

Windows XP: Microsoft’s ticking time bomb - hseldon15
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/386077/windows-xp-microsoft-s-ticking-time-bomb

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gpcz
When DNSChanger was spreading, the FBI eventually shut down their command &
control servers, which disconnected approximately 300000 computers from the
Internet. Although it was an indirect shutdown of peoples' Internet
connections, there wasn't much of an outcry when it happened.

If Windows XP gets sufficiently targeted by malware authors using derivative
Vista/7 zero-days unlatched in XP, is there a point where it makes more sense
to forcefully disconnect WinXP machines from the Internet for the greater
health of the Internet?

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Casseres
All it would take is something like the Morris worm.

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dded
The looming end of XP comes up periodically, usually with some mention of
needed enterprise and small business software that does not run on anything
else. (I recently noticed that my dentist's systems were running XP; and
wondered, without asking, if she could upgrade even if she wanted to.)

But I think part of the problem is that it's so inconvenient for an individual
to move from an XP machine even if (s)he can--even moving to another XP
machine is a pain. I remember our VP turning down a laptop upgrade (this was
2006 or so) because she didn't want to fuss with the settings on a new
machine. Coming from a VMS/Unix/Linux background, this just struck me as out-
of-place (though, of course, I'd gone through the same difficulty at home).

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kirtijthorat
Microsoft should follow Apple move and make its latest Windows 8.1 operating
system free to all Windows users. The time has come for Microsoft to take "a
page from Apple’s playbook" and offer existing Windows users a free upgrade.
Google has been selling Chromebook laptops with Chrome OS (free updates
forever) and is currently selling like a hot cake. I have already moved away
from Windows to Chrome OS and will do that for home PC. I bet there are many
fence-sitters who are in the same boat and Microsoft has a chance to pull them
by offering free upgrade.

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pkulak
Pretty sure my dad's 12-year-old machine has no hope of running Windows 8, and
even if it could, what exactly would be the upgrade path?

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joehillen
A hammer.

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o_nate
Seems like there would be a good opening for a third-party company to offer XP
support updates going forward on a subscription basis. If hackers can reverse
engineer updates and figure out the weaknesses, couldn't another company do
the same but offer the patches?

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jboggan
There are still so many ATMs running Windows XP. Not that the regional banks
running them are actually patching them in the first place, but still.

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datphp
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt ATMs are connected directly to the
internet.

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jboggan
They are, and if you flip one hardware switch inside you go into diagnostic
mode and can print out the IP and all config information and trivially
reconfigure without any sort of security or logging. The days of expensive
dedicated lines are long gone. Most ATMs run off of the bank location's LAN,
which given the quality of regional banking IT is not secured all that well.

A lot of the machines I worked on in remote locations (in highrise offices
away from bank locations) were hooked up through the building's wifi via a
wireless router sitting unsecured on top of the machine, just out of sight. I
mean, you have easy physical access to the connections in that case.

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ChrisAntaki
Hopefully this will lead to more people installing Ubuntu, which has a modern
browser (Firefox) bundled as the default browser.

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IsTom
I've had a bad experience with Unity, it would be too big of a switch. I doubt
it would work on xp machines anyway.

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ChrisAntaki
I've been using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS in a VirtualBox with 512mb of memory - it
runs surprisingly well.

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dmfdmf
Can a WinXP mode app in Win7 be safely isolated from the network, accessing
local files only so it can't be exploited?

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jve
You mean Windows XP Mode? Well you can completely disable networking in
settings, or set to "Internal network" to be able to only communicate with
host. However if host is infected with some network-spreading virus, I suspect
XP still could get infected.

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motyar
Time to install Ubuntu.

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actsasbuffoon
I'm not sure why you got down-voted, as that seems like a reasonable strategy
for some businesses.

Many of these companies are running old hardware that can't handle a newer
flavor of Windows, but many variants of Linux are comparatively lightweight.
Most of the applications they use will either be cross-platform or there will
be a reasonable replacement. Several distros have commercial support, which is
important for businesses.

That's not to say that transition would be painless, but I think it's going to
be a viable option for some people.

