Running old WinXP and Win7 programs on Win10 and future CPU's.

N

nicologic

New Member
Hello everyone.

This might be a silly question yet that's my level when it comes to OS.

I have one computer which is almost 10 years old and still running on WinXP. I've been keeping that old PC because I use a few programs that date from late 2000`s. They're all Win7 compatible too, but that's it, there were no further updates for the versions I have. One of them (ProTools 8 LE) depends on external hardware whose driver is only compatible with XP and Win7. I've never planned to replace that PC for a newer one as it works perfectly, but I recently read something on future Intel and AMD processors about being Win10 only. Thus, I am not sure If I should buy a new PC now that Skylake's still are Win7 compatible and ensure using my programs for, let's say, 10 more years. I am worried about a possible breakdown of either my Core2 CPU or Motherboard in the next very few years (which would not certainly be a surprise coming from a computer set a decade ago) and not being able to use my programs any more, despite buying a new PC. As far as I know, modern versions of Windows feature the so called "compatibility mode" feature, which fools the software into thinking it’s running on the older Windows it requires. Also, there's the possibility of installing either a original XP or XPmode into a virtual machine, but will this solutions work for future CPU's that are supposed to be Win10 compatible only? Maybe it's a bit of stupid question, but it's messing with me...

Thank you all.
 
Intel's newest Kaby Lakes are the first to only support Win 10 only and nothing older (ie. Win 8.1, 8, 7, XP...). Honestly, it's probably time for you to move on from your old computer. The Core 2's were great for it's time, but that's like... 2007.

Skylakes do support Win 7 up to a point, but I wouldn't go with Win 7 now. Unless the software you are familiar with don't have a version that supports Windows 10, I don't see why you wouldn't want to use Windows 10. I understand that this would mean that you'll have to repurchase all the software to the latest version and can cost a lot, but it's also definitely not safe to use Win XP if you access the internet.

Compatibility mode is a hit or a miss for most programs. Running XP in a VM environment also has it's performance limitations. It's probably best for you to start saving up. Depending on your needs, you can grab a pretty solid machine for ~$600.
 
Intel_man said:
Intel's newest Kaby Lakes are the first to only support Win 10 only and nothing older (ie. Win 8.1, 8, 7, XP...). Honestly, it's probably time for you to move on from your old computer. The Core 2's were great for it's time, but that's like... 2007.

Skylakes do support Win 7 up to a point, but I wouldn't go with Win 7 now. Unless the software you are familiar with don't have a version that supports Windows 10, I don't see why you wouldn't want to use Windows 10. I understand that this would mean that you'll have to repurchase all the software to the latest version and can cost a lot, but it's also definitely not safe to use Win XP if you access the internet.

Compatibility mode is a hit or a miss for most programs. Running XP in a VM environment also has it's performance limitations. It's probably best for you to start saving up. Depending on your needs, you can grab a pretty solid machine for ~$600.
Click to expand...

I see it is hard to ensure compatibilities in future devices. I should take more aspects into consideration than I previously thought. And I have been not accessing the internet from that computer for the last 2 years, or so, I'm just doing it from a PC I borrow for this purpose which runs on Win8 (don't specially like it...). Thanks for the info.
 
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