support for Windows XP, 7, Vista ending soon: alternatives ?

[Triboy]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Much food for thought.  It seems that in many cases we are being held to ransom by the big organisations who simply deny everything.
I have seen a lot written about the Chromebook but am not terribly happy with the idea of everything being stored in "the cloud". Also talking to the stores selling them they do not sell many.

[robbo43]

Having to make the same sort of decision myself. I've looked at both Linux (like Mint) and Macs. The problem with both is that I can't use my favourite family history software - Family Historian - except in an emulator, does anyone have any experience of doing this?

[Nick_Ips]

No, I've not tried an emulator but that is mainly because I still use Windows XP for everything apart from the internet by using multiple PC's. If you want to use an offline family history programme and can live with the hassle of transferring files between computers as and when necessary then this approach has several benefits including not needing to use emulators etc to run your favourite programmes.

If you don't want to have separate PC's/laptops then it is also possible to install Linux on the same hard disk as Windows, or boot Linux from a CD/DVD or USB stick. This is less secure as the hard disk with the Windows partition will still be 'exposed' to the internet, if you either forget to remove/disable the network connection before booting to Windows, or if you mount the Windows partition when running Linux.

You could try one of the Linux forums to see if anyone has used Family Historian in an emulator, and if so which one they ahve used. The Linux formus are very friendly places... so long as you don't start claiming Windows is better. 

[pityackafromblyth]

I am not as tech-savvy as posters in this thread, however, there is a full page article in this week's "Computer Active" magazine, N0.498, March 29th, re this matter.  It states that less than1% of the world's computers run Vista. and quote "Vista was never widely loved."  I started with Vista and have found it OK.  Later given an old XP laptop, and I use that frequently without problems.
The article discusses the pros and cons of upgrading a Vista computer to Windows 10, but it cannot be done directly, you will need to upgrade to 7 or 8.1 first; and then your Vista computer may not have the hardware to run 10.
It may be worthwhile visiting the Vista forum and look for help there.  I have used the Vista forum in the past for 1-2 problems and have had success every time.

[Nick_Ips]

Reading various articles over the years I think the "Vista was never widely loved" view is quite commonly held. It might have something to do with Vista being the first alternative to XP, which was clearly once very popular and was itself not much more than an updating of the popular (amongst tech people) Windows NT.

Vista was the start of what many people felt was a change of direction which wasn't necessarily what all customers wanted. Maybe that reached a peak with Windows 8 as I have a feeling even Microsoft recognised there were issues and were suggesting Windows 10 would go some way to providing a remedy. The disappearance of the 'Start' button being one of many grumbles!

One of the tensions has been the difference between users who just want to switch the box on and not have to do anything else, and the users who want a computer that does what they tell it to do. Things like Windows 10's update policy which was "I'm going to sit here doing an update for the next hour and there is nothing you can do about it" wouldn't be tolerated in other technology spheres - for example imagine if you got in your car to go to work in the morning and it told you it wasn't going to start until it had downloaded and installed an update  (by the way, that is coming, and sooner than you might think!) In other respects, Windows 10 is great!

One thing with the upgrades though - it is important to check not just your PC/Laptop will work with Win 10, but also other hardware such as printers and scanners. HP are updating their support website next month, so I've spent some time today making sure I have all the drivers I need for my 'legacy' printers and scanners as I'm not sure they will be available on the new site. As I went through the different devices I was alarmed at how many of them are 'not supported under Windows [7,8,10]' - i.e. you are the owner of a piece of electrical junk if you want a more modern (i.e. supported) version of Windows. I'm not suggesting HP are unique in this either.

[philipsearching]

Vista was the start of what many people felt was a change of direction which wasn't necessarily what all customers wanted. ................

One of the tensions has been the difference between users who just want to switch the box on and not have to do anything else, and the users who want a computer that does what they tell it to do.

Well said, Nick!

I am happy being a Luddite/dinosaur/old f*rt running older software (on Win98/XP) which do what I want and which make it easy for me to tell them what to do.  I have two machines - one standalone for working files and one for the internet and newer applications.  As long as I can save images and documents in formats readable on XP I am a happy bunny.

There is a minor inconvenience in having to transfer files between machines, but it's not much more trouble than backing them up on disks or an external drive which we should all do anyway.  I don't need tech support for old versions of Windows because the machine is not connected to the internet (so no risk of viruses) and I have the original software disks just in case.

Philip

[Nick_Ips]

Hi Philip, another member of the multiple-PC club then! It does seem a practical way of avoiding the need to upgrade to a newer version of Windows whilst still being safe(ish) online.

I hope my comments are not going to start another Linux vs Windows war - there was enough of that last year  I hope you got your IT problem sorted back then.

[mike175]

... imagine if you got in your car to go to work in the morning and it told you it wasn't going to start until it had downloaded and installed an update ...

One of my favourite error message quotes from somewhere on the web regarding computerised cars:

 "braking is not available at this time, please try again later"   

As for the original question, so much depends on what software you need to use. If you have old versions of a few programs you are happy with and they run on an old O.S. you could stick with it, especially if you keep it offline and use a second device for the internet as suggested.

I found the PC upgrade from XP to Windows 7 and then 10 pretty easy but older laptops in particular seeem to have trouble with 10. Something to do with drivers not being available usually.

[maddys52]

Slightly off topic but this thread immediately came to mind, my son told me this joke yesterday (I think it's an old one):

How does Bill Gates count to 10?

1, 2, 3, 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8 10.