How to keep Win XP updated

burlmart wrote:

1492 wrote:

A counterpoint is just how long should a company provide free update support for an OS?

Seen correctly, the thing MS did wrong is to force XP users to buy their paradigm over yours. People do not like others to mess w/ their paradigm! I do not buy a laptop to run an OS, I buy it to process my info/data.

All MS just had to say was, "We no longer supply patches to XP," then shut up. Do not try to shame a customer into buying what you sell. The product will speak for itself.

These kinds of ongoing arguments get old fast, and really don't make that much sense? Unless you're prepared to write your own OS, then you are limited to how a company designs theirs. If it doesn't fit your paradigm, then move on and go with another OS? If fact, take the time to learn and adapt to a Linux distro, and you won't have to worry about paying for program changes or updates in the future? It's OS interface and functionality also doesn't change drastically over time.

China may represent the biggest security threat as its estimated that 50% run unsupported WIN XP systems. So says noted security expert James Forshaw, who won Microsoft's $100,000 BlueHat bounty prize for discovering a mitigation flaw in WIN 8.1. He's also won substantial bounty prizes for hacking JAVA, finding four security flaws with IE 11, and believes that tens of millions of WIN XP systems in China could potentially be used as a massive botNet for DoS or hacker attacks, according to a Networkworld.com article.

The problem is exacerbated by what former MS CEO Steve Ballmer claims is that 90% of their product is pirated in China. So likely not updated with security patches, as MS can disable activation of bootlegged copies of their software through updates.

Take the recent Linux botNet as another example? It was subject to a previously undiscovered backdoor Trojan for over two years by a criminal network, which turned 25,000 hijacked web servers into a botNet feeding SPAM laced with Malware infected websites. Though no vulnerability in Linux was exploited. What's ironic is that an installed AV package would have very likely detected the Trojan, but rarely used in Linux servers as considered unnecessary? See ESET: Operation Windigo.

This machine was moved from xp to 7 OK so I can keep the OS protected using MS free antivirus Essentials.

There should be a simple solution to knowing if these updates for a POS machine are the same ones that a business XP is getting.
Surely someone knows or has access to a business XP and could check out the updates and see if they are the same.

Gale Hawkins wrote:
Actually MS is supporting XP for the banking industry since about 80-90% of AMT's still are XP based computers I read.

That's WIN XP embedded as mentioned previously. Though there may be many users still in denial, WIN XP just cannot keep up with the sophistication of hackers exploiting its vulnerabilities. It's based on outdated technology. Even Symantec(aka Norton) reported back in March of a new variant of malware that allowed hackers to continuously withdraw money from ATMs just by sending a SMS text message. Though the money tends to be well protected, access to the ATM's computer/OS apparently not as much so.

1492 wrote:

A counterpoint is just how long should a company provide free update support for an OS?

I buy a new hi-tech car w/ lots of software systems. After 10 years, GM starts hounding me to lose my mechanically sound machine because I cannot reliably continue to use it because its software is known to breakdown w/ time - no more fixes coming from GM.

When I buy a computer device, I see a thing that will allow me to process my info acquisitions and manipulations. The device is one thing, the info is a separate one. If you're looking for dualism, it is Devise/Info. Smartphones are great examples of how we look at computing.

But Microsoft wants us to continue seeing computers as things were like back when you bought the hardware separate from the software. They want the dualism to persist, only they want to have their OS be included w/ your info, not as simply one part of a functional device.

Seen correctly, the thing MS did wrong is to force XP users to buy their paradigm over yours. People do not like others to mess w/ their paradigm! I do not buy a laptop to run an OS, I buy it to process my info/data.

All MS just had to say was, "We no longer supply patches to XP," then shut up. Do not try to shame a customer into buying what you sell. The product will speak for itself.

Actually MS is supporting XP for the banking industry since about 80-90% of AMT's still are XP based computers I read.

1492 wrote:
I read about this hack early on, but not from this site. There's no guarantee that these updates will actually work to patch WIN XP vulnerabilities as they are designed for WIN XP embedded and server applications. Could just end up having a placebo effect? Plus, you don't think MS could kill this in an update that determines you're not running an embedded or server version of WIN XP?

A counterpoint is just how long should a company provide free update support for an OS?

X2

I don't think they'll bother locking out the XP hacker/scavengers. Not worth the money/effort I would think. As much as I hate Windows 8, I can accept that XP has run its course and is ready to be put to bed. At least Windows 7 will be around long enough to get past Win 8. It'll be interesting to see if MS wakes up and decides they want to keep their massive customer base.

That's an option that MS should have explored? They may in fact have done so for the consumer end, which is apparently already available for Enterprise customers? Who knows if they could have garnered enough support subscriptions to make it viable, as so many WIN XP users overseas, appear to be from bootlegged copies?