Here are a few things many people don't know about Microsoft:
1) Microsoft no longer allows users to purchase its software on a CD ROM.
If you want to have programs such as Microsoft Office Suite programs like MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access. etc. on a PC, they are either preloaded on a new computer, or acquired by digital download. Rather than physically owning the program, users pay a renewable annual licensing fee.
2) When Microsoft allowed users to physically purchase their software on CD ROM, the cost was prohibitively expensive.
In 2001, The cost of the Microsoft Office 2000 CD ROM, (with MS Word, Excel, Outlook and Powerpoint), was approximately $600 at Business Depot. No physical copies were available for sale in the store; they were ordered from Microsoft one at a time, when a customer wanted to buy one. The CD Rom with just Excel was about $500; I paid an extra $100 for Powerpoint. Word was already preloaded on my PC, and I don't use Outlook. Most of the clients purchasing the Office Suite programs other than Word were businesses, rather than individuals, and the purchase cost could be claimed as a business expense for tax filing purposes.
Whenever Microsoft released a new version of purchasable software, rather than selling the older versions at the discount, any unsold copies of previous versions would be recalled and destroyed. Microsoft tends to add features with each new version of their software, and other versions are removed. This includes 'system 32' apps like MS Paint or the game FreeCell. The XP version of MS Paint allows you to invert the colours in any image, and to crop images by specifying the exact height/ width of an image in pixels. Windows 10's version of FreeCell lets the player ask for hints as to what their next move should be, than the same game of minesweeper can be played again, after having seen the end screen, with the location of all of the mines. Someone might think they are a great player if they complete a game in a fast time, after having seen the solution, but essentially they are just the human equivalent of a maze bright rat finding the food reward quickly in a Skinner box.
3) Purchased Microsoft software could not be installed on a PC without an Internet connection, and/ or without direct assistance from Microsoft.
I spent several hours trying unsuccessfully to install my Office 2000 Suite. In the morning, I phoned Microsoft's help line; that number was in the reference manual which came with the CD ROM. The Customer Service Rep with whom I spoke gave me instructions on how I needed to manually change the information in two of the Registry keys, as part of the installation process.
4) Many excellent older software apps and computer games only work with the Windows XP operating system, or earlier operating systems.
Windows Vista was released in January, 2007. Many older computer softwares, particularly those from the 1990's, do not work properly with Windows Vista, or any subsequent Windows operating system.
Windows Vista is the beginning of the 'dumbing down' period for Windows operating systems, which has continued to this day. The XP operating system is designed to obey commands of the user, and is still favoured by many long-time users who know exactly what they want to do on their computer. Vista and subsequent Windows operating systems are designed more for the casual user with minimal computer knowledge; the focus is more on offering helpful suggestions to the user, interacting with software which does most of the work for the user.
5) Windows Updates look for and disable unregistered software on computers.
I first noticed this in January, 2014, when I could no longer use an old program that had been installed with a serial crack file. With Windows XP, the .log file generated by a Windows update could be read using notepad.exe; today users who want to read the .log file have to contact Microsoft.
Certain software copyright owners pay a fee to Microsoft to have the company look for and shut down unregistered copies of their intellectual property. This search was not limited to installed program files. It looks to me like this fee must be paid on a regular basis; I have an unregistered copy of WinSnap, (a program used to make screen captures; it's not installed, it just functions while open), and for about a year, every time I used it, a large watermark appeared in the middle of the image. After about a year, it worked normally again. I think current windows updates are looking for this file again, but I hid it in a partitioned portion of an external drive, accessible by desktop shortcut, and the update hasn't found it. If a future update searches the drive associated with that particular letter, I'll just put my WinSnap on a removable USB flash drive, and insert/ remove that drive whenever I want to make a screen capture.
Windows updates permanently disable installed programs, and do not allow them to be reinstalled. I still like to use many programs and games that don't work with post-XP Windows, so I have them on computers which have Windows XP installed, but they aren't connected to the Internet, and haven't been on or after January, 2014. None of my softwares/ games are disabled by XP Service Packs 1, 2, and 3, and I believe that any subsequent updates could be removed through Add/ Remove programs in the Control Panel.
According to my Geek, very few modern laptops contain motherboards which are compatible with Windows XP, so I actively seek them out at flea markets or through buy & sell commerce online. Most of them are probably gathering dust in basements, or filling space in landfills today.
A Windows XP computer which has never been connected to the Internet is lighting fast in processing. Essentially I use a Windows 10 Computer for Internet related activities, and I do work on XP computers. A USB removable drive is used to move files between machines.
