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Jumbonium2007 · Sep 9, 2007, 09:27 PM

My friend gave me this disk
Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs

Basically its a stripped down XP SP2 installation without all the crap that windows plugs up.. Its requirements are a 266mhz 64MB RAM and a 2GB Hard drive... I installed it in parallels.. Gave it a gig of ram and boy does it fly faster than my regular xp sp2 installation.. Give it a try its worth it

Atheist · Sep 9, 2007, 09:31 PM

I've been using it for a while. It's great... but Microsoft doesn't sell it to the general public.

mduell · Sep 9, 2007, 09:34 PM

The problem is getting it legitimately; as far as I know it's mostly only available to enterprise customers.

peeb · Sep 9, 2007, 09:40 PM

Yep - think what it would do to Windows sales if it were available.

ghporter · Sep 9, 2007, 09:52 PM

It would be difficult to show how one came by WFLP legitimately. It's on the Web and people who look for it can find it, but what they get is still bootleg and illegal. Sadly, for what almost all basic PC users need, WFLP would be a far better solution than XP, let alone Vista. It can run Office, any browser you want, and so on. It simply lacks a bunch of eye candy and fluff from XP.

So, Jumbonium, it would be a good idea to "do the right thing" and see what it takes to "get right" with Microsoft. Or go to the trouble of doing a really custom XP install that strips out the fluff and eye candy-this can be done fairly easily using a tool like n-Lite (see the "Slipstreaming" thread stuck at the top of the forum).

Jumbonium2007 · Sep 9, 2007, 10:38 PM

The copy I got of WFLP was a legit microsoft CD with cd keys.. Seems to work nicely.. I do wish microsoft would sell this to the general public because it would be so great.. I have vista on my boot camp partition that I run in Parallels.. Seems Like WFLP blows it away..

mduell · Sep 10, 2007, 12:13 AM

Originally Posted by Jumbonium2007

The copy I got of WFLP was a legit microsoft CD with cd keys..

That doesn't make you legally licensed to use it.

Jumbonium2007 · Sep 10, 2007, 02:43 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

That doesn't make you legally licensed to use it.

I always assumed that if it was an actual microsoft disc and packaging with the CD key on the package that I was permitted to use it

peeb · Sep 10, 2007, 02:48 AM

It comes down to an EULA issue. It's most likely not legally enforceable. Don't sweat it.

PaperNotes · Sep 10, 2007, 02:59 AM

I wish Microsoft would release a "Windows Games OS". A completely stripped down version of Windows that allows you to install and play games. I don't need Windows for anything else.

peeb · Sep 10, 2007, 03:00 AM

DOS, perhaps?

PaperNotes · Sep 10, 2007, 03:34 AM

Originally Posted by peeb

DOS, perhaps?

Like an X Box 360 without the multimedia and fluff. Which would make it like the PS2 interface.

I installed Vista on Boot Camp and... it's no bad but it takes 10 clicks to get from A to B. Configuring my network settings was a chore.

ghporter · Sep 10, 2007, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by Jumbonium2007

Originally Posted by mduell

That doesn't make you legally licensed to use it.

I always assumed that if it was an actual microsoft disc and packaging with the CD key on the package that I was permitted to use it

mduell is still correct-that packaged media is almost always supplied ONLY to corporations with a particular kind of enterprise agreement with Microsoft. Being a pressed disc in MS packaging instead of some copied CD does not make it legal for you to have it. It is only truly legal if the company that has the MS Enterprise agreement allows you to have it.

Originally Posted by peeb

It comes down to an EULA issue. It's most likely not legally enforceable. Don't sweat it.

Wrong, EULAs are indeed enforceable in a lot of places-particularly in the U.S. Not that it would be worth a lot to Microsoft to prosecute every person who they discovered was using a product in violation of the EULA, but being made an example of stings.

chefpastry · Sep 10, 2007, 08:53 AM

Will Windows Fundaments For Legacy PCs run all apps meant for XP? Are there any caveats to using this rather than the normal Windows XP?

Thanks for the info.

ghporter · Sep 10, 2007, 09:48 AM

Good question. I've read that it supports MS Office and probably any browser you might want to run.

Jumbonium2007 · Sep 10, 2007, 10:35 AM

Ive installed office on it.. DirectX 9. World Of Warcraft runs on it along with some other windows games decently.. It looks like itll run anything that is for windows.. Ive started using it on my laptop as a day to day OS now and my laptop only has 256MB of RAM.. compared to the full XP install WFLP Screams.. my laptop is a celeron 1.7ghz.. The nice thing is the whole windows install fits in about 800mb

PaperNotes · Sep 10, 2007, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by Jumbonium2007

Ive installed office on it.. DirectX 9. World Of Warcraft runs on it along with some other windows games decently.. It looks like itll run anything that is for windows.. Ive started using it on my laptop as a day to day OS now and my laptop only has 256MB of RAM.. compared to the full XP install WFLP Screams.. my laptop is a celeron 1.7ghz.. The nice thing is the whole windows install fits in about 800mb

My Windows XP with SP2 slipstreamed in full installs in 1700MB. Hardly an astronomical difference. If you said under 400MB or under I would be impressed.

Atheist · Sep 10, 2007, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by chefpastry

Will Windows Fundaments For Legacy PCs run all apps meant for XP? Are there any caveats to using this rather than the normal Windows XP?

Thanks for the info.

As far as I can tell, it runs most anything. I'm running SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 without any trouble.

peeb · Sep 10, 2007, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Wrong, EULAs are indeed enforceable in a lot of places-particularly in the U.S. Not that it would be worth a lot to Microsoft to prosecute every person who they discovered was using a product in violation of the EULA, but being made an example of stings.

Tell me more about that - I'm interested in cases where the eula has been tested in court.

seanc · Sep 10, 2007, 12:39 PM

I tested Win FLP, it seems to be missing quite a few DLLs, compared to normal XP SP2, some of these are required by my database, so I'd have to hunt them all down.

I might look into slipstreaming XP though.

mduell · Sep 10, 2007, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

EULAs are indeed enforceable in a lot of places-particularly in the U.S.

Only in some jurisdictions (notably the 7th and 8th circuit). Hopefully SCOTUS will take up the issue some day (and rule against them), but until then there's no coherent national decision.

ghporter · Sep 10, 2007, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by peeb

Tell me more about that - I'm interested in cases where the eula has been tested in court.

In general, MS has managed to stay out of court. Being the 800 pound gorilla in terms of legal firepower makes that easy for them. They get the person who violated the agreement to admit wrongdoing, maybe blacklist 'em on MSDN and the like, and then carry on. Typically they don't bother except with the more egregious violations, but as I said, I would not like to be faced with that much attorney mass.

I'd have to do quite a bit of research to find individual cases. However the point is that it is a LEGAL AGREEMENT-a contract-that the user agrees to (click through), and complaints from Microsoft must be evaluated first in the State of Washington (it's part of the EULA that the user agrees to). So even if it doesn't hold up all the way to the Supreme Court, are YOU going to be able to afford testing it? Whether "legally" enforceable or just "force" enforceable, the difference is not significant.

The current limitations (they're for the most part "temporary" at the moment) are still untested, and Microsoft can afford to push this when and however they want to. The weight of law is heavily influenced here by who can afford the litigation. Unless and until the SCOTUS actually sees such a case, it is critical to know that one's life can be "seriously impacted" by Microsoft if they choose to press a violation of their EULA.

peeb · Sep 10, 2007, 09:15 PM

Well, now, there are a couple of issues - 1. I agree, no one wants to fight MS lawyers. 2. It's debatable whether it is a 'contract'. I think case law is mixed, at the least, on this issue. We'll see, but in the meantime, the jury is out.

Jumbonium2007 · Sep 11, 2007, 10:23 AM

I successfully installed this WFLP on a 233mhz Pentium Laptop with 64MB of ram.. It runs albeit slowly but faster than the regular xp.. The minimalistic install used 500mb of hard drive space