Re: Staying with XP after April 8 2014 (was Win 7 vs Win 8)

[Bill Troop billtroop@xxxxxxxx]

I concur that anxiety over working in virtual machines in highly
exaggerated. There is no need for us to hoard old machines and worry
about their health. On Kari's advice, I use W2K. He's been advising
this for several years. It took me until this year to do as he
recommended, and I am glad I did because the XyWrite experience is
completely satisfactory.


The only point on which I differ is that I have found VMware Player
easier to use than VirtualBox. It can't have taken more than an hour
to set up VMware and W2K, and XyWrite works perfectly. This is on Win 8.1.


What's the advantage? Well, VMware's video driver for W2K is
fantastic, and allows full use of my 3200x1800 15-inch screen. That
means XyWrite fonts are clearer and smoother than ever before. (On a
15 inch screen, I set Lucida Console to 36 points and am still able
to have a 43-line screen.)


There are also substantial advantages to being able to use the latest
hardware.


Win 8.1 is an annoying OS, and for those who have time, it would
probably be best to wait for 9 or 9.1. But there really is no need.
Virtualization works, it is easy, it is foolproof, it is smooth. And
it means you can just stop worrying about the future. Isn't that a good thing?


At 08/03/2014 10:37, you wrote:
> Hi,
>
> If you buy a full retail version, you will get both versions, 32-bit
> and 64-bit. Installing the 32-version may cripple your computer's
> power, but will enable you to run XyWrite as you have done under XP
> 32-bit. The retail version can be transferred to a new computer and
> even a virtual computer (which counts as a computer for lisensing
> purposes) and reactivated any number of times as needed.
>
>
> My guess for the future would be that, if you postpone your computer
> purchase, you will be eventually running XyWrite under some kind of
> virtual environment. For this you do not need Win7, just a free
> virtualization program, like Oracle VirtualBox, and Windows 2000 for
> running a 32-bit environment. Xp or Win7 is just an overkill.
> Xywrite needs only DOS to run, and that is one floppy, not the
> enormous resources of XP or Win7 DVD behemoths. W2K is a more
> friendly substitute for DOS, the minimum for making collaboration
> between operating systems fluent under a virtual environment.
>
>
> If you buy a new computer, running the latest 64-bit operating
> systems makes sense. A multiple-core processor and hardware
> virtualization will enable good legacy support for 32-bit
> applications and 16-bit remnants. Keeping the middleware to a bare
> minimum means that there is no reason to cling to XP in the long run.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Kari Eveli
> LEXITEC Book Publishing (Finland)
> lexitec@xxxxxxxx
>
> *** Lexitec Online ***
> Lexitec in English: http://www.lexitec.fi/english.html
> Home page in Finnish: http://www.lexitec.fi/
>
>
> 7.3.2014 18:52, Harry Binswanger wrote:
> > As I've said before on this list, I am quite happy with Win 7 but it
> > must be 32-bit (to avoid having to run a virtual machine).
> >
> > I would think that Win 7 32 bit will always be purchasable on ebay.
> > Right now, the "buy it now" prices range from $73.55 to a little over $100.
> >
> > I did find a slight need to learn new stuff when I went from XP to Win
> > 7. It's a bigger transition than going from Xy 3+ to Xy IV but less than
> > going from the old Word to Word with "the ribbon" (if you are familiar
> > with that trauma).
> >
> > Longer term, I'm hoping that Nota Bene will be our salvation.
> >
> > --Harry