The 2016 Operating System Thread

[momaka]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

^
I havent done an XP install in ages. Are the activation servers still alive?

Franky, I haven't a clue either.
My legit XP boxes were set up 3+ years ago and I haven't really had to touch them since. That said, I have done quite a few XP installs in the last 3 years, but they were all temporary PCs for testing hardware, so I never bothered to activate a key on them. Most were temp/trial versions.

[tom66]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

Windows 7 & Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on main desktop (main use)

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on Thinkpad laptop (rarely used)

Android 4.4.2 on Samsung Galaxy S4 phone

OSMC + Kodi on two Raspberry Pi 2 SBCs (media playback sources)

FreeNAS 8.0 (modified FreeBSD) on NAS server

...and my Panasonic plasma in my bedroom runs some bodged version of Linux modified by Panasonic. It has a licence agreement you can view in the setup menu. All 80 pages of it.

[R_J]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

^
I havent done an XP install in ages. Are the activation servers still alive? I still have one XP box remaining in my fleet.

I just did a windows xp pro install using the key from the sticker and it activated and updated no problem. Some people still like it for some things even if they also have a newer os on another pc.
I also use XP and windows 7 among others

[Sparkey55]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

Franky, I haven't a clue either.
My legit XP boxes were set up 3+ years ago and I haven't really had to touch them since. That said, I have done quite a few XP installs in the last 3 years, but they were all temporary PCs for testing hardware, so I never bothered to activate a key on them. Most were temp/trial versions.

If you do a Microsoft update from a clean install of Xp with SP3 intergrated it is something like over 200 boxes checked for security and all the optional items including SP fixes, dot net frameworks and updates to updates. Microsoft should have put out a SP4 for XP in my opinion.

[Sparkey55]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

I just did a windows xp pro install using the key from the sticker and it activated and updated no problem. Some people still like it for some things even if they also have a newer os on another pc. I also use it

Most of my computer hardware is most happy with Vista, XP and 98 era drivers also.

[mariushm]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

I see a single vote for Windows XP. I wonder who that might be now?

It wasn't me, but I do have an old IBM Thinkpad T40 laptop with Windows XP on it.

It's a good machine to watch movies for 2-3 hours on the train, or take advantage of its serial port and portability on occasion.

Didn't think it was worth mentioning, it's old enough that more modern OS'es wouldn't work right on it.

[momaka]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

If you do a Microsoft update from a clean install of Xp with SP3 intergrated it is something like over 200 boxes checked for security and all the optional items including SP fixes, dot net frameworks and updates to updates.

Yeah, I never bother with that.
Simply install and go. Usually SP3 or SP2 with KB958644. KB958644 is important for SP2, because otherwise you get the DownAdUp worm quickly. Not sure how, but I guess there are still PCs out there on the internet with unpatched PCs that spread it around. The worst part is that you don't have to visit an infected website - it just spreads as long as you are connected to the internet and running an unpatched SP2. At least, that is my experience.

It wasn't me, but I do have an old IBM Thinkpad T40 laptop with Windows XP on it.

Yeah, I was just playing around. I couldn't resist casting the first XP vote.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

Franky, I haven't a clue either.
My legit XP boxes were set up 3+ years ago and I haven't really had to touch them since. That said, I have done quite a few XP installs in the last 3 years, but they were all temporary PCs for testing hardware, so I never bothered to activate a key on them. Most were temp/trial versions.

XP corporate edition ftw

[Topcat]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

XP corporate edition ftw

If you don't have a valid VLK, those won't download post SP3 security updates though....atleast that's the way it used to be anyway...

[eccerr0r]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

It looks like Newegg and other vendors have increased the price of i7-6700's ($419) over MSRP ($350) due to a shortage of sorts... not sure if this is a good (people still wanting desktops) or bad (price is higher) thing.

[Compgeke]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

If you don't have a valid VLK, those won't download post SP3 security updates though....atleast that's the way it used to be anyway...

As far as I know it still is that way. I do have a valid corporate key (not google or keygen) that I use though. Comes in handy that one time a year I need to install XP on something for some legacy hardware or software that won't work in a VM.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

winxp 4tw! im still spreading the love for winxp around. dont see the need to "upgrade" to another version of windows when its not really an upgrade...

i may upgrade to win 7 64bit on my core 2 systems but only when i acquire enuff high speed low latency 2gb ddr2 dimms to get past 4gb of ram.

and yes i still use win98se (dual boot with winxp) for my p4 and athlon64 rigs for old school classic gaming. they just dont make games like they used to. likewise with hardware.

i also use live sessions of linux ubuntu for data recovery with gnu ddrescue, benchmarking and stress testing of my overclocks with prime95 before loading windows. i've heard too many horror stories of a bricked windows due to an unstable overclock. so linux is just great for catching a system that has been unstably overclocked.

Linux is great for servers but would not suit my needs as a desktop OS.

yes. its quite unfortunate that you need to be a master at the linux console/terminal/commandline to truly make it usable as a desktop os.

Server runs debian 7.6 but that's because I'm too lazy to upgrade something that only runs an IRCd on an Intel Galileo (lots of potential to break the OS).

well if it aint broke, dont fix it is all i can say.

It looks like Newegg and other vendors have increased the price of i7-6700's ($419) over MSRP ($350) due to a shortage of sorts... not sure if this is a good (people still wanting desktops) or bad (price is higher) thing.

could be companies upgrading their hardware to skylake for the new year or ppl buying/building new comps for xmas/new year.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

If you don't have a valid VLK, those won't download post SP3 security updates though....atleast that's the way it used to be anyway...

I download them offiline with WSUS when needed.

http://download.wsusoffline.net/

[xelectech]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

Another vote for XP pro sp3 = actually, I've got 4 xp boxes, mainly for video-editing and movie watching;

and 2 linux boxes, Ubuntu 10.04 for web surfing/searching and AV Linux 6.04, still learning,
or rather hoping to learn all of it's video and audio editing tools.

[TechGeek]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

I triple-boot between 3 OS'es. It used to be 4, but Microsoft killed off the W10 Technical Preview. I think it was Build 9879, too. As of right now, I have:

• Main OS: Ubuntu 15.04
• Backup OS: Windows 7
• Last Resort OS: Windows 8.1

In April 2016, all HDD's in the system will be wiped, and some major upgrades will happen, and the OS's that will be reinstalled are:

• Main OS: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
• Backup OS: Windows 7

Now, I have some words:

C'MON, APRIL 2016!!

[momaka]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

XP corporate edition ftw

I actually have one too. It's pre-activated too. But I've been reluctant to use it all these years since it's from an IT internship I did a few years back. I'm pretty sure that company has already switched to Windows 7 or newer, though. So I probably could use it now. But even what I have right now works too .

and yes i still use win98se (dual boot with winxp) for my p4 and athlon64 rigs for old school classic gaming. they just dont make games like they used to. likewise with hardware.

98SE? Awesome, haha
I need to find me a copy of that. Even though XP still works great on old Pentium II and Pentium III PCs, I think I should put Windows 98 or 98SE at least on one - partly for nostalgia and partly for some older games. In particular, I have this one game (Need For Speed High Stakes or NFS 4) that runs okay on half of my XP PCs with some tweaks and fixes. But on the other half, it's glitches upon glitches.

And yeah, newer games aren't necessarily more fun, in my opinion. Just better graphics, that's all.

Anyways, I'm surprised to see this many votes still going for XP. Doing better than Windows 10 so far.

[TELVM]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

Windows 7 on every decent comp I got around, XP on some relics.

Given that MS no longer releases usable OS's, I'm reluctantly preparing transition to Linux at some point (the latter the better) beyond 2020.

I'm not touching any of those post-Se7en jokes of OS with a ten-foot pole.

... I'm surprised to see this many votes still going for XP. Doing better than Windows 10 so far.

You shouldn't be surprised, this thread is a representative sample of what's going on all around.

[Topcat]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

I actually have one too. It's pre-activated too.

I have that as well, with several valid VLK's. its nice having low friends in high places. Back when XP was the flagship of MS, those keys were pure gold!! I have 1 XP box in my fleet that I use regularly, and several that aren't used much. Security isn't the reason I departed XP on my main rigs, as I know how to secure my systems...it was mainly software support, especially with x64, which was the workhorse of my XP fleet.

[Hondaman]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

Main machine: 8-core AMD 8150, completely passive-cooled Radeon 6770, 16 GB RAM: Windows 7 Pro and Mandriva 2010.2. I'll probably switch to Win 7 Pro/Mageia 5 soon, because of weird problems with Thunderbird for Mandriva that I'm too lazy to fix.

(Interesting, 5 years ago I used Linux 99% of the time, now I use Win 7 Pro 99% of the time. But after using Win 8 in a hotel lobby in 2015, I have no plans to move past Win 7 Pro. 5 years from now I'll probably be using Linux 99% of the time again!)

DVR machine #1 - Mythbuntu (Ubuntu, not sure which version, with Myth TV PVR extensions). Intel DH77EB multimedia board, i3-3245 CPU w/stock cooler. 2 GB RAM. I don't use this machine much, because I control an HD Homerun Dual device, and it requires an UNACHIEVABLY STRONG SIGNAL. Many of my recordings are garbage, even with ZERO clouds, and I can see several Louisville KY television transmitter towers from my back yard. (I have a single-bay Gray-Hoverman in my attic pointed straight at the towers).

DVR machine #2 - Kodi PVR (formerly XBMC) version 15.2 "Isengard" running on Ubuntu 14. Running on Asus P5MX/1333, 4 GB RAM (dual core 32-bit Pentium D, 3 GHz). I got the Windows MCE remote (with the USB receiver) working a couple of hours ago. Next, I need to switch to a passive (2U) CPU cooler for quieter operation (Dynatron passive cooler is good).

Phone - replaced an Android LG39C, 512 MB RAM (made exclusively for TracFone) with an Android Samsung Galaxy S5 (NIB, about a month ago). The TracFone was hanging up on every call after about one minute, maybe it was bad soldering. TF's $10 phones are okay, but if their phone costs $50-$60 or more, it'll die right after the warranty.

[Uniballer]

Re: The 2016 Operating System Thread

I'm mainly on *BSD, with Linux for a few systems, and Windows where the users can't cope with anything else.