Chrome OS to replace XP on an old machine?

[avg1joe]

I know some people are buying new chromebooks. With the end of support of XP can the chrome OS be installed on these old machines that were running xp? I know some of you would lean me toward linux but I don't see people buying linux computers for home use. I do see them buying chromebooks.

 

[Jim S.]

Can you get ChromeOS without buying a Chromebook?

(There's an independent version of ChromeOS called ChromiumOS that you can download freely, but you're not going to get any more professional support for that than you are for a mainstream Linux version -- probably less actually.)

 

[TNGTony]

I don't know about this push to get off of XP. It will still work. It will still be useful. There are people in this forum signing on with Windows 2000, NT, and even ME/98 which haven't been supported by MS for ages.

 

[mike123abc]

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/10-tips-safely-run-windows-xp,news-18571.html

10 tips to keep XP safe... Don't run IE, run Chrome instead...

 

[avg1joe]

or firefox

 

[Hall]

I don't know about this push to get off of XP. It will still work. It will still be useful. There are people in this forum signing on with Windows 2000, NT, and even ME/98 which haven't been supported by MS for ages.

But mainstream media didn't care (more likely - didn't know !) when those OSes were retired by MS.

 

[Hall]

Just download/install the current distro-of-the-month of Linux. Chrome OS is just another Linux distro except they keep everything inside a web browser.

 

[Lone Gunman]

Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS is going to be released toward the end of this month but the Unity desktop on it SUX! There is a standard type desktop you can install on Ubuntu to make it more user friendly called Mate 1.6 and I run that on the 3 systems here that I have Ubuntu 12.04.4 installed on now.

Linux Mint is a good one as it's got a "conventional" desktop (Cinnamon or Mate) and is pretty easy to use. The latest LTS version of that will be released some time in May.

Both Mint and Ubuntu have excellent support forums if you need help.

So if you're interested in a Linux box, get yourself an older spare system to play with and see how you like it. I really like it myself and use it for 98% of my computer activities.

 

[oldengineer]

I wiped out XP on an Asus netbook and installed Ubuntu 12.04 and am very happy with it. I used Unix workstations for almost 20 years at work so I'm used to using the mixed desktop/shell environment but there is a lot of help available if you're a newbie and it's not rocket science. I like the fact that the system includes a large set of Unix utilities like perl, awk and, of course, vi.

 

[Lone Gunman]

UPDATE: Ubuntu Linux 14.04 is available for download NOW @ www.distrowatch.com and if you're interested in a "test drive", this is a "Live CD", ie, insert the CD in the drive and reboot and select "Try Ubuntu" and it will run that operating system from the CD WITHOUT INSTALLING ANYTHING ON YOUR CURRENT SYSTEM.

Just keep in mind that it will be much slower than if it's actually installed. You can see how it operates though as pretty much all the main functions are available via that "Live CD".

 

[Stargazer]

Is Chromium installed on the hard drive? If not then it will run a bit slower off a thumbdrive or disc. The problems I have with XP is if you have SP1 or SP2 you cannot install a newer version of many types of software such as anti-virus, web browsers and so forth and I have not seen a simple if any solution to installing SP3. I have tried Zorin and it looks close to Windows but when I try to do certain things with software such as installing it, its complicated where Windows its simple. Would like to use something that operates as simple as Windows.

 

[FaT Air]

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=25129
burn to disk with your fav ISO burner.

 

[avg1joe]

Buy a Dell xp sp3 disk and use it with your xp coa. You can find them on ebay and other places for $5-20. Make sure you use a home disk with a home coa and a pro disk with a pro coa. Other than that don't worry if you have a HP or some other brand computer. It will work.

http://www.ecrater.com/p/19551522/dell-windows-xp-with-sp3-full?gps=1&id=55138122859

 

[Stargazer]

Will this work for the home and pro version? I have xp discs (home and pro versions) but they didnt have the sp3 software on them. I had Microsoft send me the sp2 disc for free a long time ago when they offered it. I kinda worry about XP now since their support has ended unless there are good enough alternative programs to use on XP to help protect you such as antivirus, being able to update web browsers and being able to play games and use programs as one would be able to do on windows vista/7/8.

 

[avg1joe]

In my experience dell xp sp3 disks will work on any computer that has an xp coa sticker. You just have to match a home disk with a home coa or a pro disk with a pro coa.

Anyone running xp, I'd recommend they upgrade, especially if they are going to do a fresh install anyway.