Difference Engine: Time to move on
Source: Babbage
WHETHER by coincidence or not, Windows 8―Microsoft’s radical rewrite of its popular operating system―hit the streets on October 26th, 11 years almost to the day the most popular operating system of all time was launched. Until recently, Microsoft’s venerable workhorse, Windows XP (short for “eXPerience”), dominated computing like no other operating system before or since. At its peak, in 2007, it powered four out of five computers (the rest being mostly other versions of Windows). Even today, following no fewer than three subsequent iterations designed to replace it, Windows XP is still the second most popular operating system in the world, running on a quarter of so of the 1.5 billion computers currently in use.
Your correspondent has a handful of them. He has considered upgrading them each time Microsoft released a later version of its operating system―Windows Vista in January 2007, Windows 7 in October 2009 and now Windows 8 in October 2012. Each time previously, he shelved the idea, simply because XP was doing the job more than adequately. Kept up-to-date with the latest security patches and bug fixes―and with all eye-candy turned off and security features turned on―XP has proved itself to be a lean and robust operating system, capable of running rings around later versions.
That is about to end. From all he has seen and heard, your correspondent is prepared to admit that Windows 8 is probably Microsoft’s best operating system yet―a worthy replacement, finally, for Windows XP. It is inherently far more secure, loads and unloads in a blink, and is smooth and responsive operator, especially when used in conjunction with a touch-screen.
What impresses most, though, is the radical rethinking of the user interface―with its matrix of “live tiles” that let the user plunge straight into programs already running, and also to see at a glance updates to such things as news feeds, e-mail and text messages as they roll in. Parallel concurrency on such a scale is precisely what is needed in these multitasking, multimedia times. By comparison, the plodding, step-by-step mousing around pioneered by Apple and earlier versions of Windows, and persisting to this day in many flavours of Linux and even the latest Macintosh OS X itself, appears staid and so last century.
Admittedly, in breaking the interface mould, Windows 8 requires users to change a lot of ingrained habits. Some resent the fact, and long to have their beloved Start button back. In moving to Windows 8, users who have grown up with a Start button in the lower left-hand corner of the screen face an uphill learning curve. The biggest problems are likely to emerge in enterprises, where clerical workers who use computers for routine tasks will have to be retrained at significant expense.
Add the fact that, to get the most out of Windows 8, a touch screen is preferable, increasing the upgrade cost. In business, budgets for buying computers and other IT gear are still way below their pre-recession levels. As a result, replacement cycles have been stretched from three or four years to five years or more.
Like all new operating systems, Windows 8 can also be expected to have its share of compatibility problems with older printers, scanners, video cards and other pieces of legacy hardware. Many of the software drivers needed to make older peripherals work with Windows 8 have yet to be written. Some may never be, as equipment makers focus on getting their latest products to work seamlessly with the new touch- and tile-based interface.
The same goes for applications. Microsoft has rewritten its Office suite and a number of its other programs so that they play nicely with both Windows 8 and Windows RT―the version for tablets that use low-power processors from ARM rather than thirstier ones from Intel (see “The empire strikes back”, March 16th 2012). But a lot of independent software developers have yet to do likewise. As a result, there are far fewer tile-based apps available from Microsoft’s Windows Store (now the sole outlet for such software) compared with, say, the 275,000 apps for iPads that are available from Apple's App Store.
All in all, then, do not expect the corporate world to rush out and buy Windows 8. Most employers are more than happy with Windows 7―and are likely to remain so, at least until their next hardware-replacement cycle comes around. The new computers they buy as replacements may well come with Windows 8 pre-installed. It depends to some extent on how quickly, or otherwise, firms embrace the new generation of Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets.
Individual users can be expected to behave differently. Some 4m copies of the Windows 8 upgrade software were sold over the first weekend. Most have gone to individuals who bought new computers from June onwards with Windows 7 installed, but including an offer of a $15 upgrade to Windows 8 as soon as it became available. For the next year or so, individuals buying new computers and tablets with Windows 8 installed are likely to account for the bulk of sales.
But what about the several hundred million computers in use around the world that still rely on Windows XP? Their owners have until April 8th 2014 to decide what to do. After that date, Microsoft will cease to provide free security updates, bug fixes and technical support. Users will then have to make up their minds whether to buy custom support from Microsoft, upgrade to a later version of Windows, or simply do nothing―and hope that hackers leave them alone as their aging machines go unpatched.
As he will have to upgrade his handful of XP machines sooner or later, your correspondent has decided he might as well get on with the job rather than wait until the last moment. From all he has heard and tried, he is tempted by Windows 8. But the deal-breaker remains the lack of software drivers for older peripherals.
The best way to find out whether that is so is to run Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, which can be downloaded for free from Microsoft. This provides an instant answer to whether Windows 8 will actually run on the machine in question; and, if so, which applications and drivers are incompatible. In your correspondent's case, Windows 8 would work on his various XP machines, but it would mean junking a lot of perfectly good peripherals.
The obvious answer, then, is to bypass the horrors of Windows Vista and upgrade direct to Windows 7―which Microsoft has promised to support until 2020. Some hardware incompatibilities are bound to exist. Microsoft's Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor will show what will, or will not, work. In most cases, there are unlikely to be anywhere near as many incompatibilities with Windows 7 as a leap to Windows 8 would entail.
Even so, migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 is no walk in the park. It is not simply a matter of sticking the Windows 7 DVD into a computer's optical drive and clicking on the upgrade option. That works fine when upgrading from Vista. But it will wipe out all the user’s files and settings if attempted with XP.
Instead, all files and settings must first be saved to a USB or network drive. Only when the operating system has been fully upgraded can they be moved back. Then comes the really tiresome part: reinstalling all the user’s various applications from their original installation discs, and downloading their numerous updates.
Fortunately, there are a number of utilities, including Microsoft’s own Windows 7 Easy Transfer, that help. Some even assist in finding the latest drivers for the various components and peripherals attached to the computer. That said, it can still take the best part of a day to get everything working properly again.
Is it worth the hassle? When there is so little to show for it in performance terms, the issue does seem moot. And having to go through the whole rigmarole again and again for the rest of his XP machines fills your correspondent with dread. Certainly, next time he will shell out the money for an automated transfer tool like Zinstall.
But like it or not, your correspondent now accepts that the time has come to bury Windows XP and move on. He cannot afford to rely on an operating system that could become exposed to malware when Microsoft's bug fixes and security updates cease. Were his system to become compromised, his livelihood would suffer.
What puzzles him, though, is that with hundreds of millions of computers still running Windows XP―and Microsoft keener than ever to get their owners to migrate to Windows 7, if not Windows 8―the least the firm might have done is to make the whole upgrade path a good deal easier road to travel. Odd that the brainiacs at Redmond haven't.
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