Ask HN: I'd like to request Microsoft open source Windows XP

7 comments

• bruce511 18 hours ago
  I guess I have two thoughts that spring to mind regarding this;

  A) why?

  B) they can't. Because XP is not like some notepad app someone wrote. Rather it is a collection of software, a lot of it owned by not-microsoft and licensed to them. And that's before we talk about the security implications to existing systems still running XP.

  Thirdly, what possible benefit could they get for doing this? I can see plenty of down-sides, including some very large potential economic and legal downsides. But I can't think of an upside.

  [-]
  • giantg2 1 hour ago
    "And that's before we talk about the security implications to existing systems still running XP."

    And subsequent systems still using some of that code
• Kwpolska 17 hours ago
  Windows is continuously developed, and many parts of it changed very little between XP and 11. Not going to happen.
• d3Xt3r 14 hours ago
  ReactOS already exists and targets the API level as XP. You can even install the same Luna theme that XP used to make it look like XP.
• efren6 16 hours ago
  Download any windows installtion on The internet
• rvz 19 hours ago
  Lets say that I am Microsoft:

  Why?
• meltyness 19 hours ago
  ... this leaked 6 years ago?
• mirmor23 18 hours ago
  [dead]