"Phoning Home": Windows 8 vs. Windows 7

[ron_1]

LimboSlam wrote:
Hey my friend, I still got an XP running with a supported AV and programs. So if I can survive the harsh web, you can to.

I'm too paranoid to be connected to the Internet with an unsupported OS (even with a supported AV). So when the time comes (2020 or 2023) I will just have to use two computers, one with Linux and one with Windows not connected to the Internet.

[Thehandyman1957]

Call me crazy but a couple of years ago I started seeing that most if not all "Security Software" was either phoning home all my habits or had gotten so bloated it would make my quad core lag. I finally decided to go "naked" and see what happened. I am running XP Pro with Sp3 and that was the last update I put on this thing and you know what? After almost two years of snappy machine I still have not had one virus or malware and my machine has never had ANY problems. Now I won't recommend this to anyone, but just to point out.
Old does not always mean dead and newer doesn't always mean better

I also totally understand the fear factor thing. As a computer tech I wrestled with the above Idea for over a year as I saw my favorite AV program go the way of Windows 10 and unfortunately every other AV company is doing the same thing. I didn't buy my quad core to give 3/4's of my processing power to the AV company or to give up my privacy for more "Security". Hmmm where have I heard that phrase before.

[Lord_Brezel]

This whole metrics thing coming to 7 now made me switch completely to linux.
But I am also quite experienced in the linux world.