Still booting after all these years: The people stuck using ancient Windows computers

At my old workplace, there was numerous XP machines still going. They were running old machine equipment, and basically served as a controller for the entire machine.

As it turns out, it was cheaper to keep these XP stations, instead of buying a completely new Hydrolic press, or whatever it was running, which cost several hundred of thousands of dollars.

One day one of these computers stopped working, and we immediately tried to get the software to work on a brand new W10 replacement. Took us a week of drivers hell, until we eventually went to the basement, found an exact replica, and swapped the HDD over.

The company, making these heavy machineries, went bankrupt in the early 2000s, and there was literally no way of getting the software to run on anything besides that original box.

I'm disturbed that an elevator is running a desktop OS. How did this happen? Did they never hear of microcontrollers?

“Stuck”

Imagine being stuck using something that works for 30 years.

I know it's not exactly the point of the article but for a lot of things, I reckon a good amount of 'innovation' was pretty pointless. I personally don't think I ever needed anything that Office 2003 can't do... (Of course I don't use any MS office to begin with but you get the point)

The elevator was running Windows XP.

Clearly an extreme case of overengineering. A elevator has no business running more than a few microcontrollers.

Good for them. If it works, it works. I wouldn't connect it to the internet though.

I run a computer on Win7 at work, because it needs some important legacy software. It can't be containered because it has a nasty licence manager.

And my oscilloscope runs on Win98.

I'd still be using Windows 7 if I could.

there's a word for those people: awesome

windows xp was peak; running anything before xp is legendary

MS DOS 6.6 for me - I enjoy the power of a 286 processor and much smaller instruction sets.

:O

I’m visiting my parents in my home country after many years of not being there. I’m hoping my dad’s old pentium 2 laptop is still around.

Instead of using old proprietary shit you could use Linux or *BSD with a vintage desktop environment and have a blast

Something I noticed is that basic users (someone using a fucking 30 y/o OS is definitely one) have an easier time with *nix because most "technical" people are overfitted and brainwashed to the Micro$uck ecosystem

I would bet there are still a few old pieces of industrial machinery around that I duct taped together by imaging an ancient PC and transferring it to a Virtual Box VM.

We've got multiple tools still on Windows 2000, happily running production. They're on an airgapped network though, so no issues.

"stuck" more like happy to not have to deal with the last 15-ish years of microsoft ruining everything they previously excelled at.

I would still be using Windows 7 if it was safe to connect to the internet.

I can't believe government systems are just open to cyber security like that.

Are there not cyber terrorists for some teenager that has tried to do anything with these unsecured systems?

Why not? Still using Windows 7 on one of my ThinkPads. It's a solid system, if you know what you're doing and how to use is safely.

I would totally hang with that lady in the thumbnail lol

The dot net framework was ported to Windows 95/98 so they can use more software now.

If it serves their needs then more power to them. Tech companies today more than ever make sure you keep buying.

I had a 486DX running DOS for writing and editing CAM programs for CNC mills, lathes, pipe bender, and a laser cutter. And for funsies, an even older Macintosh that booted from a 5 1/4" floppy that ran a CMM, (co-ordinate measuring machine). And the software for the CMM ran from another 5 1/4" floppy.

This was about 2017 before I retired as a toolmaker.

Stuck?

Stuck? What can you do that I can't on Windows 7?

Nuclear silos.. is that early dos system I believe?

As long as things are not connected and not trying to add newer stuff , what's the problem?

I like the little typo ... c:// :)

I think i still have a copy of this OS. Along with NT4.0 and various others. I hoard stuff like this.

I just found the Warcraft install disk for Windows 98 if y'all need something to do...