Microsoft retracts Windows 7 PC end-of-sales deadline

[aritra2116]

I guess I'm gonna use Windows 7 till either its support ends, or otherwise my hardware dies. I've tried Windows 7 with touch on my tablet through Splashtop. Works great. I've tried Linux with Ubuntu but since I've got the version 13.04 (whose support ends in a few days) and not an LTS version like 12.04, I can't download another LTS because of my internet. I've stayed with Windows XP for years and I had found it to be the most user friendly OS for personal and home use. The second is Windows 7. I've also had Vista a few years ago but it wasn't as user friendly as the former two. During the good ol' times, I used to have Windows 98 which was sufficient to run all my old games, educational software etc. During 2009 in my country, a Windows 7 based touch PC became really popular here.

 

[gregws27]

Any thoughts or knowledge that Microsoft will allow retail sales of stand alone windows 7 software again, or for that matter, download clean install or upgrade versions?

 

[mjf]

Linux grew out of the robust Unix operating system. As I understand it the linux stable is run by enthusiasts and hence the lack of support by the big third party software houses and driver support. The fact that a commercial entrepreneur hasn't jumped on the opportunity may mean there is a lot more to the robust commercialization of linux.

 

[Fantail]

Once I find enough reasons, ok excuses, to get an ssd for the laptop I thought of looking at Linux deepin 2014 once its released for the hard drive.

 

[Britton30]

Once I find enough reasons, ok excuses, to get an ssd for the laptop I thought of looking at Linux deepin 2014 once its released for the hard drive.

1.No moving parts
2.No heat
3.Lightning fast
4.Better battery life
5.Durable
6.Dropping prices
7.Easier to wipe data
8.Lightning fast

A few to start you off.

 

[King Arthur]

Once I find enough reasons, ok excuses, to get an ssd for the laptop I thought of looking at Linux deepin 2014 once its released for the hard drive.

1.No moving parts
2.No heat
3.Lightning fast
4.Better battery life
5.Durable
6.Dropping prices
7.Easier to wipe data
8.Lightning fast

A few to start you off.

On the other hand:
* Near impossible to recover data when the SSD dies. Keep those backups handy!
* Almost no impending warning signs of death unlike HDDs. If the SSD feels like heading south, it'll be outrunning the dodo getting there.
* Firmware issues are as much of a problem as SSDs simply wearing themselves out.
* SSDs have finite lifetimes owing to their fundamental design, whereas HDDs will almost never die simply from daily routine usage.

SSDs are great for laptops since they are more often than not in environments that an HDD would never want to be in, but it's always best to fully understand what SSDs are and what they aren't so one can make the best informed decisions.

 

[Britton30]

King Arthur as an enthusiast you should really bring yourself up to date on SSD. Your first statement is the only one near the actuality of the SSDs available today.

 

[matts6887]

I run 2 Linux desktops and if Windows 9 turns out to be a flop I will keep Windows 7 for as long as possible then I will move to just Linux

I agree with ya on this one Stephanie. I too will probably keep windows 7 for as long as possible if windows 9 turns out to be a flop like windows 8 originally was. In the end though it really does make ya have to kinda wonder if Microsoft actually really cares about retaining its share of the market still.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

* Near impossible to recover data when the SSD dies. Keep those backups handy!
True but that can happen with HDDs, too. As you said, backups are vital but with both SSDs and Hdds.

* Almost no impending warning signs of death unlike HDDs. If the SSD feels like heading south, it'll be outrunning the dodo getting there.
True but, again, it can happen with HDDs as well. Instead of worrying about warnings, make frequent backups. I loved the second sentence; you have a way with words!.

* Firmware issues are as much of a problem as SSDs simply wearing themselves out.
True of early SSDs. The newer ones are far more reliable.

* SSDs have finite lifetimes owing to their fundamental design, whereas HDDs will almost never die simply from daily routine usage.
Nothing here is true. Current SSDs will probably last longer than you will want to keep using them due to advancing technology rendering them obsolete. HDDs will eventually wear out, some sooner than others.

...but it's always best to fully understand what SSDs are and what they aren't so one can make the best informed decisions...
You need to take your own advice.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I run 2 Linux desktops and if Windows 9 turns out to be a flop I will keep Windows 7 for as long as possible then I will move to just Linux

I agree with ya on this one Stephanie. I too will probably keep windows 7 for as long as possible if windows 9 turns out to be a flop like windows 8 originally was. In the end though it really does make ya have to kinda wonder if Microsoft actually really cares about retaining its share of the market still.

It doesn't really matter if 9 flops like a dead cat or not; I'm using Win 7 until sometime in 2019. That said, I hope 9 succeeds since it will suggest that M$ came to its senses and there will be a better chance that M$ will have a decent OS when it comes time to replace 7.

 

[King Arthur]

True of early SSDs. The newer ones are far more reliable.

* SSDs have finite lifetimes owing to their fundamental design, whereas HDDs will almost never die simply from daily routine usage.
Nothing here is true. Current SSDs will probably last longer than you will want to keep using them due to advancing technology rendering them obsolete. HDDs will eventually wear out, some sooner than others.

I was referring to SSDs having a finite number of write cycles before the flash memory flat out refuses to be written to, resulting in the eventual death of the drive. Now, unless I am simply being unaware of a revolutionary change in the type of flash memory being used in SSDs (please correct me if I'm wrong!), this is still a very legitimate problem that SSDs have. HDDs which store data via magnetic storage don't wear themselves out simply by writing data in, at least as far as I know. Again, please enlighten me if I am outdated here!

...but it's always best to fully understand what SSDs are and what they aren't so one can make the best informed decisions...
You need to take your own advice.

Indeed, and I am always open to learning new advancements. I admit that I am not up to date with SSDs as I should be, especially regarding the firmware. I am aware that SSD firmware has gotten better, but I didn't know to what extent and so I erred on the side of caution.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

True of early SSDs. The newer ones are far more reliable.

* SSDs have finite lifetimes owing to their fundamental design, whereas HDDs will almost never die simply from daily routine usage.
Nothing here is true. Current SSDs will probably last longer than you will want to keep using them due to advancing technology rendering them obsolete. HDDs will eventually wear out, some sooner than others.

I was referring to SSDs having a finite number of write cycles before the flash memory flat out refuses to be written to, resulting in the eventual death of the drive. Now, unless I am simply being unaware of a revolutionary change in the type of flash memory being used in SSDs (please correct me if I'm wrong!), this is still a very legitimate problem that SSDs have. HDDs which store data via magnetic storage don't wear themselves out simply by writing data in, at least as far as I know. Again, please enlighten me if I am outdated here!...

You are outdated here. The finite write limitation has been shown to have been blown well out of proportion. Tests have been done showing as many as 300TB of writes without failure. It will take most people dozens of years to make that many writes. The 128GB Samsung 840 Pro in my desktop has been running 24/7 for 11 months (except for two one week long trips when I shut the machine down) has only 2.3TB of writes on it. At that rate, it will easily last me 79 to 119 years, well past the hoped for seven year lifetime of the machine it is in. That drive will be obsolete well before then although I'll probably still be using it until I retire the machine. The SSD I recently put in my notebook will probably be able to last 200 years since it doesn't get heavy usage even though it being used for both the OS and data. Obviously, I won't use it that long. As long as one takes precautions to avoid excessive, unnecessary writes, such as not defragging them (SSDs don't need defragging anyway), they will last longer than most people will need them to last, even with heavy usage.

Again, many of your allegations were true of the first generations of SSDs but they have come a long, long way since then.

Writing data on to a HDD will not wear it out. Spinning the platters will eventually wear out the bearings.

 

[A Guy]

Don't know about the estimated life But

9317.5 GB = 9.09912 TB

So far so good

A Guy

 

[Fantail]

That ssdlife utility looks cool, will have to check it out.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

That ssdlife utility looks cool, will have to check it out.

It doesn't work with all SSDs, such as my 840 Pro.

 

[greebal]

Works with my 840 pro

 

[carwiz]

I don't think SMART counts bytes. It keeps track of accesses though. Each access can be 512 or 4096 bytes depending on the drive. I'm gong on 11.4 Trillion accesses since I built this system three years ago. I'll let someone else do the math on byte count. Not to mention there's over 12,000 hours on it. I've used only 2% of it's life. I'll be on to a new system, or buried, before it's used up.

I made one firmware (FW) update when I first got the drive. But in all fairness, I think I'm behind one FW update; However, it it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Britton30]

That ssdlife utility looks cool, will have to check it out.

It doesn't work with all SSDs, such as my 840 Pro.

View attachment 304263

You (and myself) have an older version which didn't read my 840 Pro either. Latest is ver. 2.3.56. This is a c|net download, but check the Direct Download Link under the big d/l button, it's a clean exe file.
SSDLife Free - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Just scanned....
https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...ae4c02a94cc37011444b73d7/analysis/1391188291/

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

That ssdlife utility looks cool, will have to check it out.

It doesn't work with all SSDs, such as my 840 Pro.

View attachment 304263

You (and myself) have an older version which didn't read my 840 Pro either. Latest is ver. 2.3.56. This is a c|net download, but check the Direct Download Link under the big d/l button, it's a clean exe file.
SSDLife Free - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Just scanned....
https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...ae4c02a94cc37011444b73d7/analysis/1391188291/

View attachment 304281

Thanks for the update. Here is my latest scan:



Based on the results of the scan and the amount of actual writes already made on the drive (as reported by Samsung Magician), Samsung is claiming only around 20TB of write life for the 840 Pro. The test I linked earlier shows actual results of 15X more. Manufacturers are reputed to be very conservative with their life estimates; this scan certainly supports that. Even a 2022 expected demise is two to three years more than I want for the machine it is in. Well before 2019, I will have replaced the spinners I currently have with ones with more capacity.

 

[Fantail]

Checked out that utility. Nifty.