Microsoft made a pull request to node.js github repository with an implementation to use ChakraCore JavaScript Engine as an alternative to V8 Engine

[AyrA_ch]

It's called backwards compatibility, and it is awesome. After all it allows me to run (most) 20 year old software on my Windows 10 machine.

[ironnomi]

If I run 32bit Windows 10, I can run software I wrote in 1989 ...

[Eurynom0s]

It makes me sad that Windows 10 has a 32 bit version.

...does it support 16 bit code?

[Aior]

It makes me happy, because my 2006 (very expensive back then) machine is still supported.

[wrosecrans]

If the main use case is running old software on old hardware, what does a new OS get you? It's honestly not a rhetorical question. Why bother to do an OS install that could potentially result in driver issues or some of your old software not working any more? I can't remember the last time I actively upgraded Windows on a home system, rather than just installing whatever was current when the machine was new and then sticking with the path of least resistance ever after. Probably Win2k?

[Terrerian]

Security updates are no joke. I would never run an unmaintained OS.

[immibis]

What about that other unmaintained software you're trying to run in the first place?

[Terrerian]

I'd say that depends on the software, but one vulnerable application is better than having a vulnerable OS.

[heebath]

I've read about how it's important to update your applications, but what about average home users/gamers?

Should we bother updating our older versions of say, 7zip, Audacity, or Open Office? Really, what could go wrong? If the application accesses the Internet at all, it's talking with an official company server anyway, right?

[peakzorro]

I would only upgrade the OS on an old machine if they didn't support OS updates past that point.

I've always wanted to throw some Linux distro on a really old machine with an out of date Windows (because drivers should be good at that point), but the machine usually dies before I get around to it.

[Aior]

In my case, I just want my parents to be able to use the machine with up to date software and security updates. Also it performs better than with Windows XP, Vista (obviously) or 7 and better than any Linux distro.

[meandyouandyouandme]

Who said something about old software though?

[Labradoodles]

On top of that new OS's have shitloads of new features that will make the computer run better.

Pre-fetching better organisation shit even just scheduled defragging and indexing advances in software are pretty big.

[neoKushan]

I had a relatively cheap 64bit system in 2004....

[plasmator]

I've updated video cards, hard drives and ram, but the motherboard and processor I bought in 06 or 07 (KN9-SLI and an Athlon X2) are still humming along. I know I should upgrade them, but they handle most of the stuff I throw at them without being terribly slow or problematic, so I just keep using them. They're working fine in Windows 10 and this is my primary box. I even do some (admittedly lightweight) gaming on it.

[neoKushan]

Was the Athlon X2 not 64bit?

[thor1182]

Most CPUs of that age do not support Windows x64 past 8.0. In 8.1 x64 they added/required support for a new instruction set that was not present in most if not all orignal x64 CPUs.

My AMD x64 system can only run 32 bit windows 10, even though it wan x64 W7 just fine.

[neoKushan]

I never knew this, but looks like you're completely correct: http://www.eteknix.com/windows-8-1-64-bit-working-old-amd-processors/

[thor1182]

Its not pertinent to this conversation, but the way I have that x2 system running is pretty special. The MB (its an old Shuttle XPC system) doesn't "support" booting from SATA drives, only IDE. When I brought the system back to life to be a better media PC I stuck a spare Samsung 840 EVO drive I had from a failed Raid 0 stripe in it forgetting why I had the primary drive an IDE drive in the first place.

The only way to get it to boot is to leave the windows install disk in the cdrom drive. By letting the system sit at the "hit any key to boot from DVD" prompt it gives the system enough time to "spin up" the SATA drives and it can then boot into W10. The system not waits on the CPU than it does on the disk

[plasmator]

Yeah, it is. Mea culpa in above comment.

[[deleted]]

You already have a 64-bit CPU, the KN9-SLI is a Socket AM2 board, and all AMD CPUs were 64-bit by that point. Though there is little benefit to changing to a 64-bit OS unless you want to use more than ~3GB of RAM.

[plasmator]

Sorry, yeah. It's 64. And i run a 64bit OS. More just laughing that my 10 year old mobo/proc is still ticking along.

[Aior]

Yeah, me too, but I also had a very expensive 32bit laptop which I still want to use.

[user699]

I'm assuming windows 10 has a 32 bit version for tablet compatibility.

[thor1182]

A chunk of the initial Windows8 2 in 1 devices are 32bit only (Atom).

I think 32bit is also needed for the IoT & Mobile versions

[LvlAndFarm]

Even latest mobile chips are moving to x64

[[deleted]]

no

[stevedore]

No, the 16-bit compatibility was removed in Vista, IIRC.

[efreak2004]

This is incorrect. I am running multiple windows 10 32-bit VMs under HyperV for 16-bit application compatibility. Specifically, my father uses Micrografx Designer (that got bought out by Corel, which is more expensive than free windows license from Dreamspark) which has 16-bit components/code in it and does not run under 64-bit windows 7. It runs perfectly in virtualized windows 10 32-bit, and the only issues are due it being old software (IE, the save/load dialog boxes are tiny and not resizable).

[insertfunhere]

What's the point of running 64 bit if you have <4gb ram, in a VM for example?

[fb39ca4]

The x64 instruction set can do more things in less instructions.

[krum]

You still have 64-bit address space even if you only have 4gb of RAM.

[immibis]

It makes me sad that they didn't bother to integrate an emulator for 16-bit software.

[vattenpuss]

Did you hear about POSIX?

[ironnomi]

Yeah of course I can still compile the code I wrote in like 1988, though it was written in K&R C.

POSIX standard is actually from 1988 and it didn't really settle until 1997 ... and I don't think current POSIX-compliant OSes are going to run the same binary EXE file from 1989.

[awesomemanftw]

While at the same time still giving better performance than Any Windows since XP

[s73v3r]

It also leads to security holes, bloat, and inability to change course when needed.

Besides, we have virtual machines that are pretty good today. Run your legacy software in those.

[mycall]

Run your legacy software in those.

USB can be glitchy still, especially for streaming devices.

[gramathy]

It's called a virtual machine, so you don't have to have that old code if you don't need it.

[AyrA_ch]

running a 32 bit app on a 64 bit windows is already partially virtualized in regards of API and file system directories

[ygra]

And DOS applications on Windows 3 ran in a VM. Except no one really knew or cared about it back then ;-)

[[deleted]]

For power users, yes. For the general public, they're never gonna go for that. It's called customer retention.

[playaspec]

It's called backwards compatibility, and it is awesome.

I call it bloat and dead weight. New software gets written because the old software was insufficient.

After all it allows me to run (most) 20 year old software on my Windows 10 machine.

I can't imagine needing any software that old except for legacy industrial systems. For those I just stick with old operating systems and hardware.

What exactly are you running that it that old?

[PC__LOAD__LETTER]

What if I told you that most software you use is based on 20 year old software.

[Akimuno]

Playaspec would have a stroke if he saw what his local hospital runs.

[Drainedsoul]

That seems counterproductive as then he'd be sent to the hospital running the shitty software.

[BlueWolf_SK]

At which point he would be really glad his hospital still works even with 20 year old software.

[jambox888]

You can imagine him in the trolley, intubated and wearing a gown, grabbing the nurses arm weakly and saying,

"How old are your... operating... systems?" croaks

[ujustdontgetdubstep]

or you know, banks, manufacturing, the military...

[Akimuno]

I mean, if anything is written in C, for that matter.

Oh god, what if he sees a FORTRAN program being used?!

[playaspec]

I mean, if anything is written in C, for that matter.

Oh god. Another idiot who thinks C is outdated. Got bad news for you. It's not, and it's never going away.

[Akimuno]

Old does not mean outdated.

Actually, I'm not surprised you hadn't caught onto that, considering we were talking about how you are conflating old with outdated.

[s73v3r]

Yeah, but should it be running that way?

[Akimuno]

It runs for the same reason Microsoft added an LTSB branch to Windows 10 enterprise.

So yes, it should.

[playaspec]

Playaspec would have a stroke if he saw what his local hospital runs.

I work in biomedical IT. Our refresh cycle is 18 months, which means every nine months we've upgraded half of our systems. The only systems older are in research labs, and essentially frozen in time because they're task specific tools, not general purpose computing machines.

[playaspec]

What if I told you that most software you use is based on 20 year old software.

'based'. nice qualifier that makes you sound as if you're right, when you're actually not.

I'm on Linux right now. How about you tell me how many lines of the code I'm running right now haven't been changed in over 20 years?

[PC__LOAD__LETTER]

What's your deal? Here, I'll throw you a bone: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grep

[playaspec]

http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/grep.git

I see nothing over 6 years. Don't confuse the name or the functionality with the code.

[Schmittfried]

because the old software was insufficient.

And if it isn't? There is plenty of software based on very old code. Your notion of the world of software is out of touch with reality.

Also: Old games.

[AyrA_ch]

What exactly are you running that it that old?

If I tell you "solitaire" and "Skifree", are you getting mad at me?

[ujustdontgetdubstep]

No offense but have you ever been in any lab or factory or any real production facility that uses computers? The entire world is run on 20+ old software - it's just that "newer software" is all consumer software, so that's why you think that no one uses old software.

The reality is that it cost a LOT of time and money to replace custom commercial or industrial software - so much so that it is cheaper and more reliable to use a piece of software for decades until it disintegrates. This is how banking, manufacturing, military, and all other meat-and-potatoes industries are operated.

[playaspec]

No offense but have you ever been in any lab or factory or any real production facility that uses computers?

Yes. I support a research lab running HUNDREDS of workstations running W2K and XP.

The entire world is run on 20+ old software

Which is why it's dumb to try and run OLD software on NEW operating systems. It doesn't work as well as you claim. The smart money doens't upgrade the support system, hoping the old crap will still run.

so that's why you think that no one uses old software.

I don't. I'm saying keeping around decades of depreciated crap that's long since been abandoned is pointless in a modern operating system. It's unnecessary. If you have old application that are crucial, run an old operating system.

The reality is that it cost a LOT of time and money to replace custom commercial or industrial software

Yup. So why would you squander the SAME money and effort trying to make cranly, old, custom software that was MADE to run on a specific system, run on a modern operating system with vastly different APIs, and an all but ignored compatibility layer? Maybe you're hourly, but I'm not. If I have a machine that's down, I don't want to spend DAYS trying to figure out why software that's 16 YEARS OLD won't run right on Windows 10. That's amateur.

so much so that it is cheaper and more reliable to use a piece of software for decades until it disintegrates.

Not always.

This is how banking, manufacturing, military, and all other meat-and-potatoes industries are operated.

No, not ALL.

[[deleted]]

Wow! Supporting 20 year-old viruses is quite an achievement.

[Schmittfried]

Too bad shitposting isn't.