===== Posted by Althonite:
--- "I can't believe people are still on XP good god either Upgrade or get of the Internet you're just asking to be hit with cryptoware or worse become part of a botnet stop running an EOL and out of date OS or get used to programs no longer supporting your OS with the like of updates for security and features" =====

Oh just great ... another Internet Boss / Police with exaggerated scare tactics. Not a friggin' thing has happened to my system since Microsoft ceased support for Windows XP. I perform regular scans with avast, MBAM, SAS and Dr. WebCureIt and my computer never gets infected. Yet I see the tech forums full of computer users with Windows 7, 8 and 10 with multiple layers of security and everything state of the art ... with infected computers.

I am more of a believer of that saying that: The weakest link in any computer system is the OPERATOR rather than what Anti-Virus or other Security Apps they might have or not have.

Anyway, bottom line ... We Windows XP users of course cannot twist the arms of browser companies into supporting Windows XP. That's their prerogative. But, if some of them on their own free will decide to support Windows XP and make it available, there's no reason why we Windows XP users can't use it all the way up to whenever it ceases to be available.

Here's what I found on the Opera Blog:
http://www.opera.com/blogs/news/2016/04/chrome-alternative-opera-for-windows-xp-vista/

--- "The Chrome alternative you choose should be one that provides security updates for older versions of Windows. There are several browsers out there worth trying, but among major browsers only Opera for computers will continue to bring bug fixes and security updates to XP and Windows Vista users to ensure people stay safe when browsing online." ---

Unless someone has word that supersedes that, I'm gonna gather that contrary to earlier claims in this thread, Opera WILL be supporting Windows XP. Yeah, I know. Not all the way until 2030, but at least for some decent, comfortable time frame.

Well, that would work. I can live with that. In fact, I guess it could be said that it is Good News that FINALLY something was able to stop the unauthorized, unwanted, infuriating, party-crashing automatic updates dead in their tracks. IF indeed that's all that is going to happen.

Thanks for that bit of insight, Dave.

Oh, okay. I finally did read on Slimjet's website where it says that "Slimjet will continue to support Windows XP for as long as technically possible." Well, while that's definitely better than hearing that a browser will no longer support Windows XP, there's also no guarantee that that "as long as technically possible" doesn't suddenly turn into "will no longer support Windows XP" rather soonish.

Either way, I'll see about trying it out this weekend.
Thanks for the heads up, rseiler.

But if that Slimjet browser is based on the Blink engine as I just went and saw, wouldn't it pretty much by default have its arm twisted also into kicking Windows XP to the curb? Or did you read somewhere that for sure it was going to continue supporting Windows XP?

Anyway, back to the main question:
WILL Opera still work on Windows XP systems come Opera 37 and beyond ... or will it just be a brick door stop?

Okay ... let me make sure I understand what exactly "drop support for XP" means and what I should expect.

I already knew Vivaldi was doing this, but I figured, "Ehhh, no biggie. Opera's always been my browser of choice and has been the only one that works ideally on my systems. So I'm still set and good to go." But, now that I read that Opera is gonna do the same thing ...

WHAT EXACTLY should us Windows XP users expect upon Opera 37 arriving? Does "dropping support for XP" mean that Opera for us will suddenly be an unusable BRICK? Or is this supposed to just be more of like the case when Microsoft "dropped support" for Windows XP and we could of course still use it ... just that it was supposed to no longer be safe? Is that the case here? Will we Windows XP users still be able to use Opera 37 and above, just supposedly now not as safely?

If not, then how the frigg are we supposed to keep Opera 36 from updating itself to Opera 37?

Does Firefox still support Windows XP? Sea Monkey? Is there still a Safari for Windows?

I can't do any of that Firewall stuff, 59er. I only have the Windows XP Firewall. And that one only has 1 instance of Opera there in the exceptions. If I delete that, Opera won't work.

I don't know, blackbird. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing the reason for this rogue auto updating behavior is because of some flawed belief that they're looking out for the users' best interest in the computer security area. To that I say that it is still our call as to what version of ANY app we prefer to use at any given time. Heck, in my backup computer, which has Windows 98SE, I actually use Opera 9.64. OMG! LOL Well, I actually WOULD have a newer version, but Opera 9.64 is the latest version that works with Windows 98 as I found out by attempting to try newer versions.

Anyway, once Opera 29 finally finished its unauthorized upgrade, there was a noticeable difference in my browsing speed now that it wasn't there in the background dragging down things by downloading itself for 1 or 2 days, diluting the barely available speed that I have with my Dial Up to begin with.

I guess I'll go check out some of the older threads to see if I can find the supposed newer, more solid Mercenary Hitman Opera Autoupdate Terminator solution that is supposed to be out there. Otherwise I'll have to go through this again when Opera 30 comes out.

Up to right before Opera 29 ... renaming the opera_autoupdate file to opera_autoupdate_Disabled ... and disabling or deleting the Opera autoupdate scheduled task in the Startup area with CCleaner used to do the trick. Heck, there recently I even went a step further and outright deleted the opera_autoupdate file instead of just renaming it. I thought I had seen Rafael Luik mention that. But, that didn't work either. And that's what I had gotten from this forum.

With the arrival of Opera 29, obviously that no longer remotely does the trick. I don't frequent these forums. I only sporadically check things out here. So if something new has come up that DOES work and hogties and keeps Opera 29 from taking over my computer, I am not aware of it. Toss me a link.

See, the thing is, these workarounds are getting ridiculous. We should not have to be going deep into the software jungle to execute complicated Special Forces missions simply to disable a freakin' Auto Update function ... something any and all Apps should already make easily available at the click of a button or by checking a box.

Right now as things are, it is the equivalent of one buying be it a car, a stereo, a computer or whatever and when some problem comes up, the only fix that one is given is for one to personally open up the product and go cut and splice wires ... or to reroute hoses or perform stuff that isn't normal for the consumer to be doing.

Well, my question was answered this morning. Opera 29 DID have the audacity to infiltrate, take hostage, hold my computer under seige. Yep! My Opera 27 auto updated to Opera 29 this morning. Grrrrrrrrrrrr! @#$% MAN! What is it going to take for the Devs to understand that this is NOT desired? It is a problem. Opera 29 is just about now achieving Rootkit / Ransomeware status. Sheesh!