14 DAY TRIAL // Windows XP’s end of support is quite a critical moment for millions of users out there who are still running it, but Microsoft is really keen this time on discontinuing the operating system launched 13 years ago.
Saving Windows XP is no longer an option, but users are still refusing to upgrade, so Microsoft needs to find a way to convince everyone that trying out Windows 8 is really worth it.
The solution comes from our reader Wolfram who found a way to mix “the best” of Windows 8 and Windows XP for a solution that would help save both operating systems.
Users, he says, do not care about what’s underlying beyond the UI, so bringing the Windows XP interface in Windows 8 could be a way to retain the familiarity that people love so much, while also offering modern features an enhanced security.
Here’s his comment in full:
“People do not want to migrate to Windows 8, mainly because of its GUI.
A suggestion for Microsoft: please design a version of Windows 8, which has exactly ‘the look and feel’ of Windows XP (the same GUI - based on Luna, or Classic theme).
People are mostly rejecting Windows 8 because of its GUI. And less because of the OS in itself. The average user is not concerned with what is beyond the GUI. People would certainly buy a successor of XP which looks and behaves exactly like XP. It is a matter of familiarity, that's all.
W8 should have two GUIs: the XP one; and the Metro one. Thus, everybody would be satisfied.”
Our reader might have a point here. Windows 8 has often been criticized for the UI changes that it brings to the market, including the new Modern UI that makes it harder for some people to perform simple tasks, such as shutting down the computer.
While Microsoft is addressing these claims in new Windows updates, users are still afraid of changing their operating system, not only because they would need to discover a completely new world, but also because such a process would involve hardware upgrades as well.
As for Windows XP, the user interface isn’t the only thing that people are addicted to. Windows XP was, and surprisingly still is, a reliable operating system that works very well on old computers, so Microsoft could also try lowering hardware requirements for new OS versions in order to convince users to upgrade.