I'm still running W98SE.
>
>anybody have W98SE drivers for a Lexmark X1240??
>G-D Microsoft WITHDREW them June of last year,and the box said it had W98SE
>support,but inside was a errata sheet saying W98/ME support was no
>available after June 30,07.
>
>The drivers existed,but MS -MADE- everyone pull them,even the archive
>sites.I can understand MS not wanting to create drivers,but to pull ones
>already made is underhanded and stingy.
I had the same experience recently with a laptop. Microsoft made the manufacturer delete all XP drivers so as to force people to buy Vista. A web search turned up dozens znd dozens of sites that had linked to the manufacturer's website instead of serving up local copies. I finally found the XP drivers on the vendor's European website.
It sure will be nice when they finally come out with a reaonable Open Source electronics CAD package for Linux/BSD. That's what keeps me running both systems.
It's kinda old news with HP and Compaq for Win95/98/ME:
I haven't seen any XP drivers intentionally pulled from the major PC vendor sites. I so some repair work and am constantly downloading drivers for older hardware. What I have seen are web site reorganizations, that break links to such things as driver downloads.
Hardware vendors would be nuts to comply with such a request. Many of them developed those drivers without MS certification or help. They're not owned by MS. In addition, having the drivers on their web site results in a huge reduction in support calls, where customers don't have to bug support asking "where's the driver"?
Other than a few unfounded accusations, Google search didn't find any evidence of MS "forcing" vendors to remove XP drivers. Got anything better?
Incidentally, MS is still back pedalling on killing off Vista. Dell no longer offers only XP on their products. However, they offer something called "transition", where XP is pre-installed, but a Vista SP1 license and CD is included for eventual "upgrade".
I haven't checked if the price was jacked up to include both licenses.
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
I can already smell a class action lawsuit and/or some major regulatory penalty roaring down the chute.
Well, yeah, but only if you opt for the higher tiers of Vista. I assume that means more Dollars. If so then it'll hurts Dell's bottomline, and that of others.
--
Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/
"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.
There are a few inviolate rules in the universe. Gravity attracts, radioactive elements decay, politicians raise taxes, and Microsoft never really gives anything away for free. Thanks for the verification.
I'm also wondering if Dell timed the demise of XP to coincide with the night of the full moon is coincidental or satirical.
Once upon a time, I was involved with SCO and the transition from Xenix to ODT (Open Desktop 3.2 Unix). That was about 1989. It was very difficult to get people to switch from a known stable product, to a more capable, but far more complex product. Numerous attempts to kill of Xenix failed usually as a result of dealer revolts. History repeated itself again with the ODT to OSR5 transition (about 1995) and again with the OSR5 to UW7 transition. Basically, customers and dealers are not thrilled with new and improved, if it costs them time, money, diskspace, rewriting drivers, and recoding apps.
One would think that Microsoft would have learned from the Windoze 3.1 to Windoze 95 transition. However, that wasn't much of a lesson. Windoze 3.1 was an unstable piece of crap, and the initial release of Windoze 95 wasn't much better. Going from one disaster to another was fairly easy. Going from Windoze 98 to Windoze 2000 was a shocker, but MS had the interim version of NT3.5 and NT4 to get the users accustomed to how it worked. NT was so much better than 95, that it went amazingly smoothly (but slowly). It was functional because MS didn't kill off Windoze 98 during the transition. They even released an update in the form of Windoze ME *after* W2K to placate the Neanderthals while they got W2K running.
Alas, that's not the way Vista was released. No more maintaining the old operating system while the new one gets up to speed. This was going to be a dump everything you own, throw out all your old "incompatible" hardware, and migrate to the next big thing. I'm sure some brilliant marketing type is now collecting his bonuses based on the wonderful way Vista has been received by the GUM (great unwashed masses). I'm not sure what MS was thinking, but a fast look at their own history, and those of other operating system transitions should have given them the clue that this was not going to be very smooth.
I just got a call from a customer wanting to buy a new Dell laptop. I have him the $50 transition option. His answer was "$50 for a parachute is cheap. Buy XP". I think that sums it up. He has a variety of legacy insurance rating applications that are known to blow up running on Vista. He needs XP. I was planning on doing a dual boot, but my experience with multiple OS's and non-geek customers has not been gratifying. Incidentally, I've now done 9ea Vista to XP downgrades. All were because Vista would not run legacy applications, and the vendors were not interested in patching old apps to run on new iron.
I'm still waiting for evidence that MS is "forcing" vendors to remove XP drivers from their web sites. I can't find anything with Google or on Slashdot.
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
It was an Acer Aspire 3680 that I picked up for a couple of hundred bucks. I like to leave a laptop set up in my hotel room when I am working at remote locations, and didn't want to risk my good laptop.
"I'm sorry, we only support Microsoft Windows Vista on that model"
You naow have two data points; Jim Yanik's Lexmark X1240 printer and my Acer Aspire 3680 laptop.
You can add another related data point; I have a perfectly good Compaq Proliant 5500R server that is running Windows 2000 Advance Server because every version of Windows 2003 refuses to use more than one of the four Pentium Pro processors -- even though those versions of Windows work fine with more modern quad processor machines.
I need more than LTSpice can deliver. I need schematic capture, PWB layout, and mixed digital/analog simulation, and I have to be able to modify the work of the magnetics and mechanical experts I work with.
It's really not that much of a burden having a Linux box and a Windows box on my desk, and lately I have been using VMWare Workstation more and more, so eventually I should be able to run everything on one box without dual booting. After all, I might want to run Microsoft Bob... :)
I just checked hp's site... XP drivers are still available for download for my P2015dn.
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
Duh! I'm already using them on all my XP machines ;-)
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at
formatting link
| 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave
Read the license terms of the various tool sets and MS libraries one needs to develop these drivers. Microsoft could easily be in a position to demand anything they want.
I've tangled with s/w development on occasion. And I've avoided Microsoft platforms due to their frightening licensing terms. Ever wonder what drives all the ports of open source tools and libraries to the Windows platform?
--
Paul Hovnanian paul@hovnanian.com
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Have gnu, will travel.
Jeff Liebermann wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
WRT my Lexmark X1240 printer/scanner,why else would archive sites remove W98/ME drivers that I KNOW existed prior to June 30,2007 ? I have an errata sheet that was included in my Lexmark printer box with the availability date on it.Even the BOX itself said the device was supported under W98/ME.
They still have much older drivers on the archive sites.
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