XP - using after support has ended....

[burgemaster]

I've seen that some large companies still use ms software way after the official support has ended....

 

In case I've missed something, can anyone please assist with points of why we shouldn't / can't use XP after April 2014 in our school???

 

I don't want to say "we can't" and then someone say well actually xxxxx still use xxxxx etc

 

Thanks in advance.

[synaesthesia]

Security - with no patches being issued, the OS and the applications therein such as IE will become inherently less and less secure. Compatibility - software no longer gets made with XP support in mind and companies will be less willing to support any problems you have. Hardware compatibility - new computers and hardware often have no XP drivers available. Memory usage - clearly you won't be using 64bit XP so you won't also be using any more than 3GB of RAM any time soon.

 

SIMS for example is dropping support for XP rather soon...

[Steve21]

There aren't really any points to when you "can't" use XP, as long as MS don't remove downgrade rights, which they may do. Normally after X editions you can't downgrade that far, Like You can't go to 98 from Windows 7 etc etc.

 

In terms of reasons to continue using it, I don't find many either. Lack of support for it will be even worse now with newer versions out (and I'd expect another release after 2014).

 

No real different to "insert old windows here" if you want sitewide 98, there's no reason you can't. But not sure why you'd want to

 

Steve

[FN-GM]

Well there are no bug fixes and security updates after that time. If you use SIMS capita will stop supporting it from next year. So eventually sims wont work on XP. New software (from MS and third parties) you might want to use might not work on XP. Getting new hardware to run on XP is increasing getting harder.

 

Look at it from another view. A good number of computers used in school are directly used to teach the kids IT. It isnt unfair to say that in a few years the population of XP machines at home will be very small. It wont be doing the kids any favors using old software in school, it wont be teaching them how to use the systems at home.

 

The Windows 7 upgrade for us was fairly pain free, no complaints at all form users. It was easy to setup just like XP. It cost no extra for us because of the licensing we use from MS. We haven't looked back.

 

A parent made a comment to me when they looked around the school on open evening. They comment on how we are on Windows 7, how modern we are and the "Rival" school was still on XP. People do notice.

 

@burgemaster what would the reason be to keep it? Personally i cant think of any reason thats a show stopper in regards to upgrading to 7.

Edited November 18, 2012 by FN-GM

[laserblazer]

And don't forget that support on Server 2003 ends around the same time. Even more of an issue if you use SIMS, the next Summer upgrade might be interesting.

[elsiegee40]

I agree with FN-GM.

 

There will be no patches. Any exploits found by malware writers will not be filled. The Anti Virus companies usually drop support for old operating systems pretty quickly after it goes out of support too which leaves your network and data very exposed... which in turn leaves you exposed to failures affecting Teaching & Learning, school operation and Data Protection.

 

Any machines running XP are likely to be ageing and slow. The software you run will stop being compatible. New hardware and peripherals probably won't be compatible.

 

I started jumping up and down at my school 2 years ago about this. I had to give myself 2 summer holidays to replace all the XP hardware and spread the cost.

 

I also agree about the marketing comment. Prospective parents do notice... they will judge your school by the shiny they see and it could well count against the school when they translate this into 'rival school is better'

[synaesthesia]

Also performance. Modern hardware on XP is noticably slower than the same hardware on 7 for multiple reasons. Therefore you could also "sell" the upgrade as making more efficient use of IT.

[CyberNerd]

I think security updates and driver support are the reason to stop using it.

A virtual system is one area where you would likely to continue using XP because you can still use the drivers of the hypervisor and the security problems are of little consequence if you go back to a clean install on each reboot.

 

Also performance. Modern hardware on XP is noticeably slower than the same hardware on 7 for multiple reasons. Therefore you could also "sell" the upgrade as making more efficient use of IT.

 

Have you noticed though - that if you a virtualise Win7 vs WinXP on identical modern hardware then XP is faster - well it is on my system.

[burgemaster]

Thanks for all these, all good points. Think I have everything covered

 

We currently have a select agreement meaning £0 a year for last 8 years, if we move up to win7 etc we will be paying roughly 4k annually from then on. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something before I advise governors in the request for the on going funding.

 

Thanks again

[CyberNerd]

Thanks for all these, all good points. Think I have everything covered

 

We currently have a select agreement meaning £0 a year for last 8 years, if we move up to win7 etc we will be paying roughly 4k annually from then on. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something before I advise governors in the request for the on going funding.

 

Not necessarily - if you have a select agreement now you can still get an upgrade through an academic select agreement. It's what we have done and if you plan if using Win7 for a similar length of time it will certainly be cheaper to continue with select.

[burgemaster]

Can anyone see Windows 7 lasting as long as XP?

It would take roughly 3.5 years to break even. That would be with us still using office 2007 in 2018 !!

[synaesthesia]

No. But you can't compare like for like because everything is moving in a different way to how it was.

[CyberNerd]

Can anyone see Windows 7 lasting as long as XP?

It would take roughly 3.5 years to break even. That would be with us still using office 2007 in 2018 !!

 

You might not be using Office at all in 2018!

[Quackers]

Can anyone see Windows 7 lasting as long as XP?

It would take roughly 3.5 years to break even. That would be with us still using office 2007 in 2018 !!

 

Yes as the primary desktop OS, i have no issues with Windows 8 on a tablet, but i can just see, my self including clinging on to 7 purely because it has a start menu. I think it will out live Windows XP.

[FN-GM]

Can anyone see Windows 7 lasting as long as XP?

 

I think so due to the lack of start menu in Windows 8

[Mr.Ben]

I'm happy with using Windows 8 (With Start8), however 7 will be about for years here, until staff and applications are ready to transition to more touch\mobile devices!

[burgemaster]

Sorry I meant last as long as xp has in total , Xp will be 12 years old 2014, so to break even on cost with select, w7 will have to last till 2018 for us and till 2022 to rival how long xp has lasted us.

 

I think by 2018 plenty will have changed.

And paying out around 15k (select) for just win7 and stay on office/exchange 2007 wouldn't make sense.

 

But if we were happy with office 2007 and win 7 till 2020 we would have made quite a saving. But again can't see that happening!!

[FN-GM]

Have you looked into EEES? We saved allot by having that.

[Arthur]

Have you looked into EEES? We saved allot a lot by having that.

Don't you mean EES?

[FN-GM]

A little bit fedup of apple doing my spelling!

[burgemaster]

Have you looked into EEES? We saved allot by having that.

 

Hi,

Yes, sorry I did mean EES when I mentioned "School Agreement", as I thought that EES was the replacement and it had just been renamed.

[FN-GM]

If your a small school it shouldnt cost you allot.

[burgemaster]

105 FTE = £3507 per year

[sonofsanta]

Zero day exploits. Just that.

 

Windows XP has had enormous amounts of zero-day exploits taken advantage of - mostly to knacker the Iranian nuclear programme, but still - and it is a certainty that there are plenty of crackers out there sitting on zero-day exploits hoping no-one else uses them and gets them patched before April 2014. The day after XP support ends, I reckon there will be at least half a dozen new viruses we've not seen before attacking XP, knowing that they'll not be fixed and they have free rein to stomp all over an OS that will still be far too widely used.