[NJARC] Today it ends!

Tue Apr 8 18:45:17 EDT 2014

As an "IT guy" I can say most of the basics on what will happen and what you should\could do have been covered already. I'll throw my two cents in.  I'm not an expert (but I'm no slouch either...), just my personal opinions.

The machines running XP will still work, but Internet facing machines will be most at risk (as they always have been). Today Microsoft will stop releasing new patches. If new "holes" are found at 12:01 tonight, your machine will not get a patch for it, ever (so sayeth Microsoft).

You can do some of the "hardening" things Louis suggested earlier, but you are potentially giving up usefulness and functionality as a trade off for security.  If you understand and are aware of the impacts, it's one thing. If you don't, you may end up quite frustrated.

My experience at work showed that any of the machines we bought in 2010 or newer ran better and faster on W7 than XP.  W7 works well. W8 is almost universally hated. Your mileage may vary. 

Linux is definitely an option if you are a "techno weenie" as Al said. I know many of you worked at Bell Labs and used Unix first hand. It will be "old hat" (Red?) for you folks. Others of you were pioneers in the computer industry and are good with command line interfaces.  If you've never used it before and are up for a challenge, give it a shot. If you already hate computers, not a good avenue to take.

If you really don't want to know (or care) how computers work, you may be better off moving to a newer operating system or machine which is eligible for security patches, and patch it often.  Lots of options out there- Apple\OSX\IOS,  google\android\chromebook, Microsoft W7\8\8.1, etc. nothing is foolproof or perfect. You will have to do some research on the pros and cons of all (cost, support, features, compatibility), and make the best decision for your scenario.

"Progress" marches on, whether we like it or not! We should always honor and respect the past and where we came from, but we must keep moving forward!

/soapbox

Matt

> Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2014 16:35:18 -0400
> From: klancer2 at comcast.net
> To: njarc at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [NJARC] Today it ends!
> 
> Just remember
> Reply = Poster
> Reply All = Everyone
> 
> _________________________________________________________
> For us troglodytes who don't want to give up
> our desktops (like me). I bought a machine with
> win 8.1 and no touchscreen. There is a setting
> that makes it always boot into a desktop
> window - looks and acts pretty much like win 7.
> I don't have to go into the 'tiles' unless
> I want to - which is almost never.
> 
> The lesson: Look carefully at the windows settings.
> 
>                                                  Harry K
> 
> On 4/8/2014 4:27 PM, Joe Giliberti wrote:
> > Just remember
> > Reply = Poster
> > Reply All = Everyone
> >
> > _________________________________________________________
> > I have a Windows 8 laptop that has a touchscreen. I found that I never use
> > the touchscreen. I hated windows 8, but I found a program that makes it
> > almost like Windows 7. At the very least give you a start menu which I was
> > missing a lot. I think its called Start8. From what I remember it cost
> > about $5 and again it give you the comforts of home. And just in case
> > anyone is thinking, I do not represent the company nor do I have any vested
> > interest in it. It just helps me a lot and prevented me from paying $100 to
> > downgrade to Windows 7.
> > On Apr 8, 2014 12:52 PM, "Al Klase" <ark at ar88.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Just remember
> >> Reply = Poster
> >> Reply All = Everyone
> >>
> >> _________________________________________________________
> >> Oh well, as long as we're going to talk about damn soulless digital
> >> devices...
> >>
> >> Yes, Linux is an option, as the older machines would likely be overwhelmed
> >> by modern Windows. This is OK as long as you're not married to any
> >> particular Windows applications. If you just email and surf and word
> >> process, give it a shot. You'll need to be a technoweenie to set it up.
> >> It's not exactly plug-and-play. It's great if you need a new hobby.
> >>
> >> RE: Win-8 - Don't buy a Win-8 machine that doesn't have a touch screen. I
> >> made that mistake with my new laptop. Yes, you can clear away a bunch of
> >> the commercial BS it wakes up with, figure out that WINDOWS_KEY + D gets
> >> you to the desktop, but I'm missing most of the advantages of WIN-8, an
> >> Android impersonator.
> >>
> >> With apolywoggies,
> >> Al
> >>
> >>
> >> On 4/8/2014 12:24 PM, Sal Brisindi wrote:
> >>
> >>> Just remember
> >>> Reply = Poster
> >>> Reply All = Everyone
> >>>
> >>> _________________________________________________________
> >>> I am toying with upgrading to Linux on one of my PC's...
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: RICHARD LEE <radiorich at prodigy.net>
> >>> To: Reflector <njarc at mailman.qth.net>
> >>> Sent: Tue, Apr 8, 2014 11:08 am
> >>> Subject: [NJARC] Today it ends!
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Just remember
> >>> Reply = Poster
> >>> Reply All = Everyone
> >>>
> >>> _________________________________________________________
> >>> OK, all you smart NJARC members....that's it!... today security support
> >>> ends!...that's what Windows is tell me and a Zillion other Windows XP
> >>> users...we
> >>> must "migrate" to Windows 8.1 or at least Windows 7.... "oh your CPU and
> >>> memory
> >>> are insufficient to handle the new OS"....too bad!....time to buy a new
> >>> PC and
> >>> Laptop and Tablet.... already loaded!....What?#@&^(*+???.....So,
> >>> especially you
> >>> IT guys, is there anyway around this?  What will happen to us XP users,
> >>> if we
> >>> continue to use Windows XP. ???  Thanks for your input...Richard Lee
> >>> Pres. NJARC
> >>> ______________________________________________________________
> >>> NJARC mailing list
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> >>>
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> >>>    ______________________________________________________________
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> >>>
> >> --
> >> Al Klase - N3FRQ
> >> Jersey City, NJ
> >> http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/
> >>
> >> ______________________________________________________________
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> >>
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> >>
> > ______________________________________________________________
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