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Summary: Windows XP Pro Upgrade
Review: I loaded Win Pro XP upgrade on a HP Pavilion 8500,with Win 98. It was a nightmare. Many of the programs would not load correctly, and getting MS support was nearly impossible. Once I did, I learned about the MS website and updating the system's BIOS. This wasn't in the instructions. Problems still continued and I ended up having to have Best Buy load it. Then my Lucent Win LT modem would not work, after another worthless search for answers on the internet, I bought a new modem and now it works. Win XP Pro may be a better system, but can be a nightmare to load. Check the MS and HP support site before doing so.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Operating System I've ever used!
Review: I've had XP since it's debut. I love it! I do all sorts of work with Audo/Video and imaging and am definately a power user. I also do IT work for a large midwest retailer. I have not run into a problem with XP that I couldn't fix. I build computers for friends and family and always recommend XP!
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Summary: Does everything I want it to do well
Review: I've bought a new PC seperately from WinXP Pro, being a little afraid that with no prior experience with installation of MS products I might run into some problems.And I was surprised that everything went very smoothly - the computer booted cleanly from the CD, the questions were simple enough, and the installation was quick. The GUI had the annoying teletubby look, but in five minutes I had changed everything to the familiar classical look, with only minor changes from Windows 2000. The few minor issues I had (e.g. how to change notepad's character set to Hebrew, and the boot time becoming much longer after installation of Service Pack 1) were quickly and easily resolved. Office XP was a bit annoying, so I installed Office 2000, but beside that I installed all of my favourite apps (Palm Desktop, Eudora, 1st page 2000, Norton antivirus & firewall, etc), everything going without as much as a hickup. I do everyting I used to do with Windows 2000, and have found XP to be superior, e.g. takes no time to boot and did not *once* crash in three months. So, as an average user who uses the computer for office applications, some graphics editing, surfing the web, etc, I find XP pro 100% satisfying with the possibility of growth to further power applications.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Outstanding with one minor fault...
Review: I've recently upgraded my two year old home computer from ME to XP and was totally blown away by how easy and simple the process was. The ONLY complaint I have is that during the upgrade Microsoft wiped out all my Netscape email addresses and all the messages I had stored on my computer. They were nowhere to be found. Fortunately, three months ago, I saved my email addresses to a separate drive so I didn't lose all my addresses just some of the more recently changed ones. Unfortunately, I did lose all of my email messages which really upset me since I had several items that I was keeping copies of for shipping confirmations and about account information. So basically, if you upgrade to XP and like to use Netscape, export your current addresses and messages to a safe location that proprietary Microsoft won't seek out and destroy!! Other than that, I have absolutely no complaints and am extremely happy with the system. Everything boots up quickly, haven't had any lockups yet and the interface is very easy to use.
Rating:
Summary: Good Stuff
Review: Window XP Home is made of good stuff. It's stuffed full of all sorts of different features that are easy to use. Even my mom, who doesn't get along with computers well, can use XP Home.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended unless you are a computer dummy.
Review: This is without a doubt the best OS Microsoft has released to date. I have read the reviews of the people who have nothing but negative things to say about this product and I laugh. How somebody can say Windows 98 is better is most likely running an old machine with old software. If thats the case stick with what you have. I have been running XP for almost 2 years with no problems. Stable and reliable just like Windows 2000 but with more options. The system restore feature is great if you are the type that likes to install software without checking for compatibility issues. For all you XP haters, there is hope. Windows Longhorn to be released in 2004.
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Summary: If you MUST update, you'll be happy in the end
Review: How well does it work? It is the most stable Microsoft OS I've ever used. It even fails more gracefully than any previous version of my experience. Where Win98SE used to lock up and require ctrl-alt-del (thank Deity for Norton, afterwards!), XPHome, frozen, usually allows me to use ctrl-S to save whatever, and the "Windows" key and cursor keys to get to the start menu and shutdown/reboot. And sometimes, instead of locking up, the mouse software goes crazy for several minutes (literally; it only seems like eternity), then finally exhausts itself >:} and allows me to use the mouse to finish whatever I was doing before rebooting in the usual manner. Is this still crazy? Of course. Will I stay with Windows when there are Linux drivers that allow me to run my favorite older (1998 and later) games? I Don't Think So. From my perspective, there are major problems MS is not perceiving. I bought XPHome because my system had been invaded by an old harasser who gifted me with several viruses. I only missed one of them (it hid in a documents folder) when I went looking, after seeing my system download things I hadn't requested. That was enough of course. It damaged my OS (Win 98SE), and I could either upgrade, or lose my data by reformatting. Like so many others, I found that installing this was NOT a picnic. I, too, spend something like 6-7 *hours* on the phone with Microsoft (at my expense), before they decided I was entitled to support from someone in the Research Department, who called me. The problem we solved? How to make my modem work every time. The solution? Input a code which forced it to default mode. The modem? It was the one installed at the factory, one of the most popular OEM brands and models, on one of the most familiar brands of computer. Solving how to get my CD-RW drive to work was a problem that neither MS nor the computer manufacturer cared to help me with, Thank You Very Much. And not all hardware and software companies seemed to be aware that MS isn't providing drivers as formerly. I received excellent support from Canon, solving the printer driver problem, however. Microsoft used to include a library of drivers, as a component of the Windows program, for all the popular brands and models of peripherals, including defunct brands and models which were widely installed. Not any more, which is one of several problems that may add up to terminally stupid customer relations. You must now get those from the manufacturer, or however you can. Or you can replace the (perfectly good) peripheral with one from a list of "approved" brands/models from Microsoft's list. Was all this better than losing my data? You bet. Do I recommend it to people who need to upgrade their version of Windows for some reason? Yes, but be prepared for Problems, even if your computer is a major brand with all original hardware, and be prepared to spend some money and time on calls to MS Support. I must say that all of the tech support people I spoke with were pleasant. They also tried hard to help me, and all contacts were followed up with an email, inviting feedback. But the bad news is, as of September 2002, MS was NOT using problem solutions to update the knowledgeware the tech support people use. I find that shockingly wasteful of both their money and the customers' time and money. I've used computers in one way or another since 1975, PCs since 1982, started installing my own peripherals in 1989, and did my first motherboard upgrade in 1996. I have a reasonable understanding of PC hardware. And I'm not hopeless with software, either. In my opinion, this was MUCH harder than it had to be, and MS is doing at least two Really Dumb things: 1. No longer including drivers for the most common peripherals of the last five years. Yes, I know that's expensive, but there is nobody better qualified to write drivers for the OS than they are. 2. Not using every support call which involves changing the configuration of the OS to immediately feed back into the knowledgeware database. That change alone would dramatically reduce the length of support calls from experienced computer users, with enormous potential savings.
Rating:
Summary: Its different but I like it
Review: Its a bit different than ME but it has grown on me and now I like it better than any other windows system that Ive had..
Rating: 
Summary: The end of owning software.
Review: Lots of new features come with the OS. this much is nice. My main gripe is that you can't upgrade your machine or move the OS to another machine without major trouble. Change more than a network card a couple of other items and your OS won't work. This is MS's harebrained scheme to stop people from copying the OS. Whatever you do, make sure you don't use this software if all you have is a dial-up connection. I will be avoiding this OS version as long as possible.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful just awful
Review: This software is a nightmare, compared to Windows 98. Hard to learn and configure - I did it eventually, but Dell Computers (another questionable experience) puts the software on their computers, so I was stuck. The software didn't like my NOT using MSN or Internet Explorer. I got no technical support from Dell on this issue. I finally got my Internet connection configured by going through my Internet provider, Earthlink. My school refused to buy Windows XP because of its problems, so I don't have the same software to work at home. Any other version of Windows has to be better than this. Bill Gates got his revenge.
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