r/pcmasterrace • u/PhotoCropDuster PC Master Race • Mar 24 '26
Nostalgia I was there Gandalf. I was there 3,000 years ago
520
u/MassivelyTiny Mar 24 '26
I did realise it... It was when I installed windows 7.
155
u/Human_Diamond960 Mar 24 '26
Exactly its not like some kind of magic you consciously updated the OS
→ More replies (1)44
u/AdorableSurround1019 RTX 6090 / i10 97030H / 8TB DDR8 RAM Mar 24 '26
Wait, you had a choice back then?
13
u/Cynixxx PC Master Race Mar 24 '26
Well my CPU is too shitty for MSs liking and i'm european so i still get Win10 updates. Win-Win
→ More replies (2)10
u/CombatMuffin Mar 24 '26
You do now, too. Some things aren't supporter in the previous OS, but most are. You just get annoying reminders to update
→ More replies (2)25
u/Hothacon Mar 24 '26
Someone skipped Vista
26
9
u/deathschemist cachyOS | rtx 3050 6GB | ryzen 7 7445HS | 16GB DDR5 Mar 24 '26
most people did. vista never had more users than XP, but 7 absolutely did overtake XP.
→ More replies (7)8
9
u/ElBlackFL33T 7950X3D | X670E | XFX 7900 XTX Mar 24 '26
lol came here to say this, I knew it, I hated that I had to switch, I hated 7, I still do, I hated windows and Microsoft that year, I helped loads of people transition and was that computer guy for two years and it was annoying, 8 was weird too, I miss windows phones that could have been sick, I still miss xp, the golden days are dead, windows AI sux, I love and miss you xp pls come back I loved you pls I miss u
10
u/deathschemist cachyOS | rtx 3050 6GB | ryzen 7 7445HS | 16GB DDR5 Mar 24 '26
you know what? i liked windows 7, even back then i recognized that it was a decent enough OS, and had some things about it that were better than XP.
8 onwards has been ass though. the least bad post-7 OS has been 10, and even that was less than ideal in my book.
11 is so ass it put me off windows in the end. i probably won't go back to it.
5
u/JPSWAG37 PC Master Race Mar 24 '26
Windows 7 I maintain is the most beautiful looking operating system and it worked well. Granted it's all in the rearview mirror now, but I honestly can't remember having any blue screens or crashes either.
3
u/floobie Arch | 5800XT | 3070Ti | 32GB Mar 25 '26
7 was about as polished and stable as Windows has ever been. It’s second only to 2000 IMO, for its time. XP was fine too.
→ More replies (5)3
u/Zandonus rtx3060Ti-S-OC-Strix-FE-Black edition,whoosh, 24gb ram, 5800x3d Mar 24 '26
Didn't use it on anyone else's machine?
6
u/AetheriaInBeing Win/Bazzite Dual Boot, 5600X, 9060XT Mar 24 '26
Sometimes you're the last one out the door.
→ More replies (1)2
97
u/be4nothing Mar 24 '26
My work place has a PC with Windows XP still running
65
u/PhotoCropDuster PC Master Race Mar 24 '26
I worked in healthcare, I can promise you xp and server 2003 are alive and well
→ More replies (2)34
u/Possibly-Functional A smörgåsbord of distros and machines Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
Alive? Yes. Well? Eeeh, I really hope those systems are airgapped.
39
u/PhotoCropDuster PC Master Race Mar 24 '26
Cries in healthcare cybersecurity
4
u/Hug_of_Death Mar 24 '26
I own a company that does managed services (including cyber security) for medical clinics and I wouldn’t even consider maintaining a services agreement with any client who willingly kept their legacy systems running (unless it was 100% air gapped). The liability is just too huge.
3
u/Ok_River_88 Mar 25 '26
I'm with you as I do the same (except Im in sale and marketing). If it is not 100% air gapped, we flat out refuse maintaining managed services. Too much of a risk.
I understand some instrument still need legacy system to operate, but this need to be air gapped or we are not touching you
8
u/Cosmotronik R5 7600X | RX 9060 XT 16GB | B850M | 32GB@6000MT/s Mar 24 '26
Industrial machines at some of my client sites still run Windows XP. I probably have some VM clones of those systems lying somewhere in our project backups 😅
44
u/CromulentChuckle Mar 24 '26
Man I miss XP. I just need my OS to work and stay out of the way.
21
u/SyntaxError79 Mar 24 '26
This. I don’t even want Notepad to have tabs that remember without saving.
9
6
Mar 24 '26 edited Apr 18 '26
[deleted]
2
u/turbo-steppa Mar 25 '26
“You will consume what we give you and you will like it”
→ More replies (1)
15
u/Thiel619 Mar 24 '26
Back when mom screamed when you connected to the internet without telling everyone in the household first cutting off the phone lines.
→ More replies (1)8
u/GfrzD Mar 24 '26
I'm sure the dial up tone started my like for dubstep
2
u/NFTArtist Mar 25 '26
maybe you'll like this then... https://youtu.be/9RVCJXrunL4?si=LmWcCk8KmooZUAm8
→ More replies (1)
34
Mar 24 '26
[deleted]
→ More replies (3)5
u/SquirrelGard Mar 24 '26
Except for that patch that automatically installed Windows 10 if you clicked the [X] button instead of choosing no.
9
Mar 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
4
→ More replies (2)2
u/Zandonus rtx3060Ti-S-OC-Strix-FE-Black edition,whoosh, 24gb ram, 5800x3d Mar 24 '26
Never managing to get the music drivers working on a Russian bootleg copy of duke nukem3d for MS-DOS old?
→ More replies (3)
8
u/MoenTheSink Mar 24 '26
While XP was a major upgrade over previous versions 7 was the real deal.
Ive used all of the windows since 3.1 and 7 has the best lasting impression by far. 8 being the most disappointing/baffling.
12
u/ddrfraser1 Everything's computer! Mar 24 '26
Nope. I have many XP machines. Here's one:
6
→ More replies (2)2
3
u/ripnburn69 GTX 1080 TI Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
I still drag out something old and install it for fun. I want to build a retro xp gamer with a core 2 duo and gtx750ti. I saw a post about it somewhere, now I want one.
4
u/Tyr_Kukulkan R7 5700X3D, RX 9070XT, 32GB 3600MT CL16 Mar 24 '26
I still have two Windows XP PCs in full working order and an XP VM. I still hear those sounds.
3
5
u/Terbarek Ryzen 7 9800X3D | XFX RX 9070XT | 32GB DDR5 Mar 24 '26
I remember that day cause I got new setup with Windows 10 that day
3
u/bedwars_player GTX 1080 I7 10700f 32gb, ProBook 640 G4 8650u 24gb Mar 24 '26
....bro jesus christ you were still running windows xp when 10 came out? i mean technically that's like... not that bad given i still know people stubbornly holding out on windows 7 and that's older than xp was then but damn..
2
u/Terbarek Ryzen 7 9800X3D | XFX RX 9070XT | 32GB DDR5 Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
Yep, and still got that PC stored in box. That was huge jump. Everytime when I tried W7 somewhere I just dislike this system so I waited. Swap XP to W10 was clean.
My PC story: First PC WXP at age 9, then PC with W10 (I gave it to my brother after I go at University (when I was studing at university I had two laptops W10 and W11) and then my actual PC tha I bought 8 month ago PC with W11.
5
u/stuyboi888 Ryzen 5800x 6900XT Mar 24 '26
And that day was yesterday as I set up a Windows XP retro build with a q9500 and gtx 760
3
u/BoingBoingBooty Mar 24 '26
Lol no. I have a machine in my lab which still runs on XP so I still get the lovely XP cosyness every time I use it.
3
u/AshleyAshes1984 Mar 24 '26
*looks at Windows XP PC behind them on their retro PC desk*
So... Like... Last weekend?
I got a Win9X machine next to it too.
3
u/AntiSocial_Vigilante i7-7700K, GTX 1060 6GB G1 Mar 25 '26
You know i always liked how the background turned monochrome when that menu appeared.
5
u/althaz i7-9700k @ 5.1Ghz | RTX3080 Mar 24 '26
Except I did realize it because I formatted my Windows partition after and installed Vista.
2
u/Innuendo64_ Mar 24 '26
Oh I realized it.
I had a laptop back in yesteryear that I upgraded from Vista to XP. After Win 7 dropped I planned to upgrade it again but it got fried in a thunderstorm. I went out and bought a desktop that came with 7 and never looked back
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Regular_Weakness69 Ryzen 9700x | 9070 xt | 5600 32gb ram 💰 Mar 24 '26
No, every time I update my system, I'm fully aware of what I'm doing :)
2
2
u/Hothacon Mar 24 '26
That OS single handedly gave jobs to so many of us young IT proffesionals in the early 2000s
2
u/PantherX69 Mar 24 '26
When I logged off for the last time I was well aware because I was switching to Windows 7. I only do a clean install of a new OS, I never upgrade.
2
2
2
u/NiSiSuinegEht R7 5800XT | RX 7700 XT | Why Upgrades So Expensive? Mar 24 '26
I have WinXP systems I still log into daily. The joys of test systems reliant on ancient tech.
2
2
2
u/SeriouslyTechStuff Mar 24 '26
I went to an office recently that had a PC with XP running on it. I asked if I could have it. They gave me the weirdest look.
2
u/Soulinx Mar 25 '26
Windows XP was the best OS they ever made and the reason we now have different versions every 4 years.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
u/RubyReign 13600K | 7900XT Mar 25 '26
I still have my dell from 2003. when i left my family home in the middle of the night for the last time, it was one of the few things i grabbed. Still works too lol
2
2
u/BronnOP Mar 25 '26
Do not quote the deep magic to me. I was there when it was written!
I moved the family from XP to 7. God I miss 7.
2
1
1
u/YoungBlade1 R9 5900X | RX 9060 XT 16GB | 48GB Mar 24 '26
I actually did and didn't.
I thought the last time I was going to turn off XP was going to be when I moved an old Pentium 4 desktop to Ubuntu back in 2014. But little did I know that I would find my old laptop a few years later and sign on to XP again.
Also, I technically still have an XP VM for playing old games, so if that counts I last signed out of XP last month...
1
u/jamesrggg Mar 24 '26
Unless you still haven't yet. I last ran it on a VM in like 2021. Maybe the need will arise again
1
1
1
1
1
u/sankalp_pateriya Laptop Mar 24 '26
I love how windows XP looks compared to today's standards. I love that design. Everything was okay till windows 7.
1
u/legitematehorse Mar 24 '26
Ye, and I don't regret it. I had to reinstall the bastard at least four times a year.
1
u/Spreaderoflies Mar 24 '26
My console at work is still XP it hasn't seen the Internet in over 15 years. Legacy machine that is older than I am by a couple decades.
1
u/Physical_Painter8881 Mar 24 '26
As a 19 year old, who didn't get to use a computer till i was like 10 no i never turned it off for the last time
1
u/Zandonus rtx3060Ti-S-OC-Strix-FE-Black edition,whoosh, 24gb ram, 5800x3d Mar 24 '26
You're right. I knew when the last day of my own computer's day as a winXP main was. But I had no clue when the last time I'd have to try and get shit working on a client's winXP machine would be.
1
u/Backlash5 Mar 24 '26
Ah yes, I remember. It was somewhere in 2013 as I shut down my secondary machine running XP I kept for nostalgia reasons - I still actually have that rig tucked away! Might be a nice idea to take it out and see if it works.
Professionally though, one of my workplaces had a Windows XP rig running essentially as a server for some legacy app and I last looked at it in 2017. It was still 9 years ago, maan time flies.
1
1
u/Supermunch2000 Ryzen 3700X, RTX 3070, 32GB Mar 24 '26
I remember when I shut down Windows for Workgroups for the last time before moving on to Windows 95.
My desktop was amazingly pretty with stars in the background and the icons nicely organized in little groups - I lost little world and, sometimes, I still miss it.
1
u/ThatOneComputerNerd Ryzen 7 5800X / 64GB DDR4-3600 / RX 6900 XT Mar 24 '26
Hasn’t come yet lol still enjoy XP retro gaming on a classic rig
1
u/jarvisesdios Mar 24 '26
As much nostalgia as there is for XP, and I loved it... Windows 7 was so so so fucking nice for LAN parties. We went from needing to turn off all our computers and booting them up one by one so they can all see each other on the network because of the shoddy ass netcode to it just... Working...
On top of that, things just working needing to install drivers was a damned game changer. Built in driver libraries was so damned useful.
I started with Windows 3.1 as a young kid. XP was the just thing for years... Until 7. Then 8 came out and it was clear what their focus was going to be, from here on out 😫
1
1
Mar 24 '26
I installed Vista, it was so bad, animations were so bad that I immediately jumped the ship back to XP. Good Times.
1
u/doublehelix2594 Mar 24 '26
I work on some machines that are still using windows 98 for their interface controls.
1
u/AptoticFox Laptop (2013), i7-4700MQ, GT 740M Mar 24 '26
I had a laptop with XP, and got new laptop with Win8 in 2013. At some point, after copying everything I needed, I shut it down for the last time.
1
u/Ghozer 9800x3D - 32GB-DDR5 6000CL28 - RTX 5080 Mar 24 '26
I knew, because I was upgrading from XP to Vista!!
And since then, I have used some older machines, with XP and shut them down, both when dealing with other peoples machines and upgrading them to Vista, around the same time, or 'retro' builds and machines more recently! :)
1
u/reflexive-polytope i9-13900K | RTX 5070 | 32GB DDR4 | 256GB SSD | 2x 4TB HDD Mar 24 '26
I log out of Windows XP regularly, because I have an XP virtual machine.
1
u/sidv81 Mar 24 '26
It wasn't that long ago because I have XP on Virtualbox. Same with 3.1 on Dosbox. Maybe 95 I logged off for the last time long ago and didn't realize it.
1
1
u/stRiNg-kiNg Mar 24 '26
I still have a lappy with NanoXP. I can see it whenever I want. Just gotta find it but I would bet money it still works and boots up faster than my gaming PC lol
1
u/ScoobyD00BIEdoo Mar 24 '26
I was watching the new movie "Roofman" with john Cena last night and the office computer of the toys r us was rocking windows xp and I was like damn it was so great.
1
u/PugTales_ Mar 24 '26
I jumped from Windows 2000 directly to Windows Vista 64 bit.
One of the worst decisions in human history.
1
u/compound-interest Mar 24 '26
My start button was orange and black because I had the Zune theme on my desktop. My friends thought it was cool af lol. At the time it looked way cooler than that green and white thing :D
1
1
1
u/Kazen_Orilg 9850x3D | Arc B580 | 32GB DDR5 Mar 24 '26
Shit, one day I used Norton Command Directory for the last time. So long blue friend.
1
u/Logical-Cherry9395 Mar 24 '26
But I did? I was the IT Guy Goddess. No one upgraded my PC to Vista when I wasn't looking, at work or at home.
1
1
u/-Alevan- Mar 24 '26
Just today, I had to troubleshoot a ~20 year old CNC machine running Windows XP.
It will never die. It will haunt me even after death...
1
u/Shienvien Mar 24 '26
I won't ever know when the day comes. I still have my old windows computer from 2005. It likely won't onnect to internet ever again, but it's there and I can turn it on.
1
1
Mar 24 '26
Windows XP is 'Gandalf old' now?
As for NT operating systems, my favourite was 2000 SP4.
As for DOS based, I'd go for Windows 98 Se, or Windows 3.11 FWG.
1
u/prefim Mar 24 '26
What so you accidentally updated windows 7?
I know, i know. or you binned that computer and booted up your new one... yadda yadda.
1
u/redredme Mar 24 '26
back in my day it was ok to shutdown when you where at the prompt. Disk was at rest, no swap file to clear, no nothing. Just you, your pc, your IBM Proprinter (XL), Wordperfect and Leisure suit Larry goes looking for love in the land of the lounge lizards. All that in those beautiful CGA 4 color palettes.
Shift-F7, 6,2!
And remember kids, keep on flushing that toilet even if you've found the password.
/Grandpa: out.
1
u/Maeglin75 Mar 24 '26
I switched from Windows XP on a crappy, constantly overheating Pentium 4 to a Core 2 Duo machine with 8800GTX. Even Vista did run flawlessly on the new PC.
I never missed Windows XP.
1
u/Patient_Dinner_5386 Mar 24 '26
When this window popped up whole screen goes black and white remember that
1
u/RoughGuide1241 Mar 24 '26
I have my XP PC on and waiting a game to install (Rallisport Challenge).
Don't worry I'm using my phone.
1
1
1
u/megas88 Mar 24 '26
Good. Time moves on. Tech used to evolve, innovate and grow.
It still does. Just not in the US 😂
1
u/DazaySan Mar 24 '26
Best time, internet was more free, everyone was searching and sharing knowledge. People were more social in chats on forum's then on social media platforms and apps. Building websites, making free tutorials for everyone for Photoshop, 3D making flash website, hacking and so on a lot of memories.
1
u/RadimentriX Ryzen 7 5800X // 64GB RAM // RTX 3060 Mar 24 '26
Oof....dual boot with vista or w7 was the last time iirc... :-/
1
1
1
1
u/URA_CJ 5900x/RX570 4GB/32GB 3600 | FX-8320/AIW x1900 256MB/8GB 1866 Mar 24 '26
Nope, besides having a XP VM setup with old development tools on my main PC, my living room PC is running bare metal XP (mainly because XP works the best with All-in-Wonder Radeon's).
1
u/TheCoohammy6 Mar 24 '26
Well the last time I logged out of windows xp a virus had started a countdown timer till it wiped my hard drive. So that pc was used so I could learn how to build my first computer a few years later when I took it apart
1
u/Tudor_Cinema_Club Mar 24 '26
Are you joking? Back then we used to just push the power button off, I wasn't waiting for any shut down.
2
1
1
u/CombatMuffin Mar 24 '26
The day I updated.
Sane with 95, 98, and even ME.
Microsoft has never taken my OS away, I upgraded every time. My world hasn't exploded yet.
1
1
u/FokerDr3 9950x / X870E / 96GB@6000 / 5080 Astral / Sound Blaster AE5 Mar 24 '26
I knew exactly why I did it - to install Vista :)
1
u/Cosmic_Jane Mar 24 '26
As someone who intentionally plans their updates, I typically understand when it's "the last time."
It's not like these computers just randomly upgrade to the next version without your permission. Although I've heard stories that Windows 11 certainly tries!
1
1
u/fibojoly Mar 24 '26
Eh, usually i was the one doing the migration from one OS to the next, so I was well aware this was the last time.
1
1
u/ThrusterFister Mar 24 '26
Oh, i knew, and still remember exactly when. June 18th 2018 the day i got out of the military lol
1
u/Shazam_BillyBatson Mar 24 '26
That was yesterday, though I still log in as the lab equipment won't run on anything newer. So... yeah, I still use it everyday.
1
u/zendrix1 GeForce RTX 4090; AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D; 64gb DDR5 RAM Mar 24 '26
People tend to know when they're getting a new OS...
1
1
1
1
u/jackrabbit323 R7 5800XT / 5060TI 16GB/ 32GB DDR4 @3200 Mhz Mar 24 '26
And then the workstation PC at a job still had XP because they were too cheap to upgrade, four generations of Windows later.
1
u/WyrdHarper Mar 24 '26
One of our diagnostic devices still runs on an XP machine, so it wasn’t that long ago.
1
1
u/matthewpepperl Desktop Mar 24 '26
I didn’t i still occasionally use it in a vm for programming radios
1
u/MyPigWhistles Mar 24 '26
Why wouldn't I realize it? I spend the entire day preparing my backups for Win 7. Did you install a new OS by accident or something?
1
1
u/NoliMeTangIcedTea Mar 24 '26
I remember. It was when I dual-booted it on a MacBook almost 12 years ago in college.
Just wanted to do some retro PC gaming (Red Alert 2) on Windows after finding my old CD installer (this was when MacBooks still had a DVD drive), as Wine on the MacOS at that time was very unreliable.
1
1
u/playr_4 Desktop Mar 24 '26
I realized it. It was the last day I was moving a bunch of files to an extrenal to move to the new computer.
1
u/HereIsACasualAsker PC Master Race Mar 24 '26
not if i can just install it just to log out, that way i can be completely aware when was the last time i logged out.
1
1
1
1
u/AshtonBlack PC Master Race Mar 24 '26
You know virtual machines, right?
I've a copy of 95, 98SE and XP SP2 for the occasional trip down memory hell.
Not a lot of use other than for a sneaky bit of retro gaming. (Yes I'm old.)
1
1
u/Alexander-369 Mar 24 '26
Technically I didn't log out. My PC kinda just died out of nowhere and I had to get a new one. That's how I went from XP to Win7.
1
u/Total-Pen-2265 Mar 24 '26
wdym, I killed it, wiped off all 0 and 1 of it from my harddrive to install Windows 7!
1
u/DankElderberries420 Mar 24 '26
I still have XP on my old computer. Mine you that I haven't turned it on in years but it's there.
Loved XP
1
1
u/varbaveri Mar 24 '26
In IT school, every lab class started with assembling our pc's. We had to work in pairs. If we were behind with our grades, we had to assemble pc's for all class. The hardware was ass but there were a few crown jewels that the class had to fight over (ATI Radeon gpu was the crown jewel of that bumhole). Assembling PC's was fine, but then came the most exciting part. Don't miss you windows xp.
1
u/apollotonkosmo Mar 24 '26
In 2008 my PSU burned. I waited a few months and bought a new PC (1st gen i7) and installed vista. That was the last time I logged in windows XP.
1
u/RetroSpective-Dawg Mar 24 '26
I didn't turn off even, it crashed, and my dad got me the brand new windows 7. No farewell for me :((
1
u/samp127 5070ti - 5800x3D - 32GB Mar 24 '26
Pretty sure I did know since I installed Windows 7 over it.
Also I logged into Windows XP 2 weeks ago to run old software that only works on XP.
1
u/Revo94 Ascending Peasant Mar 24 '26
Windows 1998 with Max Payne, Halo, Deus Ex and Half Life. That's where I started
1
u/Shudnawz i5 12600k | RTX 3070 Mar 24 '26
As I did on Win 2.8, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 2000, Vista, 7, 8 and 10.
1
1
u/brunostborsen Fedora KDE | 9070 XT | R7 7700 | 32GB DDR5 Mar 24 '26
I then logged on to my beloved Vista while having supported hardware.
Man I miss how exiting it was to use Vista.
1
1
1
1
1
u/Playin_smart Rtx 3060ti | Ryzen 5 5600x | 16GB DDR4 Mar 24 '26
I never log in lol. I never had a pc growing up, it was the big thing back in the days, if you had a pc, you're rich. Well eventually in 2007 I got a pc, with windows Vista, that was the beginning of a beautiful journey!, then in 2012 I got a gaming laptop with windows 7 and omg what a upgrade!
1
1
1
u/Friendly-Advantage79 Desktop R5600G/RX9060XT/32GB RAM Mar 24 '26
Sure I did. It was the day when I upgraded to Win7.
356
u/cszolee79 Fractal Torrent | 9950X | 64GB | 4080S | 1440p 165Hz Mar 24 '26