The History Lessons of Windows XP
Cross-posting this forum thread from the GaiaOnline C&T Tech Talk forums and I'm bringing this here in the deviantART Software & OS forums.
As you may have already noticed this past week in my previous forum thread, Microsoft has ended support for an estimated 500 million users who are still running Windows XP right now. And now that Windows XP is no longer officially supported, let's take a look back and tell me this...
1. What was it like to use a computer when Windows XP came out? Did you like it or hated it?
2. How long did you use Windows XP before you moved on to a new operating system/computer?
3. And if you can't afford one, are you still using Windows XP?
By re-installing Windows XP under VirtualBox later tonight, I'm gonna see what the future looked like over 12 years ago.
To give a refreshment of the memory lane, here's a good article on why people hated Windows XP before they loved it: arstechnica.com/information-te…
As you may have already noticed this past week in my previous forum thread, Microsoft has ended support for an estimated 500 million users who are still running Windows XP right now. And now that Windows XP is no longer officially supported, let's take a look back and tell me this...
1. What was it like to use a computer when Windows XP came out? Did you like it or hated it?
2. How long did you use Windows XP before you moved on to a new operating system/computer?
3. And if you can't afford one, are you still using Windows XP?
By re-installing Windows XP under VirtualBox later tonight, I'm gonna see what the future looked like over 12 years ago.
To give a refreshment of the memory lane, here's a good article on why people hated Windows XP before they loved it: arstechnica.com/information-te…
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I was like...in third grade or so when my family got our first computer. It was a big hulking desktop with a glass monitor, and the OS was Windows XP, of course. I wasn't old enough to really have an opinion, but I enjoyed Windows XP a lot, if I recall. During middle school I actually got serious about using the computer for art, and I had Photoshop CS2 on it, which was a lot of fun. I liked that you could change the colors of the windows and taskbar from blue to silver to green, and also switch back to a Windows 2000 looking interface.
My mother got a laptop a few years later, and it had the Windows Vista OS, which I preferred more. Around ninth or tenth grade, I got my own laptop, which had Windows 7, which is my all time favorite. My dad still uses the XP computer, and I used it for around 5-6 years.
Now, I own a Windows 8 desktop, which, although I don't care much for the new start menu, is a nice OS. I also have a Linux computer now with Ubuntu 13.10, so that's been fun to work with and an interesting change from Windows.
My mother got a laptop a few years later, and it had the Windows Vista OS, which I preferred more. Around ninth or tenth grade, I got my own laptop, which had Windows 7, which is my all time favorite. My dad still uses the XP computer, and I used it for around 5-6 years.
Now, I own a Windows 8 desktop, which, although I don't care much for the new start menu, is a nice OS. I also have a Linux computer now with Ubuntu 13.10, so that's been fun to work with and an interesting change from Windows.
There were no "big hulking computers when you were in 3rd grade. Now I remember when we were getting a small specially designed main frame to replace our old five story job. Now that was progress. The new one only took up half a room.
compared to my four foot third grade self, it was pretty damn hulking.
Wonderful! 
When my laptop died, I felt that I hated newer PCs for a while when I downgraded my main desktop computer from Windows XP to Windows 2000 and remained there for more than four years until I got tired of it.
When my laptop died, I felt that I hated newer PCs for a while when I downgraded my main desktop computer from Windows XP to Windows 2000 and remained there for more than four years until I got tired of it.
1. What was it like to use a computer when Windows XP came out? Did you like it or hated it?
It was the beginning of first grade for me when XP came out, and so I don't remember using it much until about third/fourth grade -- our school's computers either didn't run it or were still using that Ye Olde Windows 98 GUI -- ditto at home. I was just happy that it worked, and seemed so new and shiny and all that. (Young me mostly played games, so as long as my computer could run The Sims and access the internet for downloads, I didn't care!)
2. How long did you use Windows XP before you moved on to a new operating system/computer?
I still have a couple ancient towers running XP. When my main gaming computer at the time died, I went to a Vista laptop about the time that was new. It was... okay. Not especially crashy, just slooooow as hell. Then Windows 7 came out and I fell in love with it, to the point that I downgraded my latest laptop from 8 (preinstalled) to 7.
3. And if you can't afford one, are you still using Windows XP?
Again, I have a couple towers that still run it, but my main machine is running 7.
MISCELLANEOUS ANECDOTE: The first time I ever used the ATM outside my local bank, I crashed it to a Blue Screen of Death. I was such an idiot -- the machine had spit my debit card back out at me prematurely, so I panicked and shoved it back in the machine. Voila, BSOD and jammed debit card. That Saturday was the day I learned ATMs ran Windows XP, and the day that I massively inconvenienced a lot of people for hours until the bank opened and they could get my card out of the ATM. Good times.
It was the beginning of first grade for me when XP came out, and so I don't remember using it much until about third/fourth grade -- our school's computers either didn't run it or were still using that Ye Olde Windows 98 GUI -- ditto at home. I was just happy that it worked, and seemed so new and shiny and all that. (Young me mostly played games, so as long as my computer could run The Sims and access the internet for downloads, I didn't care!)
2. How long did you use Windows XP before you moved on to a new operating system/computer?
I still have a couple ancient towers running XP. When my main gaming computer at the time died, I went to a Vista laptop about the time that was new. It was... okay. Not especially crashy, just slooooow as hell. Then Windows 7 came out and I fell in love with it, to the point that I downgraded my latest laptop from 8 (preinstalled) to 7.
3. And if you can't afford one, are you still using Windows XP?
Again, I have a couple towers that still run it, but my main machine is running 7.
MISCELLANEOUS ANECDOTE: The first time I ever used the ATM outside my local bank, I crashed it to a Blue Screen of Death. I was such an idiot -- the machine had spit my debit card back out at me prematurely, so I panicked and shoved it back in the machine. Voila, BSOD and jammed debit card. That Saturday was the day I learned ATMs ran Windows XP, and the day that I massively inconvenienced a lot of people for hours until the bank opened and they could get my card out of the ATM. Good times.
It's obvious that almost all ATMs still run Windows XP and they might not be able to upgrade to Windows 7 too much longer as Microsoft will kill pre-installation sales of the OS soon.
I stopped using Windows XP as my main OS when I move to Vsta on my laptop before the integrated GPU chip on the motherboard got fried. It wasn't until earlier this year when I switched back to Windows Vista on this new computer and regardless of the glitches, I love it!
I stopped using Windows XP as my main OS when I move to Vsta on my laptop before the integrated GPU chip on the motherboard got fried. It wasn't until earlier this year when I switched back to Windows Vista on this new computer and regardless of the glitches, I love it!
If you think about it XP was so popular that they kept classic modes to emulate some of its features in the next few later versions of Windows, Vista and 7.
I saw versionbs of XP everywhere in embedded systems too on all manner of devices.
I saw versionbs of XP everywhere in embedded systems too on all manner of devices.
The reason for backwards compatibility is not that the old os was better, but that the new os doesn't suport older programs. My favorite game has always been warcraft ll which cannot be played on later than windows 98.
Subjectively I'll admit feeling a certain charm towards the UI experience when I booted XP for the first time once I'd moved up from 2000 and the glitchfest before it that was Windows ME.
I kind of like XP over Vista but grew to like 7 once I reached the ceiling of pushing computing limitations on XP past where people had intended 32 bit stuff to go.
I can kinda relate to nostalgic gaming on older versions of Windows, since alot of my favorites as a kid were on machines that ran Windows 95 for the OS.
Little tear to my eye everytime I see a picture of that power down screen of red letters on black that goes: It is now safe to shut off your computer.
Warcraft II eh? I seem to remember physically going to computer stores to buy stuff on CDs in boxes that had cover art (back when that was a thing) and seeing a whole bunch of expansions on display and in bins that involved special orc siege engines and new classes for the humans and elves, maybe a few extra campaigns?
Come to think of it though, I bet if you really wanted to you could run a virtual machine environment and have a computer pretend to be using the older OS through emulation in liu of "classic mode". I had a few sound card issues though when trying to run old floppy games though...
Sorry about the tangent there.
[You've] Got me there, I think if I had to get down to it, part of why I liked XP more than Vista, the real reason probably had to do with stability issues and bugs in the early run versions when Vista first rolled out. Was it more stable later by the time they got into Service Packs 2 and 3? I remember lots of people complaining that SP1 was super buggy.
I kind of like XP over Vista but grew to like 7 once I reached the ceiling of pushing computing limitations on XP past where people had intended 32 bit stuff to go.
I can kinda relate to nostalgic gaming on older versions of Windows, since alot of my favorites as a kid were on machines that ran Windows 95 for the OS.
Little tear to my eye everytime I see a picture of that power down screen of red letters on black that goes: It is now safe to shut off your computer.
Warcraft II eh? I seem to remember physically going to computer stores to buy stuff on CDs in boxes that had cover art (back when that was a thing) and seeing a whole bunch of expansions on display and in bins that involved special orc siege engines and new classes for the humans and elves, maybe a few extra campaigns?
Come to think of it though, I bet if you really wanted to you could run a virtual machine environment and have a computer pretend to be using the older OS through emulation in liu of "classic mode". I had a few sound card issues though when trying to run old floppy games though...
Sorry about the tangent there.[You've] Got me there, I think if I had to get down to it, part of why I liked XP more than Vista, the real reason probably had to do with stability issues and bugs in the early run versions when Vista first rolled out. Was it more stable later by the time they got into Service Packs 2 and 3? I remember lots of people complaining that SP1 was super buggy.
Infact, Windows XP is still supported, but only until January 2016. XPe can be found in most ATMs right now.
I feel like it was definitely an improvement over Windows 2000 but overall I prefer 7 to Vista and 8.
Windows XP is based on the Windows 2000 codebase, btw. I'll eventually stick with Vista...especially when I get the RAM upgraded someday. 
Ty.
The more you know!
The more you know!View all replies
1.) When XP first came out I thought it was pretty neat, though I was hesitant to give up 98SE. Even though I first used it some time around 2002, I didn't actually have my own machine with XP until 2005, and I still ended up dual-booting that machine with 98SE a little bit later on just to play some older games. 
2.) I used XP 32-bit as my main OS up until just under a year ago, when I decided to install XP 64-bit. XD In other words, I'm still using it. I have a laptop that runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit however, though it's moreso because I couldn't find working XP drivers for its onboard devices.
3.) I would probably be dual-booting 7 with XP on my desktop right now, if it weren't for the fact that new copies of 7 are expensive, and I don't feel like going through the trouble of getting an *ahem* less-legitimate copy of 7 working.
2.) I used XP 32-bit as my main OS up until just under a year ago, when I decided to install XP 64-bit. XD In other words, I'm still using it. I have a laptop that runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit however, though it's moreso because I couldn't find working XP drivers for its onboard devices.
3.) I would probably be dual-booting 7 with XP on my desktop right now, if it weren't for the fact that new copies of 7 are expensive, and I don't feel like going through the trouble of getting an *ahem* less-legitimate copy of 7 working.
I used Windows XP for more than five years before moving on to Windows Vista and then back to Windows 2000 before moving back to Windows Vista, which is where I'm at now.
I remember in 2002 not liking it at first because the start menu looked different lol. But when I realized it had much better stability and performance than Win98, I got used to it very quickly.
Nowadays I don't much like Windows anymore, and prefer Linux instead.
Nowadays I don't much like Windows anymore, and prefer Linux instead.
When did you stop using Windows? A couple of years back?
1995
That was a awful long time ago and it's one of the reasons why you never used Windows XP.
I used Win 95, 98, ME, XP, and 7.
I see what you mean. It seems that you stopped using your PC at home sometime in early 1995.
Oh, and I also used Win 3.1
Actually, I've always used my PC at home, just that a year ago, I tried Linux, and like it enough to want to get rid of Windows.
Actually, I've always used my PC at home, just that a year ago, I tried Linux, and like it enough to want to get rid of Windows.
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