Rating: 
Summary: Windows XP Pro Is the Way To Go!!!
Review: Ok- I know that a lot of people say that they have a lot of problems installing Windows XP. First of all- the way that XP Handles Drivers is very different from 95,98,ME, and 2000. Many drivers do not work with XP, so it is important to contact your hadware manufacturer(s) to make sure that it is compatible. Older hardeware (ESPECIALLY LAPTOPS) may not have drivers that are compatible with XP. However, if you are building a new PC... I highly reccomend Windows XP Professional. Home edition is okay for a lot of things. But when you get into home networking and other advanced tasks, XP Pro is the way to go. I have had 2000 on my computer before this... and I always had problems. As soon as I upgraded to XP Pro, all problems went away. I also just built another computer... and XP Professional Works seamlessly with it. I am 100% satisfied with XP Pro.
Rating: 
Summary: A good operating system for lemmings, but not for me.
Review: First, here's my bias: I think the BEST operating systems are transparent. They get out of the way, and when they appear, they do exactly what we tell them to do (within their limitations, naturally). Or, as one Linux distro says on its website: "It is very important that you understand that choices are what makes xxxxxx run. We try not to force you onto anything you don't like. If you feel like we do, please bugreport it." This is diametrically opposed to Microsoft's philosophy. They seek to limit choices, hoping that eventually they will be the ONLY choice. Their products are ridiculously over-priced, and they seldom function as they should.
Windows XP certainly fits this mold. It is the most stable incarnation of Windows I've ever used (going all the way back to Windows 3.1), but it's also the most limiting. For one thing, it's SLOW, even on reasonably fast systems. I'm running Windows 98 on an old 380MHz K6-2 laptop, and it's faster than Windows XP on a 2.8GHz Celeron laptop. While it took lots of tweaking to get Windows 95 and 98 to do what I wanted them to do, it was at least possible. With XP, parts of the system are completely inaccessible, even for simple, routine tasks. For instance, it's impossible to even complete a defrag of your hard drive under XP. The system files are locked in place, and cannot be moved.
XP does offer a lot of functionality in some areas. It actually comes very close to being "plug-and-play". It is stable. Programs DO crash, but they generally don't crash the system. XP will set up partitions on your hard drive with very little effort on your part. And of course there is the real reason people use it: it runs the software that's written for it. It's also bound to be around at least until the Dept. of Justice sanctions on MS expire in 2007. Then they'll be back to their old antics.
In short, if you like to have choices, make your own decisions, and believe you should be in control of your own computer system, Windows XP is not for you. If you like to let others choose for you, blindly trust authority figures, and believe that gigantic corporations always know best, then you'll love it. Personally I think they should call it, "XP for Lemmings".
Rating:
Summary: So far, so good
Review: I have been using computers since DOS 5.0 and this is by far the most user friendly, comprehensive, and powerful operating system I have used so far. Aside from Linux, if you are interested in an easy to use, dynamic OS go with XP professional. It has lots of features that are always coming in handy. Unless you wanna go crazy and are an IT Power User (in which case Linux), go with this OS. Its great.
Rating:
Summary: Great OS
Review: My computer at work has windows XP installed on it, and just from navigating around it I am so glad, that I did not waste my money installing it on my home PC. The only good thing about this OS is that its "pretty". It LOOKS a lot better than windows 2000 and other previous versions, and also it seems to load a lot faster than windows 2000. Which warrants my 2 star rating. The new set up in Windows XP is very cumbersome and sometimes downright confusing. For those of us that are familiar with Win 2K you will find that many things are not in places where we are used to them being. This is a small problem and im sure that I will become comfortable with it. My main gripe is the constant application lock ups in this OS for no apparant reason. For example if you happen to mistype a URL in Internet Explorer, then be prepared to have IE lock up for at least 45 seconds before windows decides to allow you to control IE again. Same goes true for Outlook. Sometimes Outlook will just lock up for no reason and either you have to wait it out, or just do a control-ALT-Delete to end the task which is believe it or not a lot quicker than waiting on windows. Keep in mind my inbox only has 20 messages since I just started my job Monday. Yet it still locks up and crashes for no reason. To add fuel to the fire sometimes applications will just terminate with fatal errors and come up with a message box stating "sorry for the inconvience" and an option to send the error report to microsoft. HA! It looks like Microsoft expected this OS to have a lot of problems (and that it does) and are using the customers to find all their bugs for them. I wouldn't mind doing this for a pay check, but for free? I don't think so. I've only used XP for 4 days and already having a multitude of problems with constant lock ups and crashes. I haven't had the oppurtunity to do software installations on this OS, and frankly I don't want to, im sure that is also littered with bugs. As much as I hated windows ME, I think I am beginning to hate XP even more. If you have 2000, then stick with it, don't waste your money on XP.
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