Memorable things about Windows XP RIP


Recommended Posts

What are some of the memorable things you remember about Windows XP? I have too many to list, but I loved everything about Windows XP from the start up sound to the new luna theme etc! I am going to greatly miss XP!

Windows XP isn't really going anywhere, unless you let it go.

It will still operate --- you just won't get Updates.

Some games and apps won't even function on XP anymore and no longer supported under minimum specs even. You will see a pop up mentioning not compatible with this OS version sometimes, especially with a lot of top tier games.

This also means that eventually you will not beable to update to the latest drivers. I know for Windows 2000 there are very few modern hardware that has working drivers for it anymore,...So XP will just be more and more useless every year. Less you maybe use older hardware and keep functionality limited but only a matter of time until Java,flash or services like Netflix won't function on it making even internet browsing difficult.

I remember the major security breaches, like the Blaster worm - simply connecting to the internet with an unpatched computer could bring a system to its knees. Then there was a horrible Luna theme and the animated characters, like the dog for searching. There was the new activation system which was overly sensitive, resulting in unnecessary calls to Microsoft support. And there was all the hardware that ceased to work.

The situation was much better after a couple of security packs and the explosion in the skinning community.

  • Like 2

I remember wanting XP when my family were on Win 98 SE, lol.

Then I finally got XP in 2004, a month before XP SP2 was released, and boy it's greatly improved over 98 SE. I liked the Royale theme - added luster to the old Luna theme.

I first got XP Home (no Office) in July 2004, then XP Pro and Office 2003 in April 2005.

Memories about XP:

  • The selection of high quality visual styles. Back in the day when I still cared for customising Windows. This very forum was sort of a central hub for the XP customisation scene.
  • Bringing the NT kernel to the consumer space.
  • Going 'WTF?' when I saw the first screenshot of the Luna VS - which was on Neowin I believe.
  • Having to support it 11 1/2 years after it RTM-ed. Although to be fair, my employer is phasing out the remaining XP machines in the near future.

  • Like 2

I wrote on article on its new features: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_XP :D Hundreds of them. Whoever says it was Windows 2000 with a Luna theme has no clue what he is talking about.

My most memorable thing about XP was the fact that it actually worked with out crashing, ever!! Of course it was W2K that brought the NTFS file system into play, but that wasn't made for every day users, but was still killer.

In fact,

I don't think I've had a computer lock up, hang, or get a BSOD since W2K!! Of course also, I NEVER used that total POS Vista either!!

That's what my employer says, XP ain't going anywhere but on our computers.

This. We're still running XP here as well. Not to mention IE 7. Ugh.

- I've missed running Getskinned.org for a long time. Wish I never gave it up.

- 3DCC for a very simple look.

The themeing community, seems like everything around that time was skinned. It was great everything could be customized. All of that pretty much stopped when vista came out and is now almost non existent.

I remember skinning Windows XP to match Winamp so it could match the background and so on...

Its beta stage got me here, to Neowin! That time was one heck of a memorable experience!

And it's far from being RIP for me, coz I still have to use it at work every day. As a matter of fact, I'm typing this on a Windows XP machine.

Memories about XP:

The selection of high quality visual styles. Back in the day when I still cared for customising Windows. This very forum was sort of a central hub for the XP customisation scene.

In my eyes there was only one XP visual style worth a damn.

Luna Element. :wub:

I'm rather upset Tornado5 doesn't do any Windows 7 or Windows 8 themes. I'm fairly certain I would take the time to mod my setup if he did.

This was my XP desktop the morning I blew it away for the last time before installing Vista:

post-420821-0-10956800-1365509863.jpg

Ah Luna Element, that was a fantastic XP theme that should have been default with all installs.

The customisation scene died with Vista, skinning and theming went away, partly because it was more difficult and partly because many people were happy with Aero, the only real changes necessary in Vista were to make a maximised window transparent rather than black at the top.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • It's time to say goodbye to Edge and switch back to Firefox. There's no way to disable the ugly rounded corners that appear everywhere. Not even on the page frame. No one uses screens with rounded corners, you idiots.
    • Being on Github makes it more trustable since I can see the code at any point.
    • Gen Atlas is the next game from Shadow of the Colossus creator, this time with giant robots by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe The mind behind widely well-received games like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian, Fumito Ueda, showed up at Summer Game Fest today, and that was to reveal his latest project. Being developed by genDESIGN, Gen Atlas is incoming with what looks to be plenty of mech and robot action. Watch the reveal trailer, which makes not much sense, above. The game will have players waking up on an abandoned planet where deserted facilities and grand designs from the original creators remain. Soon, they will stumble upon a colossal robot, from which players gain access to the power to change the world. "Across an endless expanse of time, the remnants of those forgotten constructs begin to move once more," adds the studio. The gameplay snippets seen in the trailer show the player character climbing giant robots (as expected from the creator), while also controlling these titans somehow as well. This is a fully single-player open-world adventure. “The team and I are grateful to all the fans who’ve been eager to learn more about our game,” says Fumito Ueda, CEO and creative director of genDESIGN. “Their passion and enthusiasm has always motivated and inspired us. We hope to share an experience that inspires moments of quiet wonder and discovery.” Before gaining the name Gen Atlas, Ueda first announced this project back in 2024 with the codename Project Robot. Interestingly, this will be a project being funded and published by Epic Games, which should mean that a Steam release is out of the question. Gen Atlas will be releasing on Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. A release date has not been announced just yet.
    • How backwards can you have it? Yes, Linux was gaining because of Linux handhelds and the push for gaming compatibility, but that's not desktop users, it barely converts anyone who owns a SteamDeck, though it helps for those who wanted to do it, but anyways, the AI+RAM debacle helped Linux because people can't easily upgrade their PCs easily and many hate AI so they'd be incentivized to try Linux.
    • 🤦🏻‍♂️ No, expected because 10 EOL
  • Recent Achievements

    • Mentor
      grik went up a rank
      Mentor
    • Dedicated
      JKR earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • One Year In
      CHUNWEI earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      FBSPL earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Week One Done
      I2D earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      472
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      269
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      78
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      68
    5. 5
      +Edouard
      61
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!