Hi Charles, The problem is that trying to maintain old software uses up a lot of resources and becomes very expensive. It is almost impossible to create bug-free software without expending huge amounts of software. NASA, for example, spends billions of dollars and countless months of testing to ensure that their software is bug-free. That's just not feesible with a piece of software as complex as an operating system. You might think Windows XP is stable and bug-free, but I can guarantee you that it's not and never will be. Every month, Microsoft releases several patches to fix problems, and when XP leaves support in 2014, 13 years after it was released, there will still be countless bugs that haven't been discovered.
You could ask the question, why can't MS just keep supporting XP? Because by then, they'll be trying to support Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows 8, Windows 8 Server, and the next version of Windows will be in development. They can't just keep supporting old operating systems forever, because eventually they'll be expending all their resources trying to support old code and trying to build new technologies on top of it. There's a reason Windows 9X was abandoned in favor of NT-based operating systems such as XP, and that's because those systems were no longer meeting peooples' needs and couldn't keep up with new technology. On 12/12/11, Charles Rivard <[email protected]> wrote: > Sort of like paying for a whole bunch of benefits that are provided by a > hotel that you won't be using, in case you did want to use them. That part > I understand. But building a new one every 2 years or so and, after a time, > closing the older one that is more popular and that no longer has plumbing > or electrical problems, so that the customer must use the one that still has > the bugs in it? That's what I don't like. If I have something that is > stable and basically reliably bug free, why should I have to get the new one > that is not? If they want to make more money, their product should be worth > the cost we must pay. Service packs for XP were free of charge, and they > fixed what we had to pay for, that was broke, to begin with. Windows 7 > fixed the Vista bugs, and I think we had to pay for both? I might be wrong > in that one, though. > > --- > "Security is not the absence of danger. It is the presence of the Lord." > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Thomas Ward" <[email protected]> > To: "Gamers Discussion list" <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 1:18 AM > Subject: Re: [Audyssey] my beef about Microsoft - Re: plans for an updated > Lone Wolf > > >> Hi ?Charles, >> >> Well, let me answer your question with a question. How do you expect >> them to make money if they don't continually release upgrades? >> >> It sounds to me like your question is along the lines of "if it ain't >> broke don't fix it." While it might seem like you are paying money to >> do the same old things with OS that takes more memory, more CPU power, >> etc but I don't think you are paying attention to features or upgrades >> that have been added to the operating system. Let's use Windows >> Explorer as a simple example here. >> >> Back in Windows 98 you could not burn cds or dvds through Windows >> Explorer. Beginning with Windows XP you could burn data cds and music >> cds directly from Windows Explorer. In Windows 7 you can burn data >> cds, music cds, data dvds, and make video dvds by burning avi and mpg >> files to dvd all through Windows Explorer. My point being that we can >> clearly see new features like this being added to each successive >> version of Windows Explorer. Its really not a case of the same thing >> different version as a lot of other Windows programs have undergone a >> similar evolution. Weather you use those new features or not is really >> beside the point. >> >> The way I read your message is Microsoft doesn't do anything new or >> different from one version of Windows to the next accept make the OS >> more bloated, more of a memory hog, and there is nothing to ever >> recommend upgrading. I suppose some of what you say has some truth to >> it, but as I said above I think its simply a case of not taking >> advantage of the features and updates that are there. >> >> For instance,in Windows 7 there are a number of gadgets, little >> applets, you can dock to your desktop to monitor stocks and other real >> time information. Well, obviously if you don't follow the stock market >> and don't use the stock ticker gadget that would seem like a pretty >> useless upgrade to you personally. However, I'm sure there are plenty >> of people who buy and trade stocks online who happen to use that >> little stock ticker gadget, and for them upgrading from Windows XP to >> Windows 7 would have features they find useful in trading stocks. >> >> My point being not everything Microsoft adds to the latest Windows >> release will be important to you personally and it may even seem like >> the same thing different version, but for someone like me its really >> and truly not the same thing. There are a number of reasons a person >> might choose to upgrade weather it is bug fixes, security fixes, a new >> look and feel, more gadgets, additional features, whatever. It all >> depends on how much or how little you get out of your computer to >> begin with. >> >> Cheers! >> >> >> On 12/11/11, Charles Rivard <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Do they really have to continually upgrade the operating system and >>> programs, making more power hogs, making us buy more powerful computers >>> to >>> do the same tasks we were previously doing but having to use more >>> powerful >>> processors and use more of the resources to do those tasks? Why can't >>> they >>> just leave well enough alone once they get a system that actually does >>> what >>> it's supposed to do? >>> >>> --- >>> "Security is not the absence of danger. It is the presence of the Lord." >> >> --- >> Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] >> If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to >> [email protected]. >> You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at >> http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. >> All messages are archived and can be searched and read at >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. >> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the >> list, >> please send E-mail to [email protected]. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
