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microsoft dropping windows xp

englanddg

englanddg

One Little Spark...
coilback said:
As a former CM at Disney and ex-Tech Support guy at Microsoft (and a few other companies that used a lot of Windows based products), I can maybe shed a bit of insight (but no actual first hand facts, heh)...

Prepare for boring tech explanation:

On the Microsoft end, Disney is more than likely using OEM licenses. If you ever had an OEM version of Windows and tried to call Microsoft for support you probably reached someone who worked in the same position I used to telling you to contact your computer's manufacturer for support. The reasoning is, Microsoft sells OEM licenses (in effect "copies" of the software - won't go into detail on that here) and the only major difference between that and a retail copy of the software is that the OEM "distributor" agrees to provide support rather than Microsoft. This technically saves Microsoft money in having to pay techs to deal with someone calling for support.

What this means on the Disney side is that a big company, such as Disney with their own IT department, doesn't need the tech support that Microsoft would provide. Therefore on that end, it doesn't affect them much. On top of that, obviously Microsoft wouldn't be providing updates and patches, but in all reality they've patched just about anything they can on that program (see, "polish a turd" reference), so it should be good for the foreseeable future. In my experience as an Entertainment Tech for Disney, they don't update ANYTHING, software or equipment wise, until they are pretty much forced to. So basically at some point, yes, it will be upgraded, but not anytime in the near future as most companies will milk everything they can out of a system before doing the expense (including potential hardware upgrades, training hours, etc) of switching to a new one.

Anyone still awake?
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Can I say, as someone who has worked MS contracts larger than Disney, that MS has crappy tech support? Even paid?

There is no money is support, MS saw that early on.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Victor Kelly said:
Good, go to linux, better right off the bat.
Click to expand...

Disney wont change anything until they are forced to. Just because it would 1 - make sense and 2 - save money in the long run, current management is not interested in long term savings/profit, theyre interested in here-and-now profit. That way everyone gets their bonuses.
 
englanddg

englanddg

One Little Spark...
I don't mind any of that since I run most clients in a kiosk mode.

What bothers me is that they are so willing to shill the UI.

It's not that great a UI.
 
N

nyfrenchy

Active Member
Last year I saw one computer running a slideshow on one of the monitors inside the Conservation Station rebooting.... it was running Windows 98!
 
prberk

prberk

Well-Known Member
Corey P said:
BTW Bought a cheap laptop to stream video and play internet video on any TV I wanted, it came with WIN 8. What a pain in The a**. I have security concerns about WIN 8, you have to retrain yourself for the simplest of tasks. Example find the control panel, took me 15 minutes first time around. Stupid program has everything automated so it's always updating and doing something to slow it's self down. Non stop updates on Win 8.

You can still buy Win 7 on Dell computers etc.
Click to expand...

Guy at Staples said lots of returns so far for Windows 8 based PCs and laptops.

I think that MS got clouded by the rise of iPad and other entertainment-based touch-screens, and forgot its bread-and-butter in the office work environment. Offices don't have time for the panels and other craziness that make Windows 8 not office-friendly. Just trying to compare and use data from an Excel and a Word docuement at the same time seems unusually complicated in Windows 8.

And right now the church presentation software I use on my laptop (SongShow Plus) does not support 8. And we need a new laptop for it. So we will have to special order it with 7 from Dell.

What a mess. And all because they are worried about Apple, I think.

Seemed like the smart thing to do would have been to make Windows 8 just like 7 except to have touch-screen options for opening and using programs on the screen.
 
Z

Zman-ks

Well-Known Member
Tom Morrow said:
If all that computer does is run that slide show, then there would be no reason to upgrade it.
75.gif
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Still should upgrade past WinXP....no security patches.
 
dcibrando

dcibrando

Well-Known Member
I work in IT for a large corporation... first off... with windows 8, NO ON HAS to use the metro screen...windows 8 simply gives users the windows 7 desktop experience or the metro touch interface with ways to easily switch back and forth.

for those that want the start button back or have it boot directly into the old desktop screen (which I think the enterprise version allows a registry setting for) you can - also check out Start8 which I use at home myself

I personally like Windows 8 over an iPad because it gives me more options, especially in the enterprise. Too many people these days their pants over Apple anything. I own an iPhone and I enjoy it... but it has flaws just like everything else does from any company. I'm convinced that with some people if apple come out with the iDirt (clump of dirt with the apple logo) people would need a wet nap and pay $200 for it
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
prberk said:
Guy at Staples said lots of returns so far for Windows 8 based PCs and laptops.

I think that MS got clouded by the rise of iPad and other entertainment-based touch-screens, and forgot its bread-and-butter in the office work environment. Offices don't have time for the panels and other craziness that make Windows 8 not office-friendly. Just trying to compare and use data from an Excel and a Word docuement at the same time seems unusually complicated in Windows 8.

And right now the church presentation software I use on my laptop (SongShow Plus) does not support 8. And we need a new laptop for it. So we will have to special order it with 7 from Dell.

What a mess. And all because they are worried about Apple, I think.

Seemed like the smart thing to do would have been to make Windows 8 just like 7 except to have touch-screen options for opening and using programs on the screen.
Click to expand...
I think this is largely due to the ignorance of the average consumer. From the metro interface of Windows 8, you have to click a single button to be back the the familiar Windows 7 like desktop. Download a $5 app and you can ditch the Metro interface all together and even get your start button back. Granted it would have been nice to have something akin to a desktop/touch screen option included with Windows 8, but it literally takes seconds to get one without MS.

Just because a piece of software does not support Windows 8 does not mean that it will not run under it. It simply means it has not been tested for it. None of the engineering and Cad software I use supports Windows 8 and all of them run just fine under it. My engineering software actually runs better with it.
 
NowInc

NowInc

Well-Known Member
Its not about to get updated for a ton of reasons...not limited to:

Cost (Upgrades aren't free...and even worse if they were to make the mistake of switching to apple as they are FAR FAR FAR more expensive than a PC solution)

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"...to upgrade an entire theme parks worth of systems..even from windows to windows..could create more problems than its worth..if anything they will put new OS's on new systems over time...as replacements.......eventually. Even if its running slow..it still works.

It would be safe to assume that these systems are overall part of a closed network to a main server..of which im sure is pretty patched up. So security patches (and virus threats) would be pretty much pointless. These are not operated by guests.

Since its running on custom software, actually "seeing windows" is not really something they have to worry about. Outdated or not, the "user" end of the system will be the same.


And as a side note...I have had super luck with MS support for YEARS. (The few times I have actually had to contact them)..in fact a lot more luck than I've had with Apple (Its broke? Well we have this new system you should buy!). Its always just a matter of preference (before anyone goes accusing me to be one sided...i use windows 7, 8, mac, and linux on a daily basis)...each has their place..and not one is "significantly better" than the other.
 
ratherbeinwdw

ratherbeinwdw

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
I think this is largely due to the ignorance of the average consumer. From the metro interface of Windows 8, you have to click a single button to be back the the familiar Windows 7 like desktop. Download a $5 app and you can ditch the Metro interface all together and even get your start button back. Granted it would have been nice to have something akin to a desktop/touch screen option included with Windows 8, but it literally takes seconds to get one without MS.

Just because a piece of software does not support Windows 8 does not mean that it will not run under it. It simply means it has not been tested for it. None of the engineering and Cad software I use supports Windows 8 and all of them run just fine under it. My engineering software actually runs better with it.
Click to expand...
Would you tell me what app to download to get the start button back?
 

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