Windows XP

18 Stories

Microsoft Takes Unusual Step After Global Cyberattack

Free fixes for older systems issued

(Newser) - The worldwide cyberextortion attack has prompted Microsoft to take the unusual step of making security fixes available for older Windows systems. Before this, Microsoft had made fixes for older systems, such as 2001's Windows XP, available only to organizations that pay extra for extended support. But millions of individuals...

China Bans Official Use of Windows 8

Official news cites security concerns

(Newser) - If you work for the Chinese government, you'd better not get caught installing Windows 8. Beijing has banned the use Microsoft's newest operating system on new government computers after Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP , which is widely used in China, last month, Reuters reports. The Windows 8 ban...

Homeland Security: Avoid Internet Explorer

Feds suggest switching browsers until flaw is fixed

(Newser) - A security flaw uncovered in Internet Explorer is so serious that users should consider switching to a different browser for now, the Department of Homeland Security yesterday warned. "We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem," said the department's Computer Readiness Team, which recommends...

Major Security Flaw Hits Internet Explorer

Windows XP users most at risk

(Newser) - A new security headache for the estimated 56% of Web users who use Internet Explorer: A major security flaw has surfaced in some versions of the browser, leaving users open to a "remote code execution vulnerability," which "means a bad guy can make a target computer run...

Deadline Day Is Here for XP Users

Security 'XPocalypse' looms as support ends

(Newser) - The millions of people still using Windows XP are on their own after today. After years of warnings, Microsoft will finally pull the plug on the popular but outdated operating system after nearly 13 years, reports the Los Angeles Times . After a final update today, the firm will no longer...

Beware 'Free Public WiFi'
 Beware 'Free Public WiFi' 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 16, 2010 12:44 PM CDT

Beware 'Free Public WiFi'

Rogue network has spread through US

(Newser) - You're stuck in an airport and don't feel like paying $9.95 for Internet access ... but wait! You stumble upon a network called "Free Public WiFi." The heavens are smiling, right? Wrong. Available in thousands of locations across America, "Free Public WiFi" is an "ad hoc"...

Windows' Screen of Death Has New Shade

Microsoft security update causes Black Screen, but it's not fatal

(Newser) - The Windows Blue Screen of Death is so passé these days, so some malevolent circuit board or update appears to have cooked up a new fail: the Black Screen of Death. The Black Screen is affecting not just new Window 7 machines, but those running XP and Vista as well....

Switchover to Windows 7 a Big Pain
 Switchover to 
 Windows 7 a Big Pain 
Tech review
Jul 23, 2009 9:56 AM CDT

Switchover to Windows 7 a Big Pain

Move from XP may require external hard drive, patience

(Newser) - The latest Windows incarnation beats Vista and XP, but don’t expect a smooth transition: upgrading from XP to Windows 7 is an ordeal, writes Walt Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. “In fact, the process will be so painful that, for many XP users, the easiest solution may...

MacBook Doesn't Disappoint: Mossberg
 MacBook Doesn't 
 Disappoint: Mossberg 
PRODUCT REVIEW
Oct 23, 2008 1:07 PM CDT

MacBook Doesn't Disappoint: Mossberg

But $300 price bump may be too much for some

(Newser) - The redesigned MacBook adds several nice features to an already top-selling laptop line, writes Walt Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. The most striking difference from the old models is the trackpad: rather than tacky plastic, the controller is slick glass like the screen of an iPhone, and users depress...

New Firefox's Speed Will Smoke Chrome, Mozilla Says

Chrome 28% slower than Firefox 3.1 on XP

(Newser) - The next version of Firefox will be faster than Google's Chrome, the fastest browser out there, Mozilla said today, according to TechCrunch. Chrome is 28% slower on XP and 16% slower on Vista than Firefox 3.1, which releases this year, Mozilla claims. By using the new engine TraceMonkey, one...

Microsoft Should Throw a Rock Through Its Windows

Operating system needs a fresh start

(Newser) - The window on Microsoft’s operating system agility has closed, and to fix it, Randall Stross argues in the New York Times, the tech giant needs to start from scratch. Windows “has become an obese monolith built on an ancient frame,” Stross says, and it “seems to...

One Laptop Per Child Embraces Windows XP

Move gives new life to seemingly immortal operating system

(Newser) - Now that Microsoft has signed on to the One Laptop Per Child initiative—aimed at getting low-cost PCs to kids in poor countries—its Windows XP operating system is again getting a new jolt of life, reports InternetNews.com. The project originally used only free, open-source software such as Linux,...

Get Over XP 'Worship'
Get Over
XP 'Worship'
OPINION
May 15, 2008 4:04 PM CDT

Get Over XP 'Worship'

Accept Vista or leave Windows altogether for another OS, columnist writes

(Newser) - Nostalgia for Windows XP is misplaced, Rob Pegoraro argues in the Washington Post: Vista has its problems, but they’re not solved by XP, which is ill-equipped to face the “busy” and “brutish” modern Internet landscape. “XP is not something that needs to be ‘saved,’...

Windows XP Will Live On, But Only in Low-Cost PCs

No luck for frustrated Vista users who prefer the older operating system

(Newser) - Microsoft is going to keep Windows XP on the market—but only for a few users and not for the sake of those unsatisfied with its successor, Vista. The company will stick to its June 30 deadline for withdrawing XP from stores but will supply the older operating system for...

Microsoft's Plan to Drop XP in June Draws Fire

Disgruntled users not keen on being forced to Vista

(Newser) - Microsoft is facing vocal opposition to its decision to stop selling the Windows XP operating system June 30, 13 months after the launch of Windows Vista, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Vista has sold well, aided by its default inclusion with new PCs, but users have complained of compatibility troubles....

Windows XP Update Adds Speed
Windows XP Update Adds Speed
Nov 26, 2007 3:04 PM CST

Windows XP Update Adds Speed

Testing company says it's 10% faster than SP2

(Newser) - Windows XP Service Pack 3, due out next year, runs Microsoft Office 10% faster than XP SP2, said a performance testing software developer. "Since SP3 was supposed to be mostly a bug-fix ... the unexpected speed boost comes as a nice bonus," said the company's technology chief, who called...

Firms Are Waiting on Windows Vista
Firms Are
Waiting on
Windows Vista
Nov 15, 2007 7:13 AM CST

Firms Are Waiting on Windows Vista

Problems could prompt many to hold out for big '09 upgrade

(Newser) - It has been almost a year since Windows Vista was released to businesses, but a spate of hardware compatibility issues has many still waiting to upgrade until the release of the first service pack, scheduled for early next year. With the next version of Windows due in late 2009, PC ...

Buying a PC? Read This First
Buying a PC? Read This First
Oct 19, 2007 1:42 PM CDT

Buying a PC? Read This First

(Newser) - Wall Street Journal tech guru Walter S. Mossberg wants you to think, and think hard, before buying your next PC. Here are some tips from the man himself:
  1. If you're going for Vista over Windows XP, opt for the Home Premium version.
  2. Avoid junk software that slows your computer by
...

18 Stories