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Windows XP users, are you still with us?

mikedt

mikedt

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It's now April 8th, and Windows XP is now end of life and no more updates from Microsoft.
BBC News - Windows XP users face end to Microsoft support
"Support for the venerable Windows XP operating system ends this Tuesday.
It means that there will be no more official security updates and bug fixes for the operating system from Microsoft.
Some governments have negotiated extended support contracts for the OS in a bid to keep users protected.
Security firms said anyone else using the 13-year-old software would be at increased risk of infection and compromise by cyber-thieves"


Much of China is still on XP, and most PCs here haven't been updated since SP3. Will there be an all out attack, will China go dark?



BTW no Windows vs Linux please, that's OT. We have a thread for that.
 
I've seen reports on security forums that hackers have been 'hoarding 0 day exploits' ready for XP support ending. Not sure how much I believe, and how much is hype to get people to move to Win7/8.

In the UK, The Government has just signed a
 
For anyone still using Windows XP make sure your antivirus and firewall are up to date. Also use an updated browser like Chrome or Firefox instead of Internet Explorer 6 - 8.

I'm guessing the next vulnerabilities discovered will receive lots of attention.
 
And many of those home users who get a computer with 8 or 8.1 on it absolutely hate it. Yesterday, at the VA (Veterans' Administration Medical Center), I spent a few minutes giving the nurse taking my BP, etc., instructions on how to set up her new Win 8 machine to boot into the desktop and how to get a Start menu back on it. I haven't met many people without touch screens who really like 8 or 8.1.

I still have one or two machines in the garage (that I'll get working if I live another 50 years - something always seems to come up) that were "Designed for Windows XP" but are running 7. But the oldest one is a single core running at about 1.6GHz with 4GB of RAM (which is all it can be expanded to). Even this desktop isn't much better - 1.83 GHz Core Duo with 4GB running 7 pro. But that's what I've been using since about December 2011, when we started planning for our move, and I started packing up all the electronics.
 
We've got 1 PC running Windows 8.1 (the better half of me), her son's laptop running Windows 7 and my laptop running Windows XP.

For some reason I much prefer my XP over any. I've looked into it, it can handle an upgrade to Windows 8. I've thought about going with 7 as Windows 8 is just atrocious in my honest opinion. I'll stick with good ole XP here.
 
Sticking with XP will become increasingly dangerous as new (ad unused existing) zero-day exploits are used by hackers safe in the knowledge that they'll never be patched. And with around 30% of PCs worldwide still on XP it's still a large target.
Win 8 is not so bad with Classic Shell installed to give a proper start menu, but I'd think Linux (Ideally Mint XFCEor Xubunu on an older PC) would be a better alternative. I've converted a couple of Silver Surfers from XP to Linux (Mint XFCE) and they're very happy, as their Prescott-cored P4s re much more responsive now.
With most of their use being browser based with a little light Word processsing it's an ideal solution.
 
I don't understand the fear mongering about end of life. i was using Win98 SE in 2010 with no issue whatsoever. i would expect the hackers of today would target an operating system more current than a decade-plus old. after all, XP is only used by luddites who probably still play Doom II or something. about the only concern with end of life OS is that finding a Flash Player or up-to-date web browser so you can still enjoy YouTube or such will be difficult. i had to hack my way to get Flash 11 to even run in 98SE.

Look at it this way. Google considers Android FroYo end of life. but no one fear mongers about hacks or exploits even though many still use Android 2.2 and 2.3. Besides, remember the days of 'Messenger/Netpopup' spam? that was going on as was the Blaster worm when XP was brand new. so don't get all set on the belief that only the current OS is stable or hack-free.
 
nickdalzell said:
I don't understand the fear mongering about end of life. i was using Win98 SE in 2010 with no issue whatsoever. i would expect the hackers of today would target an operating system more current than a decade-plus old. after all, XP is only used by luddites who probably still play Doom II or something. about the only concern with end of life OS is that finding a Flash Player or up-to-date web browser so you can still enjoy YouTube or such will be difficult. i had to hack my way to get Flash 11 to even run in 98SE.

Look at it this way. Google considers Android FroYo end of life. but no one fear mongers about hacks or exploits even though many still use Android 2.2 and 2.3. Besides, remember the days of 'Messenger/Netpopup' spam? that was going on as was the Blaster worm when XP was brand new. so don't get all set on the belief that only the current OS is stable or hack-free.
Click to expand...

Thing with Android, even as something as old and unsupported as Froyo, a user has to actually install something for it to become infected. Unpatched Windows on the other hand, you only have to turn it on and it can become infected from a network. e.g. the Conficker or Code Red worms. As old as they are, they're still around being distributed by zombie Windows PCs on the internet.

AFAIK there hasn't been a worm for Android yet or is even possible. Simply because it doesn't try to automatically execute any data from networks or USB sticks, unlike Windows. A user has to specifically tell to execute code. Which is how things should be. Windows even assumes JPG images are executable programs, that's how you get malicious JPGs in Windows.

I'm just not using unpatched Windows any more. Sure most of the botnets are in China. Think XP can be ok as long as keeping it off the public internet and are very careful with things like USB sticks. Most ATMs are using XP, but they're not on the public internet and nobody is inserting any whatever USB sticks in them.
 
Don't most routers have built in firewalls and run Linux? Windows being exposed means little if the router most folks use to get online with today blocks the crap. Protection at the client end of a LAN is so 1999
 
nickdalzell said:
Don't most routers have built in firewalls and run Linux? Windows being exposed means little if the router most folks use to get online with today blocks the crap. Protection at the client end of a LAN is so 1999
Click to expand...


Yes they do, but most domestic routers also have Universal Plug & Play(UPnP) which is often on by default. Put it this, way if an Xbox or Playstation can automatically punch holes through the firewall, open ports, etc, for whatever purposes it needs, so can malware. Which is what happens.

UPnP was one of the wonderful things intended to make things much easier for non-techy users. However it can also negate any security that a NAT router inherently provides.
 
Davdi said:
I've seen reports on security forums that hackers have been 'hoarding 0 day exploits' ready for XP support ending. Not sure how much I believe, and how much is hype to get people to move to Win7/8.

In the UK, The Government has just signed a
Click to expand...
 
just figured out my Linux on a Mac issue. stupid partitioner. it did it all wrong lol. apparently it has to be done in /sda/sda3 and nothing else. i had the same bug on my Win8 laptop, the trick that fixed the latter helped fix the former. happy now on OpenSUSE.
 
^^^^^
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Attached to new post as edit was giving an error.
 
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