Windows XP forever?

[jelson]

So, how many of you are still Windows XP users like me and will you continue using XP forever?
Even after they stop updates?

Me!

I've tried Win7 and it's nice... but I need a much more powerful box to run it on. With a Core2Duo E6300 (1.86 GHz) and 1.5 GB RAM I can be a very happy camper with XP Pro or a marginal user with Win7 and all it's prettiness and coolness.

I'm also seriously looking at Ubuntu... as long as I've got XP virtualized (see below).

Easy decision. So, yeah. I do plan on getting a Win7 box: at least 6 GB RAM, SATA III and USB 3.

But I'm also looking at holding onto XP via VirtualBox. I do have a XP Home license that originally came with my current box along with the XP Pro license I got when the box was refurbished.

So, hopefully I'll be able to sucessfully get the XP Home license installed on a virtual machine. (I'm sure I'll have to do phone activation with MS on that: I'm looking at the sticker on the side of my box as I type this.)

Now you can see why I want at least 6 GB before I'll consider Win7 => At least 1.5 GB for the base virtual machine. Then I can have various versions of the vhd with assorted soon-to-be legacy apps installed in them.

I even wrote a poem for an XP license competition.Alas, I didn't win

Ode to XP

Like a comfortable armchair art thou to me
Though I never dreamed so attached to you I'd be.

I recall how small you used be when only 2.0,
The exciting possiblities I spied at 3.0,

How the whole world suddenly changed with 95 & 98,
And how Windows became the OS I loved to hate.

False starts, and blue-screen fits you used to throw.
Those ugly, embarassing phases like Bob and ME really used to blow.

And then finally, the promises, promises came true.
Windows XP: stable, sturdy and keen, my appreciation grew and grew.

Has it really been 9 long years? Are you really through?
Come on now, I didn't buy that Vista ballyhoo.

But I see the bright and shiny blossom of 7
That Redmond promises, promises to be OS heaven.

And in my future, there's a monstrous machine:
Quad cores, 16 GB RAM and more... with a really big screen.

And I'm told I really won't have to say goodbye
To you, Windows XP, my old friend and faithful ally.

They say, "Come take a close look inside.
In Virual PC will XP still reside."

Oh, how sweet, I think. But wait...
I feel like I've been set up for a blind date!

We all know the score, tis understandable too.
A ploy: big corps with legacy apps to comfort and subdue.

XP Mode? Good for them, but not really for hobbyists like me.
There's a great way to keep you around, and it's free!

Uncrippled and robust, I can keep you in a VirtualBox.
So many apps do I test and try, it's hard to pull up all the weeds.
But once a retail license's installed, I can have a vdh for each of my needs
While my base system remains clean and lean. What can I say but XP ROX!

And come Windows 7 or 8 or Ubuntu, Whoopee!
With me, will my virtualized XP Pro always be!