On Thu, 16 Apr 2020 18:44:57 -0700 (PDT), Michael Terrell
wrote:

On Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 8:14:26 AM UTC-4, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Michael Terrell" wrote in message
...

On Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at 5:45:44 AM UTC-4, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Michael Terrell" wrote in message

I know that you like old and cheap hardware, but XP is long out of
support.
=======================================

Anachronism alert! Call the Fashion Police! Anna Wintour is outraged!!
Prepare for Y2K and the Mayan Apocalypse!

My TV antennas and rotor are long out of support too, but they still work
fine and need less maintenance than my neighbor's Xfinity. XP didn't really
need Microsoft's loving hands / greedy fingers to keep it running.

I still use tools made in the 1800's. My HP test equipment is from the 70's
and 80's, my machine tools from the 50's and 60's, and my newest vehicle is
a 2000. All were built to last, which isn't the case with new stuff like my
12VDC powered freezer which is a $200 throw-away.

My CAD, flight simulator and datalogging programs run under XP. I was using
XP for Internet access until a few weeks ago when I finally got posting to
Usenet working on this W7 machine. The only difficulty with XP was the
increasing obsolescence of the last Firefox version. MS didn't completely
abandon it, I recently installed .NET updates.

Datalogging energy use sometimes requires putting laptops where they could
fall such as next to the water heater or hallway thermostat, so I use my
least valuable ones, running XP and W2K. The problem is the attached web of
sensor and power cables.

That antenna and rotor have no software. I've probably repaired over 100 rotors and control boxes over the decades. The early Alliance had real rubber seals that would crack, and fill the housing with corroded pot metal. By the late '60s, they were synthetic which lasted longer.

My point about the cloning software that I use is that I didn't need a separate version for each operating system. I have no problem using older computers in non networked or online applications, but you won't get much use with under 1GB of RAM and modern web pages often refuse to render on older systems.

I currently have over 70 pieces of vintage HP test equipment. over 15 Fluke meters, and over 25 Tektronix equipment including three 2465 and 2465A scopes.

I have 180GB of service manuals, and over 1000 printed manuals, reference and data books. I have repaired 'vintage' equipment since the mid '60s. Some tat was built before WW-II. Still, there are a few newer instruments that save a lot of time and effort on the bench.

This computer is dying. It is one of my last Win 7 computers. I has started the move to Linux. Win 10 is designed for cell phones and tablets with touch screens. I have no desire to use a huge touch screen to write code and track my projects.

Windows 10 may be "designed for touch screen and cell phone" but it is
a pretty kick-ass desktop OS as well. I was a XP man. Perhaps the
solidest MS OS ever by the time SP3 had rolled out - then the Win7 and
Win8 abortions came along.
Win10 brought back the reliability and functionality of XP, in my
opinion. It's different than XP, but I actually - after a short time,
found it to be an even better desktop OS.

Unless I had an app that would NOT run on 10, or specialized equipment
that wouldn't talk to 10, there's no way I'd go back to 7 or XP.



I have one each, Win 95, 98, ME, Vista and XP to run out of date software to communicate with test equipment. Some calibration software won't run on more than one OS. Some requires DOS or HP systems with Rocky Mountain Basic. I had to restore a dedicated testbed that ran Windows 2.0. The IT department 'upgraded it' without asking. Not only did they wipe the OS, they lost all of the test software. It took a week of piecing everything back together from failing sets of 3.5" floppies. Another difficult restoration was a SMS dual 8" Floppy drive storage system. There were over 100 used, damaged disks that I had to go through to restore our Program guide and five other CG channels at a CATV headend. All because the cheapskate manage wouldn't change a
floppy until it failed. Those damaged Shugart drives were over $400 each, but he refused to spend $9 a month for one new floppy.

I was repairing computers with a scope and a hot soldering iron in the early '80s.

I bought a new tablet a few months ago: 10.1" Tablet 8GB RAM + 128GB Flash Android 8.0 Bluetooth 3G WiFi PC Dual Camera GPS for under $60, delivered. I a can install one or two SIMM cards and use it for a cell phone, as well.
I was never an apple person - but given a choice of IOS or Android -
- - I bought an older I-Phone (SE) I have an android tablet I don't
use, and got a Win10 convertible tablet for the wife. I'd have stayed
with my old BB10 phone but it doesn't talk to my hearing aids - the
fruit-phone does.