<p dir="ltr">Kinda. XP should be fine for specialized use going forward, provided you mitigate the known points of attack. Switch office 03 to libreoffice, limit Web usage, etc.</p>
<p dir="ltr">But for non - specialized home use, people should try Linux on the old hardware before purchasing an os/pc imo</p>
<p dir="ltr">The 2 flavors I'd recommend to ween someone off XP would be mint or studio ubuntu</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Apr 9, 2014 10:50 AM, "Carl T. Miller" <<a href="mailto:carl@carltm.com">carl@carltm.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Chris Baty wrote:<br>
> Hi guys,<br>
> Through ironic circumstances I've become the IT Coordinator of a<br>
> moderately<br>
> sized Ann Arbor non-profit. Our backbone is a Windows 2008 Server (lucky<br>
> me) but our staff accesses it, via Remote Desktop, through a bunch of old<br>
> XP machines. Now that XP is no longer supported by Microsoft I'm<br>
> seriously<br>
> thinking about installing Kubuntu (because of it's similarity to Windows,<br>
> low cost and resistance to viruses) on our old XP machines.<br>
><br>
> Has any one had a similar decision?<br>
<br>
I have seen libraries make similar decisions. The big<br>
question is what do people do on these systems? They<br>
may require proprietary software or use websites that<br>
only work on IE. Also consider that they may use them<br>
for personal reasons (sharing photos of family, etc.)<br>
in addition to the intended usage.<br>
<br>
I'd suggest doing a quick survey before replacing the<br>
workstations, then setting up a test machine with a<br>
good volunteer. When it appears you have a good setup,<br>
start using it on a few more workstations, again picking<br>
people who will likely learn the new system quickly. If<br>
your feedback is good, then plan to replace them all.<br>
<br>
For the server, I'd get a list of services they use<br>
and figure out which ones can be implemented on a VPS<br>
for testing. That will make it easier for the day<br>
you decide to format the hard drives. I'd also<br>
suggest using dd or clonezilla to make a backup of<br>
the hard drive prior to installing Linux. This<br>
covers you if you need to roll back or if you need<br>
to later recover a file or two.<br>
<br>
c<br>
<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div>