>>mouse_+(OP)
Yep. I installed XP64 on a high-end 2008 Thinkpad last year, and it was great fun. I wrote it up here:

https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/24/dangerous_pleasures_w...

A key watchword is to not let any MS code access the Internet. Don't use MS email, chat, media players, etc. Use more modern 3rd party ones and you're much much safer.

It's more or less necessary to use IE to get it set up, but you can install IE 8.0.6001 offline before you start updating it, which also saves about half an hour.

>>tredre+99
AFAICT there was a single YouTube video that started this[0] and they mentioned explicitly several times that this mainly works because they put it in "the open internet" as a server. Disabling the firewall was the icing on the cake and yet that is all sites that reported this[1], no mention about how the computer was not behind, well, anything that a desktop in the last couple of decades would be (and most likely beyond that, i remember around 2002 when i had a modem, i had to visit a web page at my ISP to allow me open various ports as many things were disabled by default).

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uSVVCmOH5w

[1] https://www.xda-developers.com/connected-windows-xp-internet...

>>wruza+td4
Curiously enough, the youtuber who tried this with windows XP did the same thing with Windows 98 [1]. And it gets hit by strange packets and scans, but that system was fine even when running for a day or two.

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssTIx0qm2to

>>lupusr+cd4
Isn't NAT slipstreaming a "real" vector?

https://samy.pl/slipstream/

>>mouse_+(OP)
You missed one other mitigation tool: 0patch

It's usefulness is limited on XP but you might have applications that are captured. They also haven't closed the door (at least as of last year) to patching any future major-drama events that come up: https://0patch.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018274139-Do...

>>mouse_+(OP)
I refurbish and sell Windows XP machines as a side business; there's a surprisingly large market for them. My customers mostly break down into the following groups:

1) People looking to play retro games

2) People looking to work with legacy hardware, especially in manufacturing and healthcare

3) People who want the comfort/familiarity of an older operating system

I'm always careful to issue a disclaimer that Windows XP should never be used for anything where you need security, in practice, I don't see much of an issue. The reality is that although XP is a tempting target in terms of vulnerability, it's not widely used enough to be useful to modern malware.

The machines I sell come with Windows XP Delta Edition[1], which as far as I know comes with all the available updates for XP already installed - no Legacy Update necessary. I've been using the Mypal browser [2], but will definitely try Supermium!

[1] https://xpdelta.weebly.com/xp.html [2] https://github.com/Feodor2/Mypal68/releases

>>crazyg+Ej5
https://www.amiunique.org/ is scary and eye opening