US air traffic control still runs on Windows 95 and floppy disks

EverydayBeast

EverydayBeast

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Federal Aviation Administration plans to replace its aging air traffic control systems, which still rely on floppy disks and Windows 95 computers, Tom's Hardware reports.

It's amazing floppy disks are still being used, they were a key for adding or removing files well into the early 2000s (I had a gateway that used them)

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What does GAF think of this?
 
EverydayBeast said:
Federal Aviation Administration plans to replace its aging air traffic control systems, which still rely on floppy disks and Windows 95 computers, Tom's Hardware reports.

It's amazing floppy disks are still being used, they were a key for adding or removing files well into the early 2000s (I had a gateway that used them)

images


What does GAF think of this?
Click to expand...

Madness and incompetence, that's what I think. Windows 2000 was so much better than that crappy Windows 95. I guess the US air traffic control's IT department stuck with Win 95 for all those years because the OS came on fewer floppy disks than W2K.
 
well the issue is how the fuck do they turn everything off to switch over to new systems. I'm not surprised. They would cause chaos if they shut down the system for even a few hours
 
A lot of older Boeing commercial jets still use floppy disks too. These planes can have service lives of 30 years, and they're often not worth an expensive upgrade, so you might be flying on a plane from like 1996 that will still be using floppy disks.
 
It's not unique, especially when organisations are using bespoke systems that would cost a fortune to replace.

To be honest, a completely offline system based on archaic hardware and software might be beneficial for the security of mission critical systems. If it's at all online though...
 
kruis said:
Madness and incompetence, that's what I think. Windows 2000 was so much better than that crappy Windows 95. I guess the US air traffic control's IT department stuck with Win 95 for all those years because the OS came on fewer floppy disks than W2K.
Click to expand...
You cannot replace the whole system governing airspace traffic every time a new version of Windows comes out, no sane government agency will ever allow that.
 
This pretty normal. Most people would be shocked on how many super old systems are out there just because they work still. I rented cars in university for a job and the "new" system we had was from the 80s. Green text and everything. And that was the updated one. They still use it today, 20 years later. But it worked, so why spend money to change it? Who cares if it wasn't secure.
 
I think folks would be SHOCKED at how many primitive ass legacy computer systems are doing what we would consider essential, if not critical lifesaving, functions. Trying to upgrade a system as widely dispersed as air traffic control must be an absolute beast.
 
kruis said:
Madness and incompetence, that's what I think. Windows 2000 was so much better than that crappy Windows 95. I guess the US air traffic control's IT department stuck with Win 95 for all those years because the OS came on fewer floppy disks than W2K.
Click to expand...
No, they stuck with Windows 95 because the system works and peoples' lives and the economy rely on it working.

They can't just upgrade it over the weekend like a corporate IT system - which by the way in my experience always has major problems.
 
jason10mm said:
I think folks would be SHOCKED at how many primitive ass legacy computer systems are doing what we would consider essential, if not critical lifesaving, functions. Trying to upgrade a system as widely dispersed as air traffic control must be an absolute beast.
Click to expand...
My wife works for GE Healthcare. The number of clinics and hospitals still running Windows 98 for some of their equipment would blow you away.
 
Trogdor1123 said:
This pretty normal. Most people would be shocked on how many super old systems are out there just because they work still. I rented cars in university for a job and the "new" system we had was from the 80s. Green text and everything. And that was the updated one. They still use it today, 20 years later. But it worked, so why spend money to change it? Who cares if it wasn't secure.
Click to expand...

I worked for a credit union, a big one, that utilized an ancient program called Spectrum to run all the teller and member support stuff. It was basically a command line prompt like dos that you had to memorize/know a bunch of executables.
When I left 25 years ago they were launching a new system called Titan, but it wasn't a replacement, it was basically a Windows based overlay to make the system easier to use for morons.
lmao, I think they are still using it to this day.
 
Rival said:
37 trillion dollars in debt. What have we been spending our money on?
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Not raising taxes, a mess of a public healthcare system that is far more expensive than it should be, and a military that doesn't know how to balance a budget. Oh, and don't forget that interest payments on that debt is now sitting at a trillion dollars as well.

That basically sums up 90% of the financial issues with the US. DOGE supposed "savings" are not even a blip on the radar.
 
Not even sure why it matters. Considering how incompetent government is, would you want them to "update" it? May as well have China make the hardware and software for us. It would cost 50 billion dollars to upgrade and would be worse than what we have now.
 
EverydayBeast said:
Federal Aviation Administration plans to replace its aging air traffic control systems, which still rely on floppy disks and Windows 95 computers, Tom's Hardware reports.

It's amazing floppy disks are still being used, they were a key for adding or removing files well into the early 2000s (I had a gateway that used them)

images


What does GAF think of this?
Click to expand...
Oh man I remember those gateway PCs. Good times. Those speakers would beep and predict an incoming phonecall too.
 
this is bit of sensationalist title. There's nothing wrong with running on old OS if the system works. Don't fix it if aint' broke! Lives are at stake here. Updating OSs is a pain in the ass and leads to disruption. Futhermore, modern windows isn't exactly great either. Imagine the whole thing shutting down suddenly because of windows update.

What's more important is hiring more staff. Understaffed towers lead to overworked ATCs, which leads to fatigue, which can lead to mistake.
 
kruis said:
Madness and incompetence, that's what I think. Windows 2000 was so much better than that crappy Windows 95. I guess the US air traffic control's IT department stuck with Win 95 for all those years because the OS came on fewer floppy disks than W2K.
Click to expand...
I agree dude. Win2k and win2k3 were awesome. Win2k8 was kind of hmmm. Seemed to get worse after that
 
If it works, not worth the risk to upgrade.

Way back, my buddy worked at the company that does the space shuttle canadarm. He said the whole thing ran on some archaic unix stuff which never bothered being upgraded.

He said the functionality doesnt need fancy code and if it was somehow transitioned to a Windows feel, all that does is give more opportunity for failure.

Same for one of my earlier jobs. I used Lotus 123 for email, but for product specs and inventory control, all of us used green screen shit which I think was AS/400. Looked like shit, unintuitive how to use it, but it ran rock solid and never crashed.
 
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