Classic British Flight Sim

I guess it's been supported for so long because it's been a runaway success.

(Or in our case a runway success)

I think MS are partly responsible for folks reluctance to change due to their 'release a good OS then release a bloomer' policy.. however unintentional that is. Most folk seemed to dislike WinMe (though I quite liked it) so dived for XP when it came out (again, unlike me who only upgraded when the WinMe PC died). Seeking more of the same, a load dived into Vista.. only to have their fingers burned. Another few years then up popped Win7.. to all intents a better, more secure version of XP and a quantum leap above Vista. However.. by this time, those not wanting to touch Vista with a barge pole and had hung on to XP found themselves with a 'greater divide' twixt the 2 OS's so hung on to XP. Then.. the beast that is Win8 appears (which I've yet to hear good things about outside the IT community) leaving the die hard XPers one option and this, I believe, is what many of us have done. Come judgement day.. those forced to move up will leave Vista and Win8 and go to the already superceeded OS (by MS anyway).. Win7.

I have a PC with Win7 installed and to be brutally honest.. it doesn't float my boat. I knew where everything was with XP.. the format having (visibly) changed little from it's previous incarnations. With Win7.. it's a different story and due to the length of time I've been with XP.. I find I CBA to go looking. However.. there is good news for folk with old PC's who may by now have lost the driver discs or find their mobo is no longer supported. Lob your Win7 disc in and it will find everything, load appropriate drivers for it bringing you all a little bit closer to the 21st Century

Those, like me, who hung on to WinMe feel a little miffed by the '12yo OS' references as we've only had 10years use out of it (if that) so users who registered 12 years ago should have support stopped and those of us who moved late should have support extended Many of the 'new and wonderful things' Win7 and Win8 (expecially Win8) can do interest me not one little bit nor I fear, do they interest many of us here. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a position where we have to move with the times or be outcast for all eternity. The best we can hope for is to go to Win7 and keep one step behind

ATB
DaveB

All I want from an operating sytem is a display system, file access and the ability to run 32 and 64 bit programs.

W7 completely cocked up Windows Explorer and W8 allows me to have sticky finger marks on my displays. Progress?

W7 would be fine if it let you turn off all the silly presumptive features.

It tries to be too clever, an advertising feature of the time was how it did 'useful things' for you automatically

Well, they are un welcome and un wanted.

OK lets have newer OS's but doing what XP did with extra functions that can be easily disabled.

12 years is lost on me, doesn't matter if it is a long time compared to others, perhaps the others should be ashamed they don't support longer

You wouldn't like it if you bought a car then had to by the newer model after a few years..."Or else"

XP is good and I paid for it...therefore I expect it to be supported for years to come yet.

At least Microsoft can come up with an OS that can stand 12 years. Apple is lucky to make it 2 years before they feel the need to release a new version of OS.X or the iOS. Now, while I agree that they usually work and generally add new features that are mostly well received, my sister just upgraded her PowerBook and had a similar shock as those going from XP to Vista or 7 received as so much was changed. But then again, she's only had OS.X 6 for 5 years and it's no longer supported at all. She had to pay for the upgrade CD ($20 + shipping) and then pay another $20 for 2 additional versions, so she paid as much as I did to go from XP to 7, even though I got almost a decade of use out of XP before finally jumping to 7 when I began building my new PC with a 64-bit processor and all SATA internals.

Actually, to be honest, it's more than that. Windows 7 is actually Windows NT 6.1 (Vista was 6.0), Win8 is 6.2, and Win8.1 is NT6.3. So if you want to look at it, we've all been running Windows NT since 1993 (20 years) while Apple has released 8 versions of its OS.X in just 12 years.

Guys ... If it ain't bust , don't fix it ! Piper is still building Cherokees after 50 plus years , new models have upgraded wings [ 25 plus years ago ] diesel engines [ about 10 years ago ] glass cockpits [ about 5 years ago ] . So proper incremental upgrades are fine , just don't reinvent the wheel . If Boeing suddenly said you've got to turn the cockpit of all 737s upside down on Ist Jan '14 there would be uproar from the owners and crews of 5000 or so a/c [ sorry Ben ] . The 2 school PA28s at CA are about 1982 vintage and do the job that is needed . Indeed the CA Tiger Moth is 1935 and still taking students up and down reliably .
I'm not a 'pooter person so deep techy goes over my head .In this day and age 'pooters do some incredible jobs and life without would be difficult , BUT I want them to do the jobs I select , reliably , quickly , and without the need to do a full Tristar conversion course [ 5 long hard months ] every few years . A differences course a'la 737-200 to 737-300[ glass cockpit ]is ok and was only a few days ...... and even then there were a few '' Wot's it doing now ? '' moments .
If you're on 't roads of Daarset and see an elephant on a ladybird , I'm the keeper of a 1982 MZ 125 , complete with New L plates . Am trying to gain a m/c licence , and this machine does the job reliably . I can obtain spares and 'tho not an engineer am an old amateur fitter , and this seems to be enough .

ATB dave f .

While no one can state that MZ's are or have ever been the prettiest 2-wheelers.. they do what's expected of them without fuss (or speed or comfort) As an amateur fitter, you're over qualified Dave but that's the beauty of them.. cheap to run and easy to maintain

ATB
DaveB

Dave , over qualified never , I'm a naarfick Boi who'd rather use an hammer than a spanner ... just like on 'pooters .

ATB dave f.

Ballmer announced he's retiring from wrecking the company in about 12 months..
Perhaps there's hope.

... although 12 months is still enough time to do it in.


......
upon the announcement.. guess which way the stock value went....

On announcement MS shares rose nine percent