microsoft's next operating system is as easy to use and as smooth as XP.

[Kor]

I did enjoy xp.  Great OS.    Some of the older machines that run that can still be used, though going on the net can be risky, they are perfectly fine for offline stuff, playing certain games, watching dvd's perhaps, and so on.  Though one can put some Linux distros on them as well.

[The Chronicler]

The desktop computer in my bedroom has Windows XP on it and, as far as I'm aware, everything seems perfectly fine with it. I usually use that computer for gaming and watching videos, so it's not quite something I use every single day, but it does come pretty close. Ever since support for XP ended, I've gotten into a habit of doing an antivirus scan on Microsoft Security Essentials almost every day, just to be on the safe side. (It's always the first thing I do every time I start up that computer.)

The laptop that I use for almost all of my internet browsing and have had for four years now has Windows 7, and it's also been working fine for me as well. The only issue with it is that, since about a year or two ago, I can no longer play videos for over an hour without resulting in an unexpected shutdown (possibly from overheating, though I'm not exactly sure), which is why I use my desktop to watch videos.

From my experience, I can definitely say that Windows 7 works just as well as XP.

[jansenov]

The computer I use is a Compaq Evo N800v with Windows XP. Still works as smoothly as when I bought it 6 years ago. The only thing that is getting slower are web browsers, as they boldly march on with their RAM consumption with each new version.

[Kor]

There may be browsers that use less ram.  I would not know if there are or which ones.  There is also the alternative of using some distributions of linux for those who may want to do that.  

Though as is They likely work perfectly well for the games they can play, do some word processing, watching videos & dvd's, ect.