Microsoft To Abandon Mainstream Support of Windows 7

WHAT?!?! YOU THEAVIN' SO AND SO'S!!!!

Easy there big dog! Ending "mainstream" support is a lot different from "end of support". Between the 2 is "extended support", which means they still give security patches..., but not enhancements. I'm just fine with them not "enhancing" (euphemism for break!) my OS.

This link explains it better.

What, no new bugs?

Fear not. I am sure that they will find a way to integrate them into the security patches.

Yeah, I know. Especially the ".NET" crap. That stuff crops up in most patches, and if there are 3 or more .NET patches, you will have to run the updates again after rebooting, so you can install the patches that fix their last set of patches!

I do almost everything now in OS X.

Interesting. Windows 8 has been banned at work for some reason well above my pay grade. When the support for Windows XP ended, people's budgets were heavily stressed because everyone had to migrate to Windows 7 with new machines. From what I also understand Allen Bradley will not upgrade their PLC programming platform to Windows 8.It looks like their forcing everyone to learn how to run virtual machines using open source operating systems on the host platform with virtual machines inside.

The greedy ogres in Redmond may have pushed things too far this time.

I'm with Kilo. This is a good thing. Less chance for them to break stuff.

I still remember the "fix" that eliminated all the text from most AutoDesk products. That was not a fun time.

Hooker

WOW! My company just dumped XP and went to 7. Is there no end of the BS in sight?

Yes, there is. It's called Linux. Truly. If your company has had its fill of Redmond's BS, it's time to take a serious look at the better alternatives.

If the only thing a company does is number crunching or document production then Linux can get one out of the Redmond pit of despair. However, sometimes development software must be done using Windoze. This is when a Linux machine with a Windoze [98, XP, Vista, 3.11, 7, whatever] virtual machine inside it and isolated from the net will be needed for continued development support.

But you're still running Linux on the bare metal, no? In contrast, when has Redmond ever released a Linux VM to run under Windows for the purpose of Linux development?

Why do you say that Linux is basically only useful for number-crunching or document production? That is a lot like saying a car is only useful to go to the grocery store. Even if that were true, a Linux car would also get you back home. A Windows car? I have my doubts. I've seen those; you've gotta press Start to turn them off.

Yes, in my proposed "fix" the bare metal is running Linux and the proprietary development software is running on an "iso" copy of Windoze virtually inside Linux. My point is will this latest madness from Redmond will they be driving third party development companies away from Windoze for future developments so that their customers don't have to use virtual machines. [Particularly since now only one third party software license is needed to run on multiple identical virtual machines.]

One can certainly hope.

Fingers crossed!

IMHO, Windows (any flavor) is the best thing to ever happen to Linux.

" you've gotta press Start to turn them off."

And use the 'Kill Process' command (Ctrl-Alt-Del) to turn it on.

Kill it to start it, start it to turn it off, Did I just get exposed to Blue Kryptonite (or whatever color it was that made Bizarro, the 'backwards' Superman 'failed clone')?

I was about to say a blunt 'No' to the previous comment. Time to haul up my panties and take your advice very serious.Not sure it's practical for most folk to ditch Windoze, but it's timw to make an escape plan.

Try breaking in a company wide custom build SAP system! Makes all these complaints about Windows seem so very minor and inconsequential.

;)

They don't call SAP the Sorry A$$ Program, for nothing.

No, it's about $100.

I'm a week behind in reading these things, but here's a thought for those of you who say just go to Linux:

http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequirements.html

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-AutoCAD-2014.html

See - no Linux anywhere. It's only a better alternative if it supports the tools you use.

BTW - I really, really (really) wish there was a viable alternative!

I'm surprised that there's no Linux support for SolidWorks.

Dassalt Systems also makes DraftSight, their free alternative to AutoCad, and THAT is available on Linux

Dessault Systems is the little monkey that acts like a big 800lb gorilla in the CAD market because the have the lion's share of that jungle.

Don't worry. Before we know it your Windows operating system won't belong to you at all.

Then, obsolesce will be a thing of the past and for the mere pittance or $50-$100 USD per month your WinCloud OS will always be secure. Except, of course when it crashes, just doesn't work for two days, gets hacked, is pirated, the wind blows, it rains, you fart or your payment gets lost.

Must not be enough wanting to upgrade to Windows 8. It seems to me these support times are getting shorter and shorter.

I hate Windows. It's an abomination...

I just had the machine hang (Win 7) again!