Home Forums The End of Windows XP

As all of you are no doubt aware by now, Windows XP support ends next month. While some of you dread letting go of the beloved Operating System that has run your practice for you for years (in some cases, since your practice opened), I'm here to tell you now that it's time to move on. Here are your reasons why:

1. XP will be the new hacker target. Hackers will look at future fixes Microsoft does for Windows 7/8.x and then look at those same files in Windows XP for features that are common. Since Win7/8x are still supported, those issues will be repaired but not for XP. Hackers will target the remaining XP systems.

2. Lack of support from third parties. You will soon purchase new hardware/software from third parties that simply will not install on an XP system. For hardware, the drivers just will not be there. For software, it will refuse to install because of a required library or other feature dependency XP simply will not have.

Note: Amazing Charts has already stated that it will cease and desist support for XP and Server 2003 as the server computer. Expect more statements from other vendors soon.

3. HIPAA compliance. Because of Reason 1, XP will no longer be HIPAA compliant. HIPAA states that if security vulnerabilities are found on your network, you should be able to fix it. You can't if there is no fix.

4. Upgrade now while everything is under your control. Let's say you purchase a new X-Ray machine and the tech says you have to have Windows 7 or higher. Now you have to stop everything you are doing, reschedule with the technician, order a new computer and wait for it, upgrade, and go through other unplanned hassle. All of which will increase your cost.

5. End of support for Windows XP goes for XP Mode as well. Windows XP Mode is Windows XP just as a virtual machine under Windows 7.

I realize many of you don't want to upgrade (read: spend the money) and there are some posts where people are talking about blocking Internet access to XP systems, etc. Such attempts/attitudes must be maintained over time and will be expensive to do so. In other words, you're going to spend just as much money avoiding an upgrade as you would actually doing the upgrade. And that doesn't count all the hassle and heartache.

Please plan your upgrade as soon as possible. In order to appropriately plan your upgrade, please follow the guidelines below:

1. Do Not Go To Best Buy.

2. Research appropriate business class machines from Dell or HP.

3. Do Not Go To Office Depot.

4. Contact a reputable local IT support company.

5. Do Not Go To Staples.

I realize I'm not saying what all of you want to hear. That's not my job. My job is to help you position your practice for long term future growth and sometimes that means..... well.... it means just being me.

JamesNT

James,

Where have you been??

Excellent post, clearly spelling out the facts.

I would only add that good business class machines can also be had from Lenovo.

To supplement James' post, here is an article from PC World:

How to keep your PC secure whe Win XP support ends

If you must run XP to run hardware (think scanners) get Windows 7 Pro that has a virtual copy of XP and just set that up to do scanning. There are some other posts about how to change the TCP to increase security, but DO NOT use the virtual for internet.

You can use a virtual machine clone of the current system if you are upgrading, but that might not be within the licensing guidelines. If you are NOT upgrading but doing a full install (which you kind of have to do anyway from XP) I believe it would be legal to virtualize the current system. One reason NOT to do this is that there are so many links and the tendency is to use the familiar. You are probably better off just using the new virtual copy from Win 7 Pro.

Otherwise get Windows 8.1 and a either a program called Start8 or Classic Shell that brings back the beloved start menu and opens to the desktop. This makes Windows 8.1 equivalent to Windows 7.6 (or some other later iteration of Windows 7.)

That way you won't complain in about 6 years about them not supporting Windows 7. See this info sheet from microsoft http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle

We are at the end, my old friend and I.

Only this post before I shut him down for the last time. I wanted to give him that. I wanted to do it on the weekend, when all the new computers are off. Server knows, but he's an old friend and knows his time is coming too.

He's kept all my secrets, traveled with me and protected me thru the cyberverse, and spent countless good, bad, and ugly hours by my side, always faithful. Never a drive arrest or viral sepsis.

I knew he was jealous of the new box and monitor on my desk for the last few months. He could see how much faster the browser worked over there, the other monitor never flickering. And when I transferred the rest of the documents today, it was just so sad.

We always knew it would have to end this way, but who wants to dwell on having to put down your trusted companion.

You're going out on top! Maybe there will still be a place for you at the office after I rip your OS-soul out of you, but I'm so sorry it can't be on my desk, and I'm going to miss you. I wonder how many more times I'll have to do this?

Goodbye, XP

Maybe we can bring back Don McLean with a remake of the classic song American Pie and change the lyrics to the day XP died, for us nostalgia buffs. The refrain can include "Bye-bye to all the money, sigh."

I'm afraid that, with the utmost respect, I'm going to have to disagree with Wendell.

1. If you have old hardware that requires XP, it's time to replace that hardware. Question: How old is that stuff, anyway? Does the OEM even support it anymore? If you don't have any good questions to those answers, then how do you expect to answer the question of what you are going to do if that scanner/multi-function printer/whatever breaks? I assume you have such a device because you actually need it, not because you felt sorry for someone's sales quota. If you need it, then what happens if it breaks and no OEM will repair it? Again, upgrade under your control, not when something flies apart thereby forcing you to totally unplanned.

2. Again, virtualizing copies of XP just to maintain old hardware must itself be maintained. Are we spending enough money to avoid an upgrade that would equal the cost of the upgrade?

3. While getting Windows 8.1 is fine, if you want the Start menu that badly just get Windows 7. Programs like Start8 and Classic Shell are fine and dandy and all that, but they are not supported by Microsoft. So if one of those programs interferes with a line-of-business app that you actually need, you'll need to call Start8 or Classic Shell support - and good luck with getting the producer of a $49.99 start menu mod to fix it so it will work with your $1,200 EMR or $8,000 Practice Management software. As Wendell points out, Windows 7 still has six nice longs years of support. At the end of that six years, yes, I will be making a post about how you need to be getting your butt of Windows 7 then just like I'm telling you to get off XP now. Then again, how many here really do use computers that are six years old? Wait, don't answer that. Really, don't.

4. LEARN WINDOWS 8.1. Getting back to the Start8/Classic Shell thing, if you are going to buy Windows 8.1 then please learn how to use Windows 8.1. There are lots of videos on YouTube and on other sites on how to use this OS properly. It took me 10 minutes to master the new Start Screen in Windows 8. 10 minutes. That's all. The Windows 8 Start screen was refined in Windows 8.1, will be refined further in Windows 9, but it will still be there. Just like UAC is still with us now and how many of you hated that? Touch is here to stay.

People, I say again, it's time to move forward. Holding on to the year 2002 (XP release year) barely made sense in the year 2010 (Windows 7 release year). Why are we trying to make it have any sense at all in the year 2014? Save yourself the grief.

JamesNT

@Dan,

I loved that post!

JamesNT

Hi James,

Stop being so subtle. What do you really think?????








As usual, all of your points are very well taken.

Thanks.

Gene

Windows 8 might make sense for touch applications.
It makes me less productive in ordinary desktop work -- switching between, AC, Firefox, UpDox -- which I do constantly. The Classic Shell is a lifesaver.

I spent a little more than 10 minutes learning it -- I give James his due as an IT professional -- but having learned it, I don't like it. If all I did was watch videos, play music and games and check Twitter, it would be OK.

I also have completely given up on Linux. At least, Ubuntu. They also are forcing non touch users into a touch environment.

This is a great article. And I agree with almost all of it, hands down.

http://arstechnica.com/information-...sions-that-still-wont-make-people-happy/

JamesNT

James, we will miss you and your input in San Diego.
If you decide to go, we will discuss your articles. If not, in your absence we will be talking about this, from the same journal:
"Weeks before expiration date, Windows XP still has 29% OS market share"

XP is still being used about 3 times as much as 8/8.1 combined

I don't think people choose to stay with XP, because they are stubborn and don't care about support, etc. It is likely because, it is/was by far, the best OS Windows ever put out. They are used to it, and it works, and it doesn't crash everyday. But, mainly, when you have 10 to 30 computers in your network, the idea, image or not, of changing them all, is frightening. Plus, there is only one good OS ahead.

Windows 7 built on XP and somehow is even better, and finally got Windows back to a numbering system. It always seems shorter, seems like three years, but we really haven't been in Windows 7 that long before 8. They are those who disagree, and I have read many articles looking for the one that could convince me that Windows 8 was worth the switch, but Windows has a difficult time deciding what OS to put where. While they used to put an OS on Windows Desktop, they would then try to force that on the phone. Now, they have a good OS for the phone and tablet, but it is just way overboard for a desktop. I remember the first time I loaded Windows 8 onto a VM, I was in love. Until I tried to use it. The Metro UI was overwhelming, and it seemed like every time I tried to get back to where I started from by clicking on an icon, I was sent deeper into the bowels of a new and horrible OS. To just go from start menu to no start menu was too much to ask. And, to end up with two desktops where I would use the normal one in trepidation that anything I did would flip me around to this purple mismatch.

I still remember the first time when I was in this sea of charms, some big, some small, when I hit some button, any button, and all of a sudden there were 50 utility buttons or whatever you want to call them.

How can someone say the Start menu is past its prime. This is like saying the steering wheel is past its prime. It just makes sense, you either use icons on the desktop, taskbar or start menu. You have to remember, Microsoft already confused us with the one column start menu where you had to go back and forth between programs and pinned icons.

Another issue is if you are using the Metro UI desktop, that while you can turn it off, you start with charms that have news stories or sports stories going across the page. That's all we need for out staff to have Facebook signings or whatever moving across the page. I would see that Seattle beat Denver, and of course I am going to click on it.

James must be way ahead of me when it comes to understanding the craziness of Microsoft's latest OS. It took me hours, and I was still learning when I decided I could use the 30GBs or so of VM space.

This OS was the brain child of one Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division. He was hell bent on it and would listen to know one even if it were just a shade lighter on the purple. Combine that with "must have forgotten his Ritalin" Steve Ballmer who hated Sinofsky, and this is what you get. Which is why Sinofsky was forced out and Ballmer quit.

Some people point to the fact that Windows 8 or 8.1 or Update 1 is slowly starting to sell. This is because Windows was forced on every computer with an OEM license. Walk in to Best Buy and try to find a stock computer with Win 7. You have to download a copy of Win 7.

Windows seems to be getting into a nice rhythm of good, bad, good, bad, with each good OS not completely moving away from the previous one, but significantly changing it. Not a patch, but an entirely new OS. They should have learned from Vista. Windows 9 seems much too far away. I, myself, can't wait as it will correlate with my rollout of Windows 2012, where I could be stuck with much of the same.

Basically, it comes down to Paul Thurrotte , who, if he told me, I would go running back to my garage to dig out 3.1.

I think Windows 7 Pro is the best ever made by MS. However, I have to say that I went straight from XP to OS X at home and skipped the whole Vista issue, never looked back. Now I see MS struggling with 8 and wonder how long they will survive just because there isn't a better alternative. I am surprised another company has not been help to enter the PC market with a better product after all these years.

For anyone who needs to upgrade, but would like Windows 7 rather than Windows 8, here is an article which details all the ways you can get a Windows 7 machine in the Windows 8 era.

Win 7

any experience using Linux with a windows emulator like in Zorin

See, my problem is I never really got past the beginning of DOS. Once I got a copy of "x-tree" all my problems were solved. I admit that I have become fond of XP, but DOS has a certain appeal to me still.

We have used some Coal and Steam powered work stations in our office, (using Linnux to translate from the Industrial revolution to the server) but I fought a dogged battle to remain an all XP network for the longest time. Now I will reverse course. We will dump ALL of the antiques. (In a network of 33 computers only 13 will survive the purge) and I will accept whatever OS Bill G wants to throw at me. I do know the two Vista Machines will never be in my end of the office, and if we get an 8.1 it will go on my partners desk. He is more of a Luddite than I am and it will be a hoot to hear him howl with frustration.

Bring it on Microsoft, bring it on!

I remember when Windows 2000 came out.

"This OS will never make it. No one is going to go for this whole 'Active Directory' thing."

"Plug and Play in Windows NT? That's bound to cause a security hole."

"128 Megabytes of RAM?!?!? IS MS KIDDING?!?!? Windows NT only needed 64!!"

"I don't like the user interface changes. Menus show only what they think you use most often. How can I turn that off?"

I remember when Windows XP first came out.

"What the hell has MS done to the user interface?!? It looks like something from Fisher-Price!"

"What has MS done to the Start Menu?!?!? It's a mess with all these programs I don't need!"

"WTF CONTROL PANEL!!! I can't find anything!!!"

"PRODUCT ACTIVATION!!!!!!???? MICROSOFT IS SPYING ON US!! I'M NOT SENDING MY PERSONAL INFORMATION TO THE MOTHER SHIP!!

"PRODUCT ACTIVATION!!!!!!???? I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I'M NOT SOME COMMON CRIMINAL AND I FIND THIS OFFENSIVE!!! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH GETTING A COPY OF WINDOWS FROM MY COUSIN to, you know, evaluate it or something."

"Why does this thing keep asking me to make a Passport account?" What is Passport?!?"

"512 Megabytes of RAM?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Windows 2000 only needed 128!!"

"Can we legalize assisted suicide? And can I get a meeting with Bill Gates??"

I remember when Service Pack 2 for Windows XP came out.

"Half of my games quit working!!!"

"Half of my applications quit working!!"

"What do you mean if I want my application to work with SP2 I have to buy a new version?!?!?"

"How do you turn off the Windows firewall?? It stops me from doing what I want to do."

"What's this security center thing?!? It keeps popping up and bitching about my anti-virus being out-of-date and my firewall being turned off! How do I make it go away?!?!?"

I remember when Windows Vista came out.

"Where the hell are the network settings?!?!?"

"WTF CONTROL PANEL!! AGAIN!!!"

"Why is it that every damn time I click on something, Windows darkens the screen and asks me if I'm sure! Of course I'm sure. I clicked on the thing didn't I?!?!"

"Seriously, where are the network settings?!?!?"

"ONE WHOLE GIGABYTE OF RAM!!?!?!? ARE YOU FOR REAL!?!?! MICROSOFT HAS LOST IT!! XP only required 512 Megs!!"

I remember when Windows 7 came out.

"MORE RAM AGAIN?!?!? /WRIST!!!"

"This thing is slower than XP!"

"What in the hell do you mean my computer only scores a 4?!?!? It's brand new!! I just bought it from Best Buy for $300!!!"

"What in the world has MS done to the Start Menu!?!? I can't find a thing with all these programs everywhere that I don't use!!"

"Seriously, why is this thing slower than XP??"

"That thing that darkens the screen and asks if I'm sure? Yeah, that's still there!"

"YES!! I FINALLY FOUND THE NETWORK SETTINGS!!"

I remember when Windows 8 came out.

"This thing looks like my phone."

"Where is the start menu!!??"

"I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING AGAIN!!"

"What are all these big boxes staring at me?!?!?"

"Where are the wireless network settings?!?! They've been moved AGAIN!!"

"At least I can give my computer the finger all the time with this touch screen!!"

"Can we legalize assisted suicide? And can I get a meeting with Steve Balmer?!?!"

-------------------------------

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

JamesNT

Hi James,

Let's see how good you really are.

Predict the comments that will be voiced when Windows 9 is introduced!

Gene

I remember when Windows 9 came out.

"Why in the world didn't I buy all kinds of stock in that company that makes monitor wipes!!"

"Why didn't I get a touch screen?!?"

"Do we really need to have this many different sizes for a tile?"

"I knew I should have gotten that SSD drive!!"

"Why doesn't MS just do away with the 32-bit version?!?"

"Why can't we have our see-through aero back?!?!?"

"I think Healthcare, condoms, a college degree, and Microsoft Office should all be FREE!!!"

"Can we legalize assisted suicide? And can I get a meeting with Satya Nadella?"

JamesNT

Last line should read, "And how can I get a meeting with James NT?"

I can see where many would agree with that.

JamesNT

I have met JamesNT and Steve Balmer, you are no JamesNT!!!!

Just to make sure everyone sees my point:

I realize Windows 8 is a big adjustment. No doubt about it. But I don't think many of you realize just how much you hated Windows XP when it first came out.

JamesNT

Hi James,

Your point, as always, is well made.

The following is a rant. It's not directed at you, I think you have a good understanding of all of these issues. It's directed at life in general.

The fact that we may have hated windows XP does not diminish our pain. Our field is medicine. A new diabetes drug, a new surgical technique, a new approach to chronic problem, are all changes we have to learn. These may take work, but they are in our field, and directly concern patient care.

Changes to Windows are not in our field. They do not improve patient care, they do not make our lives easier. At least for an old geezer like me, it takes a while to adapt to the changes in a new operating system. Usually, from my perspective, these changes are "changes for the sake of change" rather than changes to truly improve performance. So they are basically nuisances without a clear benefit.

And, at least for me personally, Windows 8 (without an aftermarket program to resurrect the start button) is a very very significant adjustment. I'm still not sure I would be able to use it, without Start8.

End of rant. Back to patients.

Gene

Gene,

With your permission, I'll take your mention of my having a good understanding of these issues as a compliment and I thank you.

As much as I love technology, as much as I respect MS, even I get fed up sometimes. I just mastered Visual Studio 2010 and now 2013 is already here. Sigh.

I suppose that despite how much of a butthole I can be sometimes, in the end game I'm just as much if not more of a pragmatist. That, and I realize how much worse off we would be if technology didn't move at all.

JamesNT

Suspect Windows 9 will be met with, why didn't they do this with 8

Same thing happened when Windows 7 came out.

"That should have been Vista to start with!"

JamesNT

I don't think I did, but if I did hate XP, I hate and deplore Windows 8 more. The major difference between XP and Windows 8 (besides intuitiveness) is that Windows XP was created to make the desktop and user experience better. Windows 8 is all about tying together a tablet, phone and desktop.

On the other hand, the same skillset you use to manipulate your phone is the same skillset you use to manipulate your tablet and your PC. Which means you have one and only one skillset to learn. Developers can make applications that work on your phone, tablet, and PC with little to no code changes. Write once use everywhere. This is unlike Android and Mac.

JamesNT

Mac is different, but developing for Android/iOS/Blackberry/Windows can all be accomplished with the same tool set. Developing a touch-centric app uses a similar UX (User eXperience) regardless of the target OS. As a developer, I'll take that workflow any day over developing desktop specific applications.

The key macro factor that that Microsoft has attempted to respond to is that folk's next computer is increasingly a mobile device, not a desktop. http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Desktop-Search-Decline-14-Billion-Google-Users-Shift-Mobile/1010668

As others have observed, there is a whole generation of developers now who see Microsoft as 'legacy', and develop for mobile OSs; mobile developers are in the largest demand (even in the enterprise market) and Microsoft up to this point has not gotten traction. http://recode.net/2014/02/13/why-sa...-chance-of-saving-microsoft-from-itself/

Perhaps that will change, or perhaps not, but desktops are a dying user-case.

Doc you hit it on the head. In our office we had a billing and scheduling system that still ran DOS. It was completely obsolete,... and completely bulletproof. It was NEVER down, hacked, locked up or without its addresses.

The anticipated benefits of the EMR have been COMPLETELY erased by the unnecessary costs of updates and modifications to a system that is not yet mature enough to stand alone.

The iPhone when it first came out was a technological wonder, but subsequent "upgrades" have rendered it increasingly useless as what used to work doesn't and what is, requires ever increasing expenditures of time, to learn the system.

And I have posted this rant, which, like the upgrades we are all struggling with, is mostly useless. Sorry...

Before I begin Part I of my response, I'd like to remind everyone that our goal here is to gain understanding and make all this stuff work. That being said, I want to known that I understand where you guys are coming from. Change is tough. And these days it seems like the only thing happening is change or the whole world is against you.

Bert and DocMartin



I'd like to point out how completely different your responses are. One is saying it was a mistake for MS to move forward without taking in feedback from customers. The other is saying Apple should have never taken feedback from customers.

What we must understand is that you are both right and you are both wrong. I agree that it was a mistake for Steven Sinofsky to move forward with Windows 8 the way he did. Indeed, he paid for that decision because he has since been removed from Microsoft. So have many others. On the other hand, I can't see any other way for Windows 8 to have played out. Microsoft, put simply, had to move forward and in my professional opinion they did it the best way they could. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of third party applications, such as Amazing Charts, that MS must maintain compatibility for. Yet, they have to enable Windows for touch. No one is going to purchase a new copy of Windows, regardless of how awesome it is, if it will not run their old applications. This is the reason why Windows 8.x Pro is outrageously outselling Windows RT. So, how do you enable your OS to run on tablets, run on laptops, run on PC's, and run all the latest touch applications people want but at the same time keep all the old applications that were never developed with touch in mind ready to go as well? Already there are posts on this forum from people asking when there will be a touch version of Amazing Charts. Obviously, you need the touch-ready version of Windows here first before you can make the touch version of Amazing Charts. The only way Microsoft could make all this happen was to have a version of Windows with two desktops. One that behaved the old way and one that behaved the touch way.

Some of you say you miss the Start menu and that the Start Screen of Windows 8 is too messy. I disagree. I installed a fresh copy of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 in three separate VM's and I saw the same thing in all three of them: Start menus that were full of crap, utilities, and lots of programs I would never use. I found myself spending several minutes moving icons, right clicking on different programs and choosing "Pin to Start" to get the Start menu to have my most recent programs at the ready. I spent the same amount of time doing that in Windows 8.1. Going from the Start Screen to the all programs list and choosing "PIN TO START SCREEN." However, once I got my Start Screen organized, I find it even easier to get to the program I need than I ever did in that small little Start Menu. It took about two days to get used to the Start screen, mind you, but by the third day I was flowing along like water down a stream.

Indeed, to this day when a client calls up asking to connect to our Terminal Server from Windows 7, walking that client through the Start Menu to find Remote Desktop is an outright pain. I usually just do a join.me remote session with the client and make a shortcut on their desktop for them otherwise they'll never find the Remote Desktop icon in the Start Menu.

Here is a picture of my Start Screen on my computer. Nice and neat.



Microsoft will never make everyone happy and I'm not saying all of you should just love all this. What I am saying is give it a chance. Learn how to use it. We all judged Vista so harshly in 2007 only to praise Windows 7, with its 5 or 6 minor changes, so loudly. The good news is that we do have a Billion Dollar software company that can afford to make mistakes like Vista, mistakes that they can learn from, and apply what they learn to the next release. And, all the while, we can enjoy 10 full years of support on the Windows release we have until those things are ironed out. That being said, if any of you want to stay on Windows 7, there's nothing wrong with that at all and I will fully support your decision - until about the year 2018.

In conclusion: If I can do this, if I can find a way to maintain my efficiency in this sea of change, then I know for a fact that the super-smart people on this forum can do the same. I know you're busy. I know with CMS, HIPAA, MU, ICD-10, and everything else going on that your life is a mess right now. Just understand that you aren't alone and I'm here to help. Perhaps, just perhaps, it may be time to sit down and read a good Windows book by one Paul Thurrot so you can get this behind you and move forward into the future.

I hope everyone will take this post as intended. A show of pragmatism, respect, and hope for a smooth transition.

JamesNT

Part II of my response to this most interesting thread. I hope Indy and DocMartin will be good sports.


When it comes to EMR systems, I agree that most upgrades can be useless. There are two issues:

* The EMR companies are spending more time adding features for MU than they are adding features to be more efficient.

* Following up from the first point, there are way too many doctors who care more about MU than they do anything else. Too many docs saw MU as easy cash only to be sorely disappointed.

For those doctors focused solely on medicine and the patient, you are finding yourself outnumbered and outgunned. Sad but true. I can only hope things will get better. As for your DOS based program, it didn't have to deal with security, sharing the processor with other programs, and didn't have any multi-threading at all. While it may have seemed bullet proof in those before-Internet days, a program like that would not survive today. Indeed, you would see just how non-bullet proof it was.


I don't blame you for taking the workflow you mentioned. Making web based apps using a toolset that hides the underlying differences between browsers most certainly has its appeal. However, like everything else, there are pros and cons. Web based apps, and the additional abstraction brought on by the added API's you are using to make your code work across platforms has a performance penalty. A serious one at that. It may be this penalty doesn't matter. The app doesn't have to be fast, it just has to be fast enough. That reminds me of one of my friends who bought one of those super clear super HD TV's. And then he proceeded to laugh at me for my 5 year old HD TV. I then pointed out that the additional clarity of his TV is beyond the human eye's ability to detect. He stopped laughing.

The issue here, of course, is that while web-based touch apps are all the rage, there are still plenty of client-server apps out there and they aren't going any where. In fact, there are new client-server apps being made all the time. Furthermore, there are plenty of people on this forum who have made it clear they do not wish AC to become web based. I realize that a web-based app can be installed in-house, but that adds a lot of complexity. Do we really want to teach people how to manage Microsoft Internet Information Services when they can barely handle SQL Server? Also, client-server apps are easy to install. Just click Next three times then click Finish. This process is well understood. Web-based apps may trash each other: "SharePoint crapped out my Amazing Charts!"

What I'm trying to say as that these tools and paradigms have their uses. And, as developers, we use the tools best suited for the jobs that our clients demand. Today, I find myself maintaining client-server and web-based apps. I don't really get to choose which one I want to focus on lest I start turning down clients. While I certainly don't blame you for learning touch-based web development, don't be so quick to abandon everything else.

Regarding a whole generation of developers that see MS as legacy, let them commit career suicide. The new kids coming out of college who were raised by liberal professors that still see the Microsoft of 1995 will, of course, see MS as legacy. People go for what's new and sexy. All developers want to be like Steve Jobs: an arrogant asshole that can get away with being such because he has money and is just that smart and the worse he treats people the more they love him for it. Just like many doctors want to be Gregory House. But that's not how the real world works. MS isn't legacy. MS is the largest software maker in the world that can't afford to crap on it's existing user-base just to chase after the new way of doing things. Just like Windows 95 migrated us to 32-bit applications all the while supporting our old 16-bit applications that had no idea they were now in a cooperative environment and no longer had total control of the processor, MS has to migrate BILLIONS of people from the old Start Menu to the world of Touch. And they have to do it carefully and be ready to fix mistakes along the way - and spend BILLIONS OF DOLLARS doing it. That's not legacy, that's being responsible.

The desktop is not a dying user case. I realize all the pundits out there are saying it is. I get it. What I have observed in my 20 years in this field is that pundits make lots of money "glorifying" news headlines and saying things that sound trendy. Notice I didn't say anything about truth. Has anyone ever noticed how most pundits start their article with a question? Instead of making an article that says, "The Desktop is Dying" and then listing their proof, they start their article with, "Is the Desktop Dying?" and then list a few sales numbers then let everyone debate about it in the comments - all the while clicking on the ads of the blog owner.

Without a doubt tablet and smartphone sales are going insane and, yes, at the expense of desktops. But there are reasons for that:

* The desktop market is already saturated. Everyone already has a desktop computer, but not everyone yet has a tablet.

* People are keeping their desktops longer. Windows Vista was the last version of Windows that needed way faster procs and way more RAM. Windows 7 and Windows 8 will both run on hardware that ran Vista. Why buy a whole new system? I think people are going to start keeping desktops 5+ years rather than trading up every three like they did before.

* People are learning the mobile market so that means turnover. Turnover means inflated sales. A friend of mine that works at Best Buy (yes, I give him crap about this daily) told me of a local office that came in and bought 20 Samsung Galaxy tablets from them. A few days before the return policy was up, that same person from the local office brought all 20 of the Galaxys back and exchanged them for 20 Surface Pros. The reason? The Galaxys couldn't do everything they needed them to do (they bought the Galaxy's because they were cheap). Do we think Samsung is going to subtract those 20 returns from their sales numbers? No. Is the Best Buy manager sick to his stomach? Yes. The reason Android is beating out iPad is because a lot of people are getting tired of paying a premium for a device that can do little more than surf the web and check email.

What we are going to see happen is most people are going to have three devices:

* The smartphone. Used for those who are on-the-go who need to, obviously, make phone calls, see important emails while waiting in line, and text quick notes to people. Although the Windows based smart phones come with mobile Office, I don't see people using that. Smartphones may also be used for portable MP3 players and GPS. I use my Smartphone on my Harley as an MP3 player into my Harley's sound system and for GPS.

* The tablet. Used for those who were on the go but have arrived at their off-site destination. Used for more in-depth email (opening attachments, making longer responses), reading and editing Word/Excel documents, giving presentations, and collaboration.

* The Desktop. Still the real work-horse. Most desktops now are being sold with multi-monitors. This is where people get their real work done when they are done gallivanting around. With their dual, or even triple, monitors they will have resource intensive tools open. I, right now, have 6 Remote Desktop connections, 14 Internet Explorers (counting individual tabs), Word, Excel, two copies of Visual Studio, and Windows Media Player open and running now. And since I have three monitors, it's all fairly easy to manage. I could not do all this multi-tasking on a tablet, much less a Smartphone. The lines can be blurred, however. Some tablets, like the MS Surface, have docking stations and can run more than one monitor. Of course, one can argue at that point that I have converted the Surface into a Desktop. I can go with that argument either way. I'm not particular.

My point is that we all know the news is biased, yet we keep listening to it. We should, in point of fact, look at how we are using computers ourselves. How many of us are ready to stop using our desktops and go full tablet? How many of you really want to stare at that small screen all day? How many hundreds of thousands of apps out there will require a desktop for decades to come? Can any of us see ourselves using Amazing Charts, QuickBooks, our PM system, and all our other heavy duty stuff on a tablet any time soon? How long before some really smart guy says, "Hey! We have all those desktops out there with 8G of RAM and big hard drives and dual CPU's. Why are we paying out the buttocks for per-processing licensing to our vendors so we can run all of our apps in the datacenter and send only the UI to the desktop? Why not distribute the load?!?" What's old will be new again.

What I think we are seeing is a market adjustment, not the death of the desktop.

I think that's enough for one night. I hope everyone is doing well.

JamesNT

I like my smart phone, tablet, and laptop. But just like James said, when I need to put the nose to the grindstone, it's a big high powered desktop with dual monitors and windows all over the place. Then when I'm on the go, I want an "app for that".