Are XP's days going to be finally numbered?

[Mahja]

While I was waiting for my vista installation on my dual-boot system to complete, I stumbled upon this article. Microsoft extends Windows XP to mid-2009 This makes me wonder...when the time comes (if ever) that XP will no longer be available for new systems, will Istaria be prepared to support Vista officially? It would be a shame to lose players that want a new computer, but new XP keys are no longer manufactured to be used.

[Mensar]

Just (finally) got my vista 64bit working with horizons. I'm not too keen on Vista for things like gaming because there are still so many issues even with up to date titles like Crysis.. Vista just doesn't do very well.

If they extend out XP it's probably so they don't end up getting sued for making it so customers don't have any way of doing what they need to do if Vista is broken (which it normally is).

[Mahja]

Microsoft won't care if someone tries to sue them over it, sure it'll make them sadistic or something, but there's no law they're breaking. It's their OS, they can do what they want with it, and everyone else will have to choose if they want to adapt to it or not.

I had the same issue a long time ago when Windows ME came out. Some of my games hated it, but at least I had the alternative to install Windows 2000 and both were supported at the time. Unfortunately there is no supported alternative to Vista, all we can hope for is that they'll release something else to redeem themselves like they did when XP was released.

[rizo/nawkia]

Cant ya just download linux as a last resort and use istaria there??

an ya never know xp might be a black market buy soon

[Kumu Honua]

I will keep this computer with XP on it till the end of time. There are a few games that I can still barely play on XP with emulation programs but they most certainly won't work on Vista.

Let alone the poor performance of Vista. They need to get their patching in gear before they drop XP. Vista isn't NEARLY good enough to stand on it's own.

[Mahja]

Cant ya just download linux as a last resort and use istaria there??

an ya never know xp might be a black market buy soon

Hmm yes...but I play other games besides Istaria as well. And there are games that I am looking forward to coming that I want to play. So getting them to all work nicely together with the same OS is tricky...

I am just fortunate that Asus provided the XP drivers on their website for my laptop that came with Vista.

[Elenn]

Very weird,
Here in the 'Old' World you cannot buy XP anymore since mid 2007.
And from february 2007 every newly sold Pc and laptop has Vista installed.
So that means no Istaria for those buyers ?
And I had to update my system to Vista (ultimate 64 bit) so I cannot start the game anymore.

I guess it's time to cancel my subscription then ... *looks sad*

[Stickman]

Microsoft won't care if someone tries to sue them over it, sure it'll make them sadistic or something, but there's no law they're breaking. It's their OS, they can do what they want with it, and everyone else will have to choose if they want to adapt to it or not.

I live in the Microsoft area, and interestingly enough they've been... different these past few years. I don't hate them anymore. They're nice, they care a lot about the environment, they're working to make customers happy instead of make money. It's almost surreal.

That, and didn't Bill Gates retire to focus on goodwill projects? How awesome is that.

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/002278.html

Gates said he plans to devote more and more time to his role as chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he says "will have grown" significantly. The foundation is devoted to promoting innovation in global health and education.

So I'm thinking: Either Windows 7, the next version of Windows, is going to fix a lot of the problems Vista had, or they'll figure something else out. I was told that Windows 2000 is to Windows XP what Windows Vista is to Windows 7. So I guess we'll see.

[Spirit]

I nearly lost my temper again with Vista earlier this evening. Programs seem to be breaking down, steadily but surely. Some parts of Nero no longer work, saying that a driver or file is missing and must be reinstalled. Office XP threw a wobbler saying simply that "Outlook is being restarted" followed by a length email database rebuild. Istaria still... obviously... and now Nokia PC Suite is also saying that a driver file is missing and PC Suite needs to be reinstalled (just one part that deals with connection to the internet).

There is no hardware failure, and XP is just peachy ... just Vista having its stupid moment (again). Really becoming very poor. Just no durability to it.

Rakku

[Tzael]

In June or July of this year I purchased a 3-pack of Windows XP SP3 OEM, that's how unlikely it is that I'll be upgrading to Vista any time soon. Needed one at the time, so the other two are being saved for new systems as and when.

At the same time I also purchased the full retail edition (not an upgrade or OEM copy) of Vista Ultimate Edition SP1, which includes both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions. Maybe one day I'll consume the license key and install it, but for now it has no place on any of my home computers.

Windows 7 on the other hand... Wow. Horizons still needs to be updated for Vista/7 compatibility, but overall I am extremely impressed at how much better the PDC early release runs on the computers at my office in contrast to Vista SP1. It's early days though so let's see how it shapes up closer to its release (late 2009 is Microsoft's current estimate).

Windows XP has done extremely well, I think it was September 2001 I purchased my first XP pack, and here we are looking at an operating system that will have an eight-year retail lifespan. Though that's a little over half the retail lifespan of Windows 3.1, which has had an unprecedented 15 year retail lifespan!

[velveeta]

whether it is vista or something else, xp's days are def numbered (except for the usual 'its my home and i ain't movin' hardcores). changes in hardware will require the software used to run it change as well. technology expands and changes quickly these days (okay - exactly what is the difference between blueray and regular dvd? and yes, i asked the exact same question about betamax and vha....), so software will as well.

merely the way of things, my children!

[jerk-o]

The difference between blu-ray and regular dvd is that dvd players use a red laser and blu-ray disks use a blue laser. Since the color blue has a shorter wave length than red, the blu-ray disks can hold a lot more data then regluar dvds.

[Spirit]

The difference between blu-ray and regular dvd is that dvd players use a red laser and blu-ray disks use a blue laser. Since the color blue has a shorter wave length than red, the blu-ray disks can hold a lot more data then regluar dvds.

Aye! And more space means higher quality video, when the disk format is used for movies, and makes movies look great on screens supporting hd. There's no point watching an hd-dvd or a bluray movie on a normal crt tv ... just use a dvd version and save some cash.

Rakku

[Nicoust]

I used to use w2k, loved it and always hated xp

Had to upgrade when I got a new hard drive and w2k was struggling on the hardware I had to read the disk so I decided to get vista(64). I like it but w7 seems better and is what I currently use.

Just hoping to see software finally taking advantage of 64 bit architecture.

[Greenclaw1]

It sure is with Win 7 retail not to far off now that Win 7 RC is out the door. Nobody in their right mind would put Win Xp on a New Pc over Win 7. Win 7 far better for laptops too due to it's small memory footprint. It's been designed so Netbooks will run it nice and smooth even. WinXp is now showing it's age when you go back to use it after you've been using Vista or Win 7.

[Dragonboy]

Untill I hear that Windows 7 is definitly better then Vista in the future I might consider skipping Vista all together and go from XP to Windows 7.

Right now if I compare my old system with XP and my recent laptop with vista (simular speed/ram memory amount), I only had to re-install XP once every 6-7 months, my recent Vista laptop I had to re-install 4 times already in 6-7 months.
Programs no longer working, computer going slower and slower and slower... If I can help it I will not use Vista.

[Deth]

The Windows 7 RC is available for anyone to try right now. It works really well and I have no trouble finding drivers. I would suggest downloading it and trying it.

[velveeta]

what do you mean by reinstall, db? you mean reformat and total reinstall????
may i ask why you do this? i have been messing with puters for 30+ years and can't imagine why you would ever reinstall a non-corrupt os, much less on an almost monthly basis.....
do you defrag and cleanup?
if your os is going corrupt that often, it would suggest a hardware prob to me, not a software prob.....

[Cubjo]

So does Istaria run with Win 7...I have been keen to get back into Istaria but I have no intentions of runnign a dual boot system. I wont have XP back on my system....am very happy with Win 7 and will buy it when it is finally released. So I would love to know if Istaria works with Win 7 and if so I will see you all in game very soon

[Deth]

It will with the Vista fix from blight.