How to Migrate from Windows XP Before Microsoft Pulls the Plug

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SpottedMarley

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Jan 2, 2014
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"Like millions of others around the world, you may be perfectly happy with your XP system, but it's now time to move on to ..." a non-Microsoft world. Here's how:

http://linuxmint.com/
 
May 12, 2013
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Just get a good firewall and antivirus. But if you feel the need to upgrade, go with Windows 7. Windows 8 is a nightmare for older folks and people who aren't computer savvy.
 

barechaser

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My hardware isn't going to work in 7 for all my printers scanners and other things and 8 won't install because of the cpu ....
 

truthtrance

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I've upgraded my desktop to Linux Mint. Took half an hour. It works and has a very impressive and large selection of free software. Next I tackle my old notebook. I cannot afford to buy new hardware to run a problematic Microsoft operating system anymore. To Microsoft I say "Bye, bye!"
 

mbg1708

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Older PCs may not have the horsepower for Win7 or Win8. Pick a reliable Linux distribution (Ubuntu, Mint....Fedora/XFCE is my favorite) and use Firefox and an office suite..........and your old machine will have years more life in it......and you probably won't miss Microsoft after a week or two!
 

Fred Flintsone

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Pulling the plug on best platform MS ever made. also why I switched to Mac, stay away from MS products unless you must, all marketing that bunch. XP remains better than all its successors combined. It actually works
 

danerda

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hi, well microsoft you want me to move on, ok i did straight to ubuntu linux, had it installed and running in less than hour, it does everything that xp did but for FREE and is easier to use than xp. bye bye microsoft.
 

cbordeman

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Jan 5, 2014
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A lot of Linux morons around here. There's a reason after 20+ years ALL Linux distros combined still barely register 1% of the desktop/laptop market: Linux SUCKS on the desktop. You can claim it's easier or more stable or runs all the software you need, but if that were true, why does *everyone* who tries it switch back to Windows or Mac after a short time?

The reason is the software on Linux isn't nearly as available, polished, or useful as Windows or Mac software, the drivers are awful by comparison, and the system is just far too complicated for the average person (requiring endless googling and command line commands to fix the frequent problems).
 

danerda

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gee cbordeman, have you ACTUALY TRIED UBUNTU?, i suspect not, i have ACTUALY TRIED windows 8 and i found it very user unfriendly whereas ubuntu is user friendly, i had no driver issues and it runs like a dream and its free and who are you to call linux users MORONS we are not morons, the fact that we use linux proves it.
 

Avus

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News flash. Get a mac.

This is a stupid recommendation. Do you really think Mac OS will not obsolete? I still remember how much hassle when people migrate/upgrade from PowerPC to Intel Mac. It was 100x worse than XPocalypse.
 

roger smith

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Windows : Unstable, Unsecure, Massive Hardware/Software Support, powerful and not for novice
OSX : Stable, Secure, Small Hardware/Software Support, light computing and video editing
Linux/Unix Distros : Stable, Secure, Microscopic Hardware/Software Support, not for novice
Chrome : Hopes and Dreams for a webtop replacement
SteamOS : Hopes and Dreams for a game focused os
 

lp231

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For those who say to use linux, do you just think about yourselves or have you actually thought about, is linux a easy to use OS for the masses? I've tried a few linux distros before and the amount of time to get a simple job done is beyond ridiculous. By the time a linux novice has managed to learn 1 linux feature, they will probably be a expert in using Windows or OSX.

Those who say avoid Windows 8, well have you actually try it out or are you just repeating what those Windows 8 bashers are saying? Windows 8 isn't not a difficult to OS, if you sit down and use a bit of time to learn it. How can someone who is able to operate their smartphone, tablet, automatically become unfamiliar on how to use Windows 8? Aren't all of them similar to one another? All them them have icons on a home screen, you open a app by tapping the screen or click on it. If anyone can use a smartphone or tablet (ipad,galaxy tab, transformer, etc) then Windows 8 won't be that difficult to use.
 

Darkk

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I felt a great disturbance as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.
 

bmwman91

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May 19, 2013
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XP remains better than all its successors combined. It actually works
Not initially. It was garbage until SP1. Win2K was preferred by many until then.

Ha, I remember those days! I was adamant about sticking with Win2k until late 2003 or so. SP1 for XP was probably the configuration it should have shipped with in the first place. -

Should XP users switch to Linux? Maybe, maybe not. I have made the switch to Mint and Ubuntu a number of times over the years. Inevitably, I always ended up going back to Windows 7, and more recently Windows 8. Hardware support for any laptop that is more than 4 years old with a discrete GPU is atrocious. A T41p I used to own never performed as well with Linux largely due to not having any proper video drivers. Same deal with my T60p and T61p. For whatever reason, Linux wouldn't work properly with the SATA controller in the T61p either and my SSD was slower than the 5400RPM HDD it replaced. Then again, most laptops don't have dedicated graphics and so users of those don't have an expectation of graphical performance, so they would probably be fine with Linux. Anyway, if the argument is that people coming from XP should just give Linux a chance and take a few days to learn it, then the exact same argument applies to Win8.1. I'll say right now that both the T60p and T61p., which are both aging machines, had much better out-of-the-box hardware support with Win8 than the last release of Mint and Ubuntu. The Linux distros worked well enough, and it is damn impressive what something with a $0 price can do, but it isn't on-par with a proprietary OS (IMO of course).
 

rwinches

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Really maybe if Linux grows up and loses the erector set style it brought over from UNIX and decides to become standards based like Windows where a certification means the App will install and run without intervention/tweaking required and with actual Help files that go beyond function description, then yes maybe a significant shift will occur.
 
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