Author Topic: Best replacement for XP?  (Read 20088 times)

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Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #20 on: April 08, 2014, 05:38:08 pm »
Hrm...  I still have my Win 95 disk..
   I still have Dos flopys somewhere but these new computers don't give you any places to slide them in..  tried to use the CD drive but it kept scrunching up the floppys......
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Offline Slowmodem

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #21 on: April 08, 2014, 09:42:58 pm »
"You have to pay to install "Office" and other selected programs."

what i did ef, was kept my 'office' disc from 2007 and loaded it onto my win 7 laptop, wasn't going to pay for the upgrade. this wouldn't work for perry in his situation, not sure how much perry does in excel..... :D or one note......or even word, but there are a number of free word processor programs, and also some free open source office programs similiar to microsoft office.....

perry we making your head spin yet?......... :laugh:

Go to CNET and download Kingsoft office.  It's free and works well for me.
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Offline Slowmodem

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #22 on: April 08, 2014, 09:48:56 pm »
Hrm...  I still have my Win 95 disk..
   I still have Dos flopys somewhere but these new computers don't give you any places to slide them in..  tried to use the CD drive but it kept scrunching up the floppys......

Trivia of the day:

Brian Eno wrote the startup sound for Windows 95. (And he wrote it on a Mac!   :laugh:  )
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Offline Perry

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #23 on: April 09, 2014, 07:16:15 am »
perry we making your head spin yet?......... :laugh:

It actually fell off a few posts ago. :-[
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Offline iddee

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #24 on: April 09, 2014, 07:45:07 am »
I like Open Office. It is free, has all the features of ms. office, will accept a ms. office file, will do what ms. office will do, and you can even save a file to ms. office to send it to someone who uses ms. office.
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Offline Buzzbee

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #25 on: May 25, 2014, 06:22:42 am »
If you want to keep your old machine, Ubuntu is a good choice for low memory machines.Windows & works well with 2 gigs of memory, I believe * likes a bit more. Windows 8 with update to 8.1 will bring back the things like the start menu and conventional desktop known in previous versions.
Open Office is a good office replacement,free too.
Windows XP is still safe to use. Just be responsible.
Use a web browser thats going to be updated, like Google Chrome or Firefox.
Set up a non administrator account for accessing the web(Standard user). Make sure your administrator account is password protected. That way software cannot be installed without your permissions. This should be done regardless of windows operating system you use. Malware needs your permission to be installed. Did ya ever get one of those toolbars or search engines you didn't bargain for? These come from places like Cnet and download .com that wrap other software with what you intend install. Be careful through the install prompts.
If possible, go directly to the software writers direct links for download. Freeware from repository sites often comes with extra gifts :sad:
But by all means, if continuing to use XP avoid the Internet Explorer browser. It is the biggest threat to your online presence.
 I know most people have some type of Google account. Set up a free google drive     www.drive.google.com  and store your important documents there as well.(Use a good password on your google account as well).These docs then are available across any mobile or desktop system you have.

Offline Buzzbee

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #26 on: May 25, 2014, 06:27:00 am »
And remember, use a good password manager, and change passwords often at sites with your sensitive information. :)

Offline robo

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #27 on: May 25, 2014, 06:48:23 am »
Give Ubuntu a try.   You can actually run it off a DVD or USB stick to see if it works on your machine BEFORE you install it.   This way you know if all your hardware is recognized.  Linux is much better at supporting older hardware than Windows.   Chances are that if your running XP now that your machine won't be "good enough" for Win8.   Best part is Ubuntu is FREE.....

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/try-ubuntu-before-you-install

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Offline robo

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #28 on: May 25, 2014, 06:52:07 am »
I like Open Office. It is free, has all the features of ms. office, will accept a ms. office file, will do what ms. office will do, and you can even save a file to ms. office to send it to someone who uses ms. office.

Then you'll love LibreOffice......


OpenOffice was bought by Oracle.  All the folks that created left and started LibreOffice.    So basically OpenOffice is a corporate owned (slow to change  or fix),  and LibreOffice continues on where OpenOffice stopped.   Give it a look, it is what I use.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison


Offline robo

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #29 on: May 25, 2014, 06:59:17 am »
Go to CNET and download Kingsoft office.  It's free and works well for me.


I'm not familiar with Kingsoft office,  but I would advise everyone never ever use Download.com (CNET).   They put an install wrapper around the programs you download and if your not careful and read all the options during install and uncheck boxes you will get all kinds of garbage installed on your machine (browser tool bars, etc)

I recommend always going the website of the company who wrote the application to download,  not only do you get the latest level,  you are not exposed to extra crap being installed.

Kingsoft office -> http://www.kingsoftstore.com/

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison


Offline efmesch

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #30 on: May 25, 2014, 07:02:27 am »
Nice link Robo.  Thanks!!!

Offline DMLinton

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #31 on: May 25, 2014, 07:03:21 am »
I have to second Robo and Buzzbee.  You want inexpensive, reliable and almost no malware risk? Linux is the way to go.  Not sure that I would recommend Ubuntu but rather Debian which Ubuntu is built upon.  You can download a live CD, which is true for almost all Linux flavours and try it out without installing anything. 

You can install Debian in a dual boot system where you keep your XP until you are up and runing on the new system.  Debian is fully open source that you could, for example, download it, install it and add every application you could possibly need all without ever touching your wallet or even getting out of your chair.

I use Debian for everything.  LibreOffice (formerly OpenOffice) is also open source and fully compatible with MS Office .... and will run on either Windows or Linux.

See http://www.debian.org/intro/about
Regards, Dennis
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Offline robo

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #32 on: May 25, 2014, 09:20:50 am »
I suggested Ubuntu because it is more beginner-friendly.   Nothing like the need to try and find and install a .deb to quickly turn off a neophyte.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison


Offline efmesch

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #33 on: May 25, 2014, 10:38:46 am »
This thread has come back to life----I'm still in the camp of DM and Robo.  You can check back to post #18.  My opinion has not changed.

Offline DMLinton

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #34 on: May 25, 2014, 12:23:07 pm »
I suggested Ubuntu because it is more beginner-friendly.   Nothing like the need to try and find and install a .deb to quickly turn off a neophyte.
True enough but Ubuntu and Debian both use the Synaptic package manager so there is actually no difference on that front..
Regards, Dennis
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Offline robo

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #35 on: May 25, 2014, 06:08:35 pm »
This thread has come back to life----I'm still in the camp of DM and Robo.  You can check back to post #18.  My opinion has not changed.

I guess I missed that in post #18.  That is what I get for just skimming the responses.

So I guess DM and I are in YOUR camp.....

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison


Offline Intheswamp

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #36 on: May 26, 2014, 11:00:39 am »
Somebody coming out of the WinXP environment and into a linux/unix one might want to check out "Linux Mint".  I haven't used it in a couple of years, but it always worked very well for me, solid, and had a very strong smiliarity to WinXP as to it's GUI.  It's totally free and lots of linux utilities for upgrading, adding programs, etc., are built-in.

Ed 

Offline Buzzbee

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #37 on: January 03, 2016, 12:53:26 pm »
I know this is an old topic, but I have been toying around with Linux Zorin. It may have a more familiar feel  to windows users and It adapts quite readily to most hardware ,including network printers ,bluetooh and any connected devices you might have.
As with other versions, if you burn the iso to a flash drive or dvd ,you can run it live without actually installing it ,so you can get a feel for the operating system if you want before installing.

Offline iddee

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #38 on: January 03, 2016, 01:16:45 pm »
Can it be used on a mac?
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
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Offline efmesch

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Re: Best replacement for XP?
« Reply #39 on: January 03, 2016, 01:49:09 pm »
Give this link a read:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/install-linux-macbook-pro/
Note, that they advise you to be sure to have adequate backups before you make the new installation.

I mentioned earlier that I have a computer that is dedicated to use with Ubuntu (a Linux distribution).  A new (free) upped-level installation came out recently (Ubuntu 15.10).  It's a cinch to download and install these distros and "just for the fun of it" it's worth giving it (or any other Linux "distro") a try. 

Winter time is just made for beeks who have free time, to give it a try.  I have found that in the process of experimentation with Ubuntu I've learned a lot of computer "tricks".  The nicest shortcut I've discovered is how to "copy-paste": press the left button and run the mouse over the text you want to copy, thereby marking it, place the cursor where you want to paste and press down on the scroll (middle wheel) button.  Puff--it's done.