INTERACT FORUM

More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 21 for Windows => Topic started by: lendall on August 19, 2015, 12:42:19 pm

Title: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: lendall on August 19, 2015, 12:42:19 pm
The above is a quote from the Windows upgrade instructions page for MC21.  By "video support" do you mean that if I install MC21 on my XP SP3 computer I will no longer be able to use MC to play video?  So if I want to use Media Center to play video I will have to keep my video library in MC20?  Giant pain in the keister.  Everything after Windows 98 is NT anyway.  All Microsoft has done since then is to go to 64 bit (but there was a 64 bit version of XP that they never promoted) and to hide controls from the user to make it less likely that people would screw up.  I built a top-of-the line computer seven years ago only to find out three years later that it could not be "upgraded" to Windows 7.  Planned obsolescence at its finest.  I would hope that JRiver would not be part of the planned obsolescence mania. 
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: BillT on August 19, 2015, 01:07:58 pm
You might like to read this thread http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=98450.0

(Or perhaps not.)
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: BryanC on August 19, 2015, 02:01:23 pm
I built a top-of-the line computer seven years ago only to find out three years later that it could not be "upgraded" to Windows 7.

How so?

Also, for all intents and purposes, Windows XP is dead and should no longer be considered a secure operating system. It is still OK to use if it is not connected to the internet, but it is already exploitable.
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: kstuart on August 19, 2015, 02:16:31 pm
How so?

Also, for all intents and purposes, Windows XP is dead and should no longer be considered a secure operating system. It is still OK to use if it is not connected to the internet, but it is already exploitable.
There is a workaround for XP, easily found with a web search, for anyone who can do a simple Registry Edit, that provides up-to-date security updates.

(These are available because MS is actually not killing off XP in certain countries...so it is only a revenue enhancement issue, not a security issue.)

BTW, 7 years ago, Windows Vista was the available operating system, not XP.  Vista was released 8 1/2 years ago, and Win7 6 years ago, so the OP's "top-of-the-line system that cannot be upgraded" does not make any sense.
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: BryanC on August 19, 2015, 02:41:40 pm
There is a workaround for XP, easily found with a web search, for anyone who can do a simple Registry Edit, that provides up-to-date security updates.

(These are available because MS is actually not killing off XP in certain countries...so it is only a revenue enhancement issue, not a security issue.)

BTW, 7 years ago, Windows Vista was the available operating system, not XP.  Vista was released 8 1/2 years ago, and Win7 6 years ago, so the OP's "top-of-the-line system that cannot be upgraded" does not make any sense.

I knew about the POS workaround but there are fundamental modern security methods (like ASLR) that simply do not work in WinXP. There are also exploits that MS is not fixing in Server 2003 SP1 (http://blogs.cisco.com/security/talos/ms14-063-a-potential-xp-exploit) so they have no hope of making it to POS XP.

That's not even mentioning zero-day exploits that MS is no longer searching for on those platforms.
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: AlexS on August 19, 2015, 02:45:12 pm
It's worse than that, it's dead Jim...
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: lendall on August 21, 2015, 03:32:43 pm
There is also the argument that Windows 10 is "not a secure operating system" because by default it makes almost everything on your computer accessible to Microsoft, including your emails and contact lists.  BTW, I know quite a few techies who are also die hard XP users.  In general everyone hated Vista (is that news to anyone?), tolerated Windows 7, hated Windows 8, and are mixed on Windows 10.

I have been a user of JRiver software for a long time, going all the way back to Media Jukebox, and my first post in this forum was in 2005.  So I guess that qualifies me as a loyal customer by some definition.  I am not claiming any special rights or privileges on that account, however:  One of the things customers like about JRiver is that the company is relatively open with its user base.  When JRiver sent out two emails inviting users to pre-buy MC21, I responded.  Neither of those emails mentioned that some features may cease to work for XP users as later builds of MC21 are released.  So, what am I supposed to do?  Install MC21, and then discover one day that a feature I use  regularly isn't working because a new build has been downloaded and installed onto my computer?  Honestly, I think that's a reasonable question.  If it's only a matter of new features that are being added to MC21 that will not have any XP functionality, then I can live with that, even though I have paid for those features.  But if it's a question of existing features that will cease to function at some point, then I take exception.  If that is in the works, then JRiver should offer a refund to XP users who have already purchased an MC21 license.  Out of loyalty to JRiver I would probably not accept that offer, but I believe it is the right thing to do.  I also think that JRiver should devote a little bit more effort than usual to continue fixing bugs in MC20 after MC21 becomes the standard release version, since under this scenario many of us will continue using MC20.

As for me, I'm looking for a good Linux class...
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: Awesome Donkey on August 21, 2015, 03:42:02 pm
There is also the argument that Windows 10 is "not a secure operating system" because by default it makes almost everything on your computer accessible to Microsoft, including your emails and contact lists.  BTW, I know quite a few techies who are also die hard XP users.  In general everyone hated Vista (is that news to anyone?), tolerated Windows 7, hated Windows 8, and are mixed on Windows 10.

The flaw in this logic is, Windows 10 (along with Vista, 7 and 8.x) are supported by Microsoft with hotfixes whereas XP's support is limited to only enterprise companies paying Microsoft for continued support (e.g. no fixes pushed out to users still using XP). Vista's mainstream support ended in 2012 with extended support ending in 2017 so it'll be the next OS on the support chopping block.

Bottom line, Windows XP was released nearly 14 years ago. It's time to drop support - as time passes there's features that simply won't work on Windows XP anymore, especially video features.

If you're stuck on Windows XP, I definitely suggest replacing XP with a Linux distro like Linux Mint Xfce, ElementaryOS or Xubuntu.
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: coyi1895 on August 21, 2015, 04:03:02 pm
There is a workaround for XP, easily found with a web search, for anyone who can do a simple Registry Edit, that provides up-to-date security updates.

(These are available because MS is actually not killing off XP in certain countries...so it is only a revenue enhancement issue, not a security issue.)

BTW, 7 years ago, Windows Vista was the available operating system, not XP.  Vista was released 8 1/2 years ago, and Win7 6 years ago, so the OP's "top-of-the-line system that cannot be upgraded" does not make any sense.

Isn't that the registry hack for updates of embedded XP that's used for ATMs and cash registers and not for home users. 



Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: Awesome Donkey on August 21, 2015, 04:07:21 pm
Isn't that the registry hack for updates of embedded XP that's used for ATMs and cash registers and not for home users.

Yup, though the extended support for Windows XP Embedded will end in January of 2016. Windows Embedded Standard 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 will have extended support until 2019.
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: kstuart on August 21, 2015, 06:35:57 pm
Yup, though the extended support for Windows XP Embedded will end in January of 2016. Windows Embedded Standard 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 will have extended support until 2019.
The registry change you can find on the web is for the 2009 version.
Title: Re: Please expect diminished or non-existent video support on XP in future builds...
Post by: coyi1895 on August 21, 2015, 09:55:42 pm
Ah thank you.  I got an XP Pro 32-bit somewhere and not used for years now.  Sidenote: I feel sorry for Vista, the black sheep of Microsoft's OSes, unloved and never recovered from the launch - after 2 service packs, it's not a bad OS but too late by then.