Rating: 
Summary: Excellent upgrade but not crashproof
Review: I am very impressed with the WinXP Pro upgrade. The look of the new screens is pleasant, however I really bought it for the much ballyhooed uncrashability. Since I fixed a hardware conflict (by fairly unscientific meddling in device manager, right down to changing interrupt settings for one of the peripherals) there have been no crashes. However, while I was experiencing the conflict (between a modem and a wireless LAN card) the system did freeze completely, no response to anything including CTRL-ALT-DEL - which very much disappointed me. Tech experts will no doubt feel that Microsoft cannot anticipate every hardware combination, and this is of course true. But XP is advertised as crashproof, and its worth saying that there are some hardware combos that can defeat it.Although I bought it for the uncrashability, other unanticipated benefits have accrued that make me want to recommend it. In particular, the speed of bootup and the ability to detect and work with peripherals (especially the aforementioned wireless LAN card, after the conflict was sorted out) has impressed me a great deal. I bought my computer, an IBM thinkpad, in Nov 01 (in other words, it is a fairly current piece of kit) and the previous operating system (Win98SE) took 2 minutes to boot up, mainly spent (I believe) looking for and handshaking with my wireless LAN card. WinXP boots up in about 30 seconds. Hibernation is an order of magnitude quicker, it used to take forever under W98 and now takes about 20 seconds with 384MB of memory. Also hotswapping between wireless and wired LAN is possible, and XP's ability to save a session for one user while another one logs on is very cool (useless to me (although I did try it for fun!)...but very cool for a family machine, I imagine). I understand that Win2000Pro has many of the advantages of XP (but not user switching), but if you have W98 or a previous system, and meet (preferably exceed) the machine requirements, XP is a worthwhile upgrade.
Rating: 
Summary: can't rate it lower
Review: Windows xp is the greatest os there is but only if you never plan to use your computer for anything but xp. Everything you add to you computer runs slower. If you put on software to do something xp doesn't like it in fact it fights with the new program to try to get you to use something ms put in xp. The operating system itself works (but has many flaws) but the intergrated software (which you can't uninstall) won't let you do anything you want to do (windows media player being the worst) If you like music or your cd burner stay away from xp.
Rating:
Summary: Stick with 98SE
Review: I didn't want Windows 2000. I didn't want ME. I certainly didn't want XP. I swore to my wife that no copy of XP would ever darken my doorstep. But then my computer went south, and I had to buy another, and -- guess what? -- it came with XP pre-installed. Chalk up another victory for the "innovators" and monopoly. After playing the games for awhile, I deleted them. For reasons known only to Microsoft, half my apps stopped working, including my printer driver and IE Internet browser. Because the computer didn't come with the XP CDROM (they put them all on the hard drive nowadays. Very clever; if your computer or its hard drive fails, just re-install from the broken hard drive). After fighting with the computer vendor for a week, I finally got a system recovery CDROM. This weekend I'll be wiping the HD and re-installing (ugh!) XP. I'd go back to 98SE if I could, but then half the hardware won't work. See, they've got you. As far as I'm concerned, the only value in XP is to Microsoft. Why did removing the games kill my print driver? I figure, it must be so they can say to the Justice Department, "See, we _TOLD_ you it was all in one piece." Time was when software was designed from the get-go to be modular. This must be the only time in history where software is deliberately designed to be non-modular, to keep the government at bay (and thumb a billion noses at it). The scary part is, the plan is working.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what it's hyped up to be
Review: There is really no difference between Windows 2000, and Windows XP. The only thing that is different really is that XP has nicer icons and desktop. Seriously- that's all. I also experienced conflicts with my hardware on XP that I could not resolve- I didn't experience conflicts on Windows 2000 however, so be warned- XP is not compatible with all hardware. XP is good for the newbies in that it's pretty straightforward to use- sometimes annoyingly straightforward for those who are used to the Windows operating systems.
Rating: 
Summary: nice os, bad rep
Review: from what i've heard from friends windows xp is a horrible os which crashes, doesn't install right, and generally just [doesn't work]. i have found that to be quite the opposite in general. i love the actual os look and feel. i'm using it with a 1.7gHz pentium 4 and have noticed a lot less boot up time...
Rating:
Summary: A Good Purchase and Upgrade!
Review: Windows XP home is a operating system from Microsoft that finally defines stability and ease of use into one. If you are thinking about upgrading from Windows 98, go straight ahead, if you are still using Windows ME, please immediately upgrade. This operating is very easy to use with a redesigned start menu that provides easier access to programs and accessories. More stable because it is built upon the Windows NT kernel so it won't crash but your applications will software apps weren't built on NT, only the Operating System, so you can't get everything perfect! But this operating system is really worth the buy you won't regret it trust me. With soft edged Windows and rich icon pictorials this operating system really makes digital media a lot of fun. Plus the multi-user settings in Windows XP makes it a good purchase, so everyone in the family can have their own settings without interupting other peoples files and personal settings. People have been asking Microsoft for years to merge both the ease of from 98 and the stability of NT, now they have it, why not take it. And their just too many features to talk about here! Trust me you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Well...
Review: I got XP on a new laptop. Having previously used ME (which I though was just fine), I was looking forward to toying with the new Windows.
This first thing I can say is that Microsoft has SERIOUSLY dumbed down Windows so that little Jimmy or Grandma can get on and surf the internet without crashing the computer.
That's all well and good, but for the rest of us who know what we're doing, the little extra "help" that Windows offers is annoying.
They've changed the startup menu. I much liked to old one, becuse it enabled me to get to recently used documents and media files without waiding through multiple menus, plust the Programs menus only showed the programs that I used the most often, rather than everything loaded on the drive.
On the plus side, XP has many new features that I like. First off, it is more stable than ME. I have done things that would have locked up my old computer solid, but the XP machine stayed on.
For those people with burner drives, the ability to cut and paste directly to a CD with no third party software is immensly helpful (I don't even use my floppy drive any more, just a CD-RW)
The new, DVD-playing Media Player looks better and loads faster than previous versions.
All in all, I like XP. I only wish that more elements from ME and Win98 hade been included.
Rating:
Summary: The best operating system yet!
Review: I think that Microsoft Windows XP is by far the best operating system yet. It is a lot better than the previous ones. However, I found one major thing that I didn't like, and that was that many games and programs don't work, like Microsoft Outlook. They're both made by Microsoft, so shouldn't they both work? This was the biggest fault, and there were a few other games and programs that didn't work either. I would still reccomend this to anyone with a reasonably fast computer, but don't buy it if it's really old and slow because this will make it go even slower.
Rating:
Summary: The best Windows since Win95, but it's still Micro--(crash!)
Review: Finally, a version of Windows that really deserves your money. Even if you own a recent version of Windows, you find alot to be happy about. However, read a few of the upgrade tips I;ve written below, and save yourself some headaches. The best "new" addition is the added stability of the OS. Even Win2K users will find alot more stability when you run multimedia and games. For users of Win95, 98, or ME, notice this important difference - WinXP won't crash, but your programs might. That is, if one program crashes on your computer, it probably won't cause you to lose work from other programs running at the same time. Otherwise, I have still noticed things crash about 2-3 times a month, usually when I try to open too many things at once. The interface is very fancy and showy, with menus that fade in or bound across the screen or whatever. Everything was refinished with the sharper resolutions and higher colors of todays monitors, and looks beautiful. This comes at a price, though, as my 1ghz cpu and generic video card can barely perform all the fancy effects. Also, the start menu and desktop icons have changed enough that I find myself missing the old set-up. This is okay, as you can change WinXP to use the old style interface, but some of you might find this difficult to figure out... WinXP is excellent for families who share a computer, because it keeps a seperate profile for everyone, and allows everyone their own private desktop and "space". Older versions of Windows had this, but never in such a useful manner. If you use your computer to make MP3 of your music, stay away from WinXP!!!! Microsoft has definitely put the locks down on the copying of music files, such that WAV files from a CD can't be copied to the hard-drive or converted to MP3s. For a bonafide 100% legal music fan like myself, this is ridiculous. Maintain you old step-up if you do this. I play a few older games on my computer, and haven't seen any of them crash yet. Some of the 3D games actually run faster than they do on WinME, but everything needs more memory to run properly. People have complained about the activation system, and they both right and wrong - it can be a pain ...(you have to contact Microsoft every time you upgrade your computer) but I didn't find it to be difficult at all. Microsoft isn't charging you for this, the activiation is free, as many times as you want to do it. UPGRADE TIPS:
--Double-check each and every piece of hardware on your computer for compatability with WinXP BEFORE you upgrade. --Download hardware drivers and save them to disc BEFORE you upgrade! --The best way to upgrade any version of Windows is to erase everything on your hard drive and install it on a blank slate. Back everything up. The little stuff you might forget isn't worth the headaches you'll have otherwise. --If any of the above intimidates you, then PAY SOMEONE ELSE to install WinXP for you. Best Buy will do this for not much money, and save you some headaches. --Generic software, like that clipart collection you bought for $10, will most likely NOT work. Cheap software is rarely updated with new versions of windows. The same goes for generic hardware - cheap video cameras, digital cameras, printers, scanners, etc. Again, look on the internet for compatability with everything you use, and be prepared to upgrade more than just you operating system...
Rating:
Summary: This piece of crap upgrade sucks!!!!!
Review: My husband recently purchased this operating system for me because I begged for it. A couple of weeks later we bought a new laptop that had Windows XP Home Edition already on it... First and foremost it significantly slows down the computer. It also takes all your files and rearranges, renames, and reorganizes them; without giving you the option of if you even want this done. And EVERYTHING is done through this Wizard thing. Wizard this, wizard that. Why can't a simple dialog box pop up so I can make my adjustments? And don't even bother looking for the dial-up networking that use to be under Accessories, because it is GONE. It takes the most basic thing, and shifts it elsewhere, so even doing the simplest of operations becomes a chore. And another thing: as soon as we were done installing it our CD Rom (which we NEVER had a problem with before) gave up the ghost. We assumed that it's a driver incompatibility with Windows XP, but good luck finding a driver that IS compatibile with Windows XP, because we've searched the internet and can't seem to find one. We'll probably end up having to get a new CD Rom. Or uninstalling Windows XP.
Even so, as an operating system on a new computer, it's not that bad, because all the hardware and other software is compatible, and so everything runs smooth. But the upgrade is not worth the frustration. So for the Upgrade, we give it a 1, and as a new operating system, we'll give it a 3.
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