Old software requiring old machines

There are calls on occasion that leave you scratching your head. I recently received a call from someone looking for old hardware. I started asking them questions, and turns out they had old accounting database software. They ideally needed something that ran Windows 7 or as old as Windows XP. Keep in mind that Windows 7 came out in 2009! Windows XP came out in 2001 or thereabouts. I only work on modern machines that run Windows 10 or Windows 11. Since I know you can get surplus machines going back to the Windows 7 era from websites like Newegg, I steered the caller in that direction. You have to wonder, at what point is the business customer wasting time and money on old software and hardware? I told the caller they should at least not have the computer plugged into the internet. That is the best advice you can give in a situation like that. If you have an old computer, because of some old software, that is great. Just don’t plug into the internet with it.