Windows XP Unsupported from April 2014

[Emulator]

XP users are finally being given the boot. I do not appreciate the automation of Windows 8, is Windows 7 any use? Or do XP users turn to something else?

 

[Smile]

Windows 8 is crap if you care about color quality and reliability, Win7 is OK.
Older printers however do not have drivers for win7 be it 32x or 64x system

 

[palombian]

I am since long a happy user of Windows 7 and 8(.1) 64 bit.
Very few compatibility problems, Canon drivers were available soon, and some app's (ex Lightroom) even don't run on XP.
Runs very smooth on older hardware (with minimum 3GB RAM).

 

[The Hat]

The problem that XP users face if they don’t upgrade then they will eventually get hacked (Infected), not right away but later rather than sooner.

That said the biggest problem they have is what do they upgrade too, Win 7 would be the most obvious and best choice but it’s not on sale anymore except for corporate users.

The next step is Win 8.1 but that presents another set of problems like your hardware more in lightly won’t support this newer O/S and the only way out of the dilemma is a new computer !

Now Win 8.1 is no more harder or difficult to use than XP is, it’s very much like the old Win 3.1 (Program Manager) and it does support drivers for most printer and scanners, if you install them correctly (Plug & Play).

The most alarming thing about this change over is the corporate sector, I know here in Ireland, 2/3 of the country are still happily using XP, like banks, Hospitals, Government Depts. and large multinational companies !

It’s going to be very interesting when one or more of these large organisations get brought down by a dedicated hacker and you then find you can’t access you bank account or worse, the power utilities shut down.

The is much speculation as to who’s going to be effected, a little a lot who knows till later in the year, it may turn out to be a damp squib only time will tell..

 

[PeterBJ]

Last autumn I bought a Windows 8 computer, and I was ready to wipe the harddisk and install Windows 7 instead. What made me angry was the missing start button and start menu plus the new "Metro" interface with "tiles" and "apps" which might be good for use with touch screen devices, but hopeless with a traditional screen, keyboard and mouse. Even worse was no apparent support for my old but very good Canon printers.

Luckily the freeware program "Classic Shell" brought back the start button and start menu. I now have a desktop environment that looks like a slightly modernized Windows 2000, with normal Windows functionality, which I find fully acceptable. I almost never use the "Metro" UI.

Luckily the situation is much better than feared for the Canon printers. Plug and play install works perfectly even with the printers not officially supported. If you have printers that support CD printing you will need an add on module for the Windows Update supplied driver, aomwin110ea23, which can be downloaded from the Canon UK website: http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/Cons...x?DLtcmuri=tcm:14-729895&page=1&type=download Even if this module doesn't officially support Win 8 it works well.

I guess I was the first to describe the Win 8/Canon problems on the forum, here are some links: http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/reinstalling-canon-printers-after-a-win-8-1-upgrade.8255/ http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/windows-8-1-upgrade.8238/ http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/windows-8-mouse.8125/page-2 http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...5200-and-other-printers-under-w8-64-bit.8115/

So the situation is not bad for owners of older Canon printers, and Classic Shell brings back the old Windows functionality; after several threads about how I disliked Windows 8, I can of course never write that I have come to like it, so lets just say that with a few tweaks, I find it useful and acceptable.

Linux is another alternative to Windows XP. I specially like Linux Mint and Kubuntu. AFAIK they are the distros with the most Windows like GUIs making them a little more familiar for Windows users. And most Linux distros are free.

 

[Emulator]

Last autumn I bought a Windows 8 computer, and I was ready to wipe the harddisk and install Windows 7 instead. What made me angry was the missing start button and start menu plus the new "Metro" interface with "tiles" and "apps" which might be good for use with touch screen devices, but hopeless with a traditional screen, keyboard and mouse. Even worse was no apparent support for my old but very good Canon printers.

Linux is another alternative to Windows XP. I specially like Linux Mint and Kubuntu. AFAIK they are the distros with the most Windows like GUIs making them a little more familiar for Windows users. And most Linux distros are free.

Thanks Peter for such a thorough resume, so you did not pursue Win 7, in the end, and The Hat says MS have stopped selling it already!

Have you started on Argyll, as you were pondering?

 

[PeterBJ]

I have a Win 7 laptop and I like Win 7, but instead of buying a Win 7 which could still be found when I bought the new computer, I found Win 8 to be OK with Classic Shell installed. Link here: http://www.classicshell.net/

I look forward to threads about how to install Canon printers under Linux with full functionality, maybe we will even see a new Linux forum, when XP is no longer supported. I hope so @Nifty .

 

[stratman]

I made the jump from XP Pro to Windows 8 (then 8.1) Pro x64. I do not use the Metro/Start page/apps. I have not installed any Start Button program such as Classic Shell. All my apps have a desktop icon and whatever else I need - native Windows apps that come with the OS - can be found, though the location of the utilities and apps are different than in XP and I needed to adjust my orientation.

Everything, including my Canon MP830 with the additional app PeterBJ links in his post, has installed effortlessly and worked flawlessly in Windows 8.x. I did upgrade certain apps but others were the same that I used with XP. I have not tried to install my parallel port laser printer, which I rarely used anyways, as I would need to get a parallel port to USB port adapter, some of which apparently do not work as intended, and I am doing fine with the Canon alone.

Microsoft has a web page for checking compatibility of software and hardware based on end users claims of functionality - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/CompatCenter/Home.

There were many adjustments I made to Windows 8.x to get it to where I wanted, functionality- and appearance-wise, just as I did with XP when I first installed it years ago. I would have had to do this with Windows 7, though less of it from what I've read and heard. While there are quirks to Windows 8.x, none are insurmountable or not capable of adjusting to, the OS is rock solid and high performance.

Even though I do not use a traditional Start Button, I agree that MS erred in not including it natively with the new OS. Since there are a number of free and pay Start Button applications available, as well as compatibility for Canon printers, the fear factor for upgrading one day when needed should diminish. Yes, you will need to do some adjusting, but this will happen with either Windows 7 or 8 if you are upgrading from XP. This has always been the plight of a Windows user. We need to learn and adapt with every OS change we install. If you want something more familiar to XP on install then go with Windows 7. I am glad I went with Windows 8, overcame my fear after working with the OS, and have it adjusted to suit my needs well. It is the best Windows OS I've ever used, and I've used Microsoft since MS-DOS days.

 

[The Hat]

I mainly use Win 7 and Win Vista but am been pushed towards Win 8.1, my Win 7 computer, it’s getting a bit tired of late and I am going to need to upgrade it with a new motherboard, Ram and CPU so I will take that opportunity to run Win 8.1 also.

I am not looking forward to mixing it with 9 Canon printers because there’s bound to one or two of them that will refuse to work, not to mention some of the applications I use, I may have to stick to the Win Vista computer until I know all will work with Win 8.1

I also run a Mac on Tiger and I have pretty much the same applications on that as I do on my Windows platform, so it’s not a matter of changing just one computer without changing all of them which I don’t want to do simply because of cost.

I don’t mind having to change to a new system because it’s always interesting and exciting but only if it works with me and not against me, the last thing I need is something sitting in front of me as useless as a brick, @Redbrickman once said that change is inevitable except from a vending machine, I do hope he’s right.. !

 

[Emulator]

It looks like a new computer, Win8 32/64bit?, run in parallel with the XP machine until I and the computer have adjusted.

All these comments are most helpful and I should imagine there are a fair number of people faced with the same problem at the moment.