Where's the love for Windows 7?

[Bert]

The older boxes prior to win10 work pretty well when the install is just frozen in time and never changes by programs like steadystate, rebootrx and timefreez. I've got machines I configured over 5 years ago working just as well as they did back then, and if they don't--reboot and it works again. They're like toasters now.

I'm looking into how I can virtualize these on modern hardware to take advantage of power and space better and still keep the same 'feel' and config for users. I'd just replace their systems with thin clients that directly rdp into their old machines, now virtual. I just don't know how to do this and am doing a lot of reading (which actually brought me here).

I have retired several machines like my old laptops and put them into VMs. I think hyperv supports all the way to WinXP and even older OSs in some compatibility mode. It seems very straightforward to get what you want with virtualization so what is the issue?

 

[ReturnedSword]

IMHO everyone is entitled to putting whatever they want on their own boxes.

However, the whole "previous X version of Windows was way better" thing is pretty old. There were people who had to be dragged kicking and screaming away from MS-DOS, then it was Windows 3.1, 95, XP, 7, and I can confidently say in some point in the future, Windows 10

Personally I have transitioned all my workstations to Windows 10. Everything else runs on Linux or BSD (homelab).

 

[Samir]

I have retired several machines like my old laptops and put them into VMs. I think hyperv supports all the way to WinXP and even older OSs in some compatibility mode. It seems very straightforward to get what you want with virtualization so what is the issue?

I just don't know how to do it yet, and of course--time.

Seems like the route would be to install hyper-v on a server with plenty of storage and ram for the vm and then create vdx from my existing installs and then run them on the hyper-v server. I'd probably dedicate a nic to each of the vm just because. Not sure what I'd want to do on storage as I wouldn't want it always hitting the disk between all the vm activity.

 

[Samir]

However, the whole "previous X version of Windows was way better" thing is pretty old.

It's a tool for a job and for certain situations the older versions were much better.

I saw this in property management systems in the hotel industry. In the old DOS based systems, you could check someone in within 2 minutes flat (without any status frequent stay type of pre-filled out stuff). These days by the time a front desk clerk is done clicking their mouse around on some fancy gui, 10 minutes have elapsed.

And all that with the inferior security of verbally calling out your personal details within earshot of anyone that takes a keen interest. I would not like to be a female travelling alone for work these days.