OT: Windows XP

[Korlic]

Unfortunately I think I have change my OS as Windows dont seem to wanna keep updating XP with security packages. For that reason I will be changing OS to either Linux or Windows 8. Has anyone else done that? Whats important to remember regarding backups? What about comparability with this old game?

 

[HC Gunther]

Personally, I would go to Windows 7 instead of Windows 8. Windows 8 is very different from traditional Windows and is suited to people who cut their teeth on a tablet instead of a PC. In terms of compatibility, the only issue I have had is how the graphics card deals with a 4:3 program on a 16:9 monitor. My laptop puts black bars on each side of the Diablo screen, which I like. My desktop stretches Diablo to fit on my wider screen, which I found disconcerting at first but have since gotten use to.

 

[helvete]

Personally, I would go to Windows 7 instead of Windows 8. Windows 8 is very different from traditional Windows and is suited to people who cut their teeth on a tablet instead of a PC. In terms of compatibility, the only issue I have had is how the graphics card deals with a 4:3 program on a 16:9 monitor. My laptop puts black bars on each side of the Diablo screen, which I like. My desktop stretches Diablo to fit on my wider screen, which I found disconcerting at first but have since gotten use to.

+1

win7 is great, win8 feels wrong. About the stretching, there is some command to "keep aspect ratio" or something like that to avoid stretching to fill non-4:3 screens. Might be a setting in a glide wrapper, but glide wrappers are accepted in this forum.

 

[Korlic]

I thought Win 7 had all kinds of bugs? Guess not, thanks for the answers I will take them into consideration.

 

[HC Gunther]

To me, the best feature of Win 7 is the ability to create a system image. Get a external hard drive, create a system image overnight and if your hard disk crashes the next day, you can fully restore your computer. The start menu is little nicer in Win 7. On compatibility for old programs besides Diablo - I have a couple of programs that run fine for me on Vista but I can't get to work on Win 7. Win 7 has lots of compatibility settings I can use, but they don't seem to do anything for my two programs.

 

[pharphis]

vista was the broken OS you're probably thinking about. Win7 has been around for a few years now and I've had very few issues with it

 

[Darkthrone]

Windows 7 is probably your best bet, but there's really nothing wrong with Windows 8, especially with the new update and the planned update. Windows 8 gets a lot of flack but I find it's because people don't really understand it. Even some coworkers (I am a web developer and naturally work with other people who are experienced with computers and very tech savvy) thought the desktop was gone and everything was the start screen. That's certainly not the case.

Everyone hates the start screen, but people don't realize it's just a full screen start menu. When it boots up just go to your desktop and then it's basically Windows 7. In the first update they've included the ability to boot directly to the desktop so you don't even have to see the start screen.

I would still choose Windows 7 since it's the most popular at the moment, but don't feel like you're descending into the Chaos Sanctuary by going with Windows 8.

vista was the broken OS you're probably thinking about. Win7 has been around for a few years now and I've had very few issues with it

I still think I am the only person in the world that liked Vista and had no problems with it. Granted I did build a new computer just before it was released, but a lot of the issues were driver-related which is not Microsoft's fault. I would choose Vista over XP 10 times out of 10. XP is beyond old. It came out before 9/11. Think about that.

 

[Maltatai]

I'm running windows 8, only for the reason it was the only OS available for the rig when we got it. D2 works without any problem, just be sure to run as administrator and in compatibility mode, the same as with vista and windows 7. As for backups I had the entire D2 folder copied from an external drive, very simple. I have however been running D2 without disc (downloading the installer from blizzard) so I can's say how a usual install would go.

User account control: Still there, can and should still be turned off as soon as possible in my opinion.

Windows 8 is fast when it comes to boot time and overall performance so far. As darkthrone mentions it's the interface that drags it down to the abyss where the Reizarfg rests (see the Arreat summit if you wonder about the metaphor). The idiotic and totally despicable quasi-smartphone start menu is removable and there are several other tricks and settings that can bring back a lot of the usefulness of older systems.
I totally recommend Classic Shell if you go with windows 8. It is a small application that allows you to create a start menu in the old fashion and the option to boot directly to the desktop and some other things. I would say it, or something similar, is a must if you run windows 8 lest you want to end up with the sanity of the high council of zakarum.
Best of luck :wave:

 

[Thyiad]

I run two machines with Win 7 - I came from XP.

The views can sometimes be limited - you have to tell it to give you the extra options - but apart from that it seems ok.

A friend runs Vista. It sucks. Avoid.

Win 8 ... it's new and shiny and frankly I'd avoid it until they make a few updates. I think it now has a start button ...

 

[NoisemakerArrow]

I don't think the security upgrades did much anyway. I use XP and I don't have problems.

"XP is beyond old. It came out before 9/11. Think about that."

Yeah, so? You were born before that too. Does that make you useless? D2 came out before 9/11, so you should stop playing it. If it runs fine, why change it? The newer Windows are garbage (well, so were the older ones). They require twice as much RAM to run games as XP.

When I get a new computer, I'll be switching to Linux and using only open-source programs (which I already do). Everything Microsoft and Google and Apple make is spyware, so I avoid them as much as I can.

 

[Korlic]

NoisemakerArrow: So you dont think a change is necessary? Keeping XP would be the easiest solution and I dont have any need to get a new OS just because my current one is old.

 

[Darkthrone]

"XP is beyond old. It came out before 9/11. Think about that."

Yeah, so? You were born before that too. Does that make you useless?

What? I don't know about you, but I change everyday. I'm not the same person as I was when I was born. XP may have received some service packs and patches, but the underlying architecture is the same. And I never said XP is useless. It's just outdated and has been superseded by more relevant and modern software.

D2 came out before 9/11, so you should stop playing it.

Trying to draw a comparison between a game and an operating system is just laughable. I used 9/11 to illustrate how long ago XP was released. You seem to know something about computers, so you should realize that 13 years in the IT industry is a lifetime. If you don't move forward you get left behind.

If it runs fine, why change it?

The worst mindset one can ever have. I hope you still use IE6. It ran fine, didn't it? Why aren't you still using Windows 98? It was a solid operating system. Why change it?

The newer Windows are garbage (well, so were the older ones). They require twice as much RAM to run games as XP.

Windows 7 is worse than XP? Are you insane? XP wasn't even a solid operating system until the second service pack. Before that it was just as problem-laden as other releases. And who cares about RAM when playing games? Games are more concerned about your graphics card than your RAM. Unless you're still sitting with like 1GB of RAM, you're going to be fine. Also RAM is ridiculously inexpensive; it's the easiest and cheapest way to improve your computer's performance besides purchasing an SSD. Most computers nowadays won't come with anything less than 4GB anyway, so the whole RAM argument is moot.

Everything Microsoft and Google and Apple make is spyware, so I avoid them as much as I can.

lol seriously?

Why even wait for a new computer to install Linux? You seem to hate Windows and closed-source software enough, so why even wait?

NoisemakerArrow: So you dont think a change is necessary? Keeping XP would be the easiest solution and I dont have any need to get a new OS just because my current one is old.

No, stop using XP. Microsoft is dropping support for it in April. No more security updates or patches of any kind. If you don't want to use Windows 8 that's fine, but at least use Windows 7.

 

[NoisemakerArrow]

Why? What's so good about Windows 7? Do you work for Microsoft? Why don't you tell him to use Linux? I'm not switching now because I don't want the hassle of it.

I use Firefox, not IE.

Why buy RAM if you don't have to?

I use Windows XP because that's what my brother loaded on my computer.

Microsoft's support means nothing.

Yeah, seriously. I hope you keep using their products, Facebook and your credit card for every purchase.

 

[pharphis]

Someone is paranoid...

 

[nulio]

With support for XP being stopped, what are the real risks for the normal user? I'm asking cause I'm curious


I kind of agree that someone that just browses the internet, plays D2, listens to music and watches movies might not really need any kind of hardware or software upgrade (I don't know if that's the case of the OP). Not unless some new codecs make his/her system stutter, some new webcode starts to get heavier or for some real security threats.

I do think that everything moves in the direction of making us needing new hardware, even for the most basic stuff. Which is a shame because of all the electronic waste. I do hope that in the future some basic stuff gets standarized and maybe the basic user can get a computer/tablet/wtv for life.

 

[Espr]

Some sort of *nix OS is probably the best bet for maintaining old hardware, but new software. Maintaining compatibility and high efficiency is more strongly pushed in those circles. For example, my old computer would sometimes struggle with the newish H264 codec that a lot of video streams use these days, but showed a marked improvement in performance when using linux to do the same tasks. (rather than XP) That said non-native software is almost always going to run worse than it would on the proper operating system. Dual-booting in this case could be a good longer term solution. Use the outdated XP/2000 for games/software that run there, and use the still maintained *nix for anything where security / efficiency might be a concern, like banking, encoding, etc....

Upgrading to win7 from XP will almost always require new hardware too. Win7 is a fair bit more resource hungry than XP, and won't support older hardware as well as XP will.

Microsoft's compatibility center will help with determining if your current hardware is supported by windows 7 or 8: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/CompatCenter/Home

The larger linux distros should have something similar as well. Googling your hardware in conjunction with the OS should also help find out if any of your hardware pieces are problem items. In your situation Korlic, I would probably try linux first, and see if you can get all the services you want working on that platform first, and look into the non-free options of windows afterwards only if you can't get something important running. Even so, if it's just for a few games, it might be worth looking into dual-booting, and using linux for most everything but a handful of games.

In the case of Diablo 2, it's been a while, but I don't recall having much difficulty getting it running in linux. Though, that said, this was in the days when being a linux user more or less required you also be a bit of a power user, and be comfortable browsing man pages, editing/reading configs, and using bash (or an equivalent) at a minimum. I'm almost certain a popular game like D2 has some help threads/guides for getting it running in wine (or something similar) though.

 

[Drystan]

I still think I am the only person in the world that liked Vista and had no problems with it. Granted I did build a new computer just before it was released, but a lot of the issues were driver-related which is not Microsoft's fault. I would choose Vista over XP 10 times out of 10. XP is beyond old. It came out before 9/11. Think about that.

*hi-5's Darkthrone*

I'm using Vista as well, and have few problems. The ones I do are Flash crashing (say from YT videos,) but I don't know if that's a windows thing.

All new Windows versions have had teetheing challenges at first. They feel different, require more specs, and haven't been tested fully, so a lot of people hang back from the newest version for a bit. Also, there are the initial updates that fix the multitude of bugs initially, but once they're out of the way, people tend to upgrade and... They get used to it - it feels/acts different at first, but they work out where everything is, and get used to it. It happened with XP, Vista, 7, and now to some point, Win 8.
The user account control in Vista was one thing people hated, but that got toned down, and more user friendly, and people are used to it.


As to Microsoft, FB, internet tracking you. Relax. Don't put any nude photos online (or send them to anyone, because they will be saved,) don't post your phone numbers, addresses, personal details, don't download random programs/visit dangerous sites, and you'll be fine.
Yes, data can be (and likely is, NSA) tracked, but don't put personal things on the internet, and you're fine. By all means, avoid online banking and purchases, but if they were as unsafe as you believe they are, the banks would've lost a LOT of money on legal costs and repaying people.

 

[Darkthrone]

Why? What's so good about Windows 7?

What's so good about XP?

A cursory Google search on new features of Windows 7 will answer this for you. Also XP doesn't support SSDs properly. Luckily modern SSDs now have their own TRIM support in the drive controller, but it's usually up to the OS if it uses it. Also Windows 7 is much more secure than XP, if for the simple fact that it's able to build upon the fixes of XP and Vista. I know, I know, they patch Windows 7 all the time, but they're still patching XP to this day, which should also tell you something.

But from a usability standpoint, the new taskbar and search functionality is amazing and improves the usability and experience tremendously. I've never used the Start Menu once since I started using Vista (and now 7). I don't have to. I just hit the Windows Key and start typing what I want and then hit enter. I personally don't use the pinned applications or jump lists, but I know a lot of people who do and they swear by them.

Do you work for Microsoft?

Nope!

Why don't you tell him to use Linux?

I'm assuming you're referring to OP, and the reason is simply because I don't think Linux is the solution in this case. If OP is more of a power user and likes tinkering with his OS and having absolute control over everything, then yeah, Linux is probably a better solution. But it sounds like he wants something that will work pretty well right out of the box and plays games with minimum tinkering.

I'm not switching now because I don't want the hassle of it.

The longer you wait, the more of a hassle it will be. Besides, either you deal with it now or you deal with it later.

I use Firefox, not IE.

So do I. We're twins!

Why buy RAM if you don't have to?

Sure, why buy anything if you don't have to? But the reality is any game that's released on that cusp of supporting all three Windows versions (XP, Vista, and 7), is more geared towards the future versions and only support XP because people will complain. The games on this cusp usually require 1GB or more anyway, which most PCs have.

And from the quick research I did, the increased RAM was for Vista, not 7.

I use Windows XP because that's what my brother loaded on my computer.

I'm not even sure what to say to this.

Microsoft's support means nothing.

Yes it does. Can you base this statement on anything?

Yeah, seriously. I hope you keep using their products, Facebook and your credit card for every purchase.

I use Windows as my OS, but I tend to use other things that are not Microsoft related. I use LibreOffice for my word processing needs (though Wordpad is really good enough in most cases), Firefox for browsing, Trillian for chat, Gmail for email, etc.

I don't really use Facebook, but I do use my credit card for almost everything I buy

With support for XP being stopped, what are the real risks for the normal user? I'm asking cause I'm curious

There are really two things that kind of culminate together. The short answer is malware that exploits vulnerabilities in the OS. These things get patched all the time, usually the second Tuesday of every month (it's known in the industry as "Patch Tuesday"). The other thing is maliciously crafted websites can execute arbitrary code, by exploiting vulnerabilities in the browser, the OS, or both. In fact, just a few days ago at the annual Pwn2Own (annual competition where all the latest browsers and OSes are tested by hackers for prize money), all the browsers/OSes were compromised (including Adobe). Since these are still supported by their vendors, they'll be patched (if they haven't been already).

I'm using Vista as well, and have few problems. The ones I do are Flash crashing (say from YT videos,) but I don't know if that's a windows thing.

It's probably a Flash thing; Adobe updates Flash pretty much every other week. It's incredibly buggy software but it's so ubiquitous (for now).