Ralph Bromley
Fantastic Member
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- Jun 1, 2012
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- #1
So consider this to be a bit of self indulgence as I give my own eulogy at windows XP's funeral.
Windows XP was my first full time operating system, and as it ends its support cycle its time for me to do some fun looking back on one of the computing worlds biggest successes and how it all went so terribly wrong.
Now how can one of the biggest successes in the computing world be in itself a failure?
Well lets take a look at what Windows XP offered.
Firstly XP was the first OS to become popular overall to the masses , sure Microsoft had successes with 95 and 98 but XP was the first true mainstream system that brought many to the wonders of the home computer.
This is no small feat, Microsoft's PR engine was on all four cylinders with XP by creating a system that was super user friendly with a no frills approach to computing.
Simplicity is a nice goal to have when making an OS, there are very good reasons why XP, OSX, Ubuntu, iOS and android has caught on with most of the computing world.
All offer simplicity for better or for worse depending on your perspective.
Lets take the better reasons why something like XP caught on:
Firstly the OS is extremely accessible from the total newcomer to the most pro computer user, the average Joe user like myself has benefited from the skills I have learned from XP.
Indeed XP taught me a lot about how an OS worked and functioned, how everything connected and how it all came to work.
I actually owe a lot to XP, it is the OS that got me really into learning about computers and how they worked.
Without it I would not be wanting to get a diploma for computing or even built the desktop I am posting this all from.
But even so the holes in the armor of XP and the other Microsoft operating systems can be seen from outer space.
How Microsoft integrated the whole kernel and the components of the OS into one big ball of insecurities, where if one pin was taken out the whole ship would sink.
Its like the Titanic of operating systems, Microsoft claimed it was unsinkable and the boat kept on taking on water.
Security holes were abound with XP, its “easy for everyone” approach was letting hackers become kids in a candy store.
And tying Internet explorer to the core of the OS was no help, one of the most dumb things Microsoft has ever done and XP suffered greatly for it.
But most learned to adapt to XP's shortcomings and soon Microsoft became complacent and frankly rather arrogant.
Overconfident they blundered into windows Vista without any consideration to users of XP nor the computing world in general.
Vista is the main reason why XP's lifespan was extended, it was a miserable release for many so Microsoft had to create windows 7 to bring back its consumer ratio.
And now they made the same blunder once again with 8.
Microsoft is a company full of blundering in when new challenges arise, first with apple now with android.
This is something that Microsoft is good at, being rich but very little brain matter when it comes to actually producing a good OS half the time.
And XP is the source of the blame for this mentality, so cocky was Microsoft that blundering stupidity was abound.
As the new computing age began Microsoft just seems to slip and makes you wonder how in the hell did it get so big sometimes.
Even from a pro Microsoft standpoint the blunders can be seen without the need of a telescope five million miles long.
Nevertheless XP was a semi decent OS once you plugged all its holes and built a bomb shelter around it.
C'est la vie Windows XP, and bon voyage.
Windows XP was my first full time operating system, and as it ends its support cycle its time for me to do some fun looking back on one of the computing worlds biggest successes and how it all went so terribly wrong.
Now how can one of the biggest successes in the computing world be in itself a failure?
Well lets take a look at what Windows XP offered.
Firstly XP was the first OS to become popular overall to the masses , sure Microsoft had successes with 95 and 98 but XP was the first true mainstream system that brought many to the wonders of the home computer.
This is no small feat, Microsoft's PR engine was on all four cylinders with XP by creating a system that was super user friendly with a no frills approach to computing.
Simplicity is a nice goal to have when making an OS, there are very good reasons why XP, OSX, Ubuntu, iOS and android has caught on with most of the computing world.
All offer simplicity for better or for worse depending on your perspective.
Lets take the better reasons why something like XP caught on:
Firstly the OS is extremely accessible from the total newcomer to the most pro computer user, the average Joe user like myself has benefited from the skills I have learned from XP.
Indeed XP taught me a lot about how an OS worked and functioned, how everything connected and how it all came to work.
I actually owe a lot to XP, it is the OS that got me really into learning about computers and how they worked.
Without it I would not be wanting to get a diploma for computing or even built the desktop I am posting this all from.
But even so the holes in the armor of XP and the other Microsoft operating systems can be seen from outer space.
How Microsoft integrated the whole kernel and the components of the OS into one big ball of insecurities, where if one pin was taken out the whole ship would sink.
Its like the Titanic of operating systems, Microsoft claimed it was unsinkable and the boat kept on taking on water.
Security holes were abound with XP, its “easy for everyone” approach was letting hackers become kids in a candy store.
And tying Internet explorer to the core of the OS was no help, one of the most dumb things Microsoft has ever done and XP suffered greatly for it.
But most learned to adapt to XP's shortcomings and soon Microsoft became complacent and frankly rather arrogant.
Overconfident they blundered into windows Vista without any consideration to users of XP nor the computing world in general.
Vista is the main reason why XP's lifespan was extended, it was a miserable release for many so Microsoft had to create windows 7 to bring back its consumer ratio.
And now they made the same blunder once again with 8.
Microsoft is a company full of blundering in when new challenges arise, first with apple now with android.
This is something that Microsoft is good at, being rich but very little brain matter when it comes to actually producing a good OS half the time.
And XP is the source of the blame for this mentality, so cocky was Microsoft that blundering stupidity was abound.
As the new computing age began Microsoft just seems to slip and makes you wonder how in the hell did it get so big sometimes.
Even from a pro Microsoft standpoint the blunders can be seen without the need of a telescope five million miles long.
Nevertheless XP was a semi decent OS once you plugged all its holes and built a bomb shelter around it.
C'est la vie Windows XP, and bon voyage.
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