[Sharon Lee]

When I purchased my Dell Computer I had Vista taken off and went to XP. Question: I was told that Microsoft will soon quit updating XP. Is this true and if it is what are we who have to do? Thank you for any information you may have on this.

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Check your end of support date @ http://support.micro...N=en-gb&C2=1173

[phillpower2]

Check your end of support date @ http://support.micro...N=en-gb&C2=1173

[iammykyl]

You will still be able to use the OS, (I still have a rig running Windows 98) If a Bug developes or there is a security issue, you are on you own, no support, no fix.

[Sharon Lee]

All right, I understand this now. If I happen to have any problems after a certain date, I will have to take my machine to computer store to get it fixed. Ok, now, if it would be very expensive to fix, I would not put a lot of money into it. I hear that Windows 7 is difficult to learn also. Just wondering what some of us are to do when we get new machines and have no idea how to run them. I write. I have heard that Windows 7 does not have Word. So this means on top of a new machine one would have to go buy Word? Just wondering if Apple is not the best answer for anyone who uses a computer. They may cost more but I don't hear many complain about them at all. Thank you for your help.

[Sharon Lee]

Thank you for your help. Guess one will have to do what they have to do. I still like XP for it is not hard to learn and very user friendly. Could be that big companies such as Microsoft don't really care about some that are older and have a hard time understanding all the new ideas they come up with. Once again...Thank you..

[Macboatmaster]

All right, I understand this now. If I happen to have any problems after a certain date, I will have to take my machine to computer store to get it fixed

Not necessarily - you would just come back to GeekstoGo.
On your previous thread - where rshaffer61 was assisting you, he resolved the problem for you.

There is no reason to believe it would be any different on a future thread, even when ALL support from Microsoft for XP finishes.

OUR support to you, when you need it, will not finish.

[Sharon Lee]

You know, I never thought about that. Just wondered if I had to get a new computer, would I be able to use it.
I sure do thank you for reminding me of how much I was helped here before. I so appreciated all the help given to me. I shall share this web page with my friends. They will love to know there is some place they can go and receive help. Thank you..

[iammykyl]

Also remember that if your computer stops working, you could use a friends computer to contact G2G and let us know what has happened.

[Sharon Lee]

Things do seem better now that I have had you all explain to me what was happening and what would happen. I was thinking of telling my friends all about you all. They will be delighted. Thank you so much and sorry to be such a bother to you.

[Digerati]

[quotename='Sharon Lee']I hear that Windows 7 is difficult to learn also. [/quote]It is different and if you never learned Vista, the learning curve from XP to Windows 7 is a bit steep. But it is not difficult, nor does it take very long to figure out. Once you get used to it, it becomes second nature. And if you are familiar with Vista, learning Windows 7 is very easy. Plus as noted there are many good people on forums like G2G to help. Moving to an Apple would be a MUCH greater learning curve with much fewer forums to help you. Plus, Apple makes great machines but they are more expensive to buy and to support during their life span. You are correct that you don't hear many Apple users complaining - but that's for 1 simple reason, there are 10 times more Windows users.

[quote]Just wondering what some of us are to do when we get new machines and have no idea how to run them.[/quote]You "run" Window 7 pretty much the same way as XP. Instead of clicking Start, your click on the start "Orb" icon, or you click an icon on your desktop.

The biggest "complaint", if you will, I have heard with Windows 7 is that it does not include Outlook Express. That said, email is not an operating system function so removing OE is probably the right path to take - technically speaking. Microsoft instead is offering Windows Live Mail (which is free). Or if you use Hotmail, Gmail or your ISP's webmail service, or if you use Outlook (totally different from Outlook Express despite similar names) then no problem anyway.

[quote]I write. I have heard that Windows 7 does not have Word.[/quote]Neither does XP! If you have Word, it is because you installed it on your XP machine, or the PC maker bundled it in with the PC when you bought it (perhaps as part of Microsoft "Works"). But in any case, no version of Windows ever came with Word. Windows 7 supports Microsoft Office/Word 2000 and newer. So if you bought a "retail" license of Word separately, then you can legally install it on your new Windows 7 machine (just make sure you uninstall it from the old machine). If the license for Word you have now is an OEM license (came pre-installed on your old machine) you will need to buy a new license to use on any new machine (Apple or Windows) you buy. That said, if you buy a new machine and Word (or Office) 2010, it will support all your old Word documents, and move you to a newer, much more secure platform.

In the meantime, Microsoft will continue to provide security updates for XP SP3 users until August 2014. So it is critical you are running SP3, IE8, and a good anti-malware solution and you keep your machine updated with the latest updates.

[rshaffer61]

Win7 does have notepad and wordpad as did its previous OS's.
Don't be fooled by misleading advice and what someone may understand you are asking.
Word is a Office suite program and I believe it can be installed as a stand alone program. If you are not sharing the documents you created you may give some thought to Open Office as it is free and has the following programs just like Microsoft Office.

• Excel spreadsheet
• Word
• Draw
• Calculator
• And a match calculation program

The problem is that Open Office can read Office documents but there still is issues with Office reading Open Office documents.
I have been using Open Office for over a year with no issues but I don't share my documents with others so it is not a issue with me that they are not compatible with Microsoft Office.
I hope this helps you out a little more.

[Digerati]

Word is a Office suite program and I believe it can be installed as a stand alone program

Yeah, you can buy Word separately.

[Sharon Lee]

I thank each and everyone of you for your input. I am just thankful that my XP is working fine now. I shall print out your responses if I am allowed to do so. You all are a bunch of nice people here.

[Digerati]

I shall print out your responses if I am allowed to do so.

As long as you do not publish them and pocket the $millions you can print them out. Or, you can just just log in again and review them,

Edited by Digerati, 01 December 2011 - 02:41 PM.
Added a missing little tiny word that made a big big difference! ;) Thanks MBM.