Rating: 
Summary: Most stable OS I've used.
Review: Here's a note... if you're going ot buy XP, buy the professional version. It's much more stable and supports more software and hardware than the Home version.I have used XP for two years, and not once have I had to reformat the hard drive. I have dealt with a few errors, but most of them were fixed by putting in the CD. And it did start crashing, but I finally realized it was faulty RAM, not the OS. (Don't blame the OS first, it's probably the hardware.) Another sidenote--read the hardware requirements. You need at least 128 megs of RAM, and 600 megahertz.
Rating: 
Summary: XP is PU
Review: My experience with XP has just been a disaster. It has horrible security issues, terrrible backwards compatibility, is hit and miss with non-Microsoft software (especially pre-XP software) and is unstable. It is such a junky operating system, I'm junking it and going back to Windows 2000. Everyone who buys XP and has a fast internet connection should realize from the get go how bad the security issues are. If you must have XP or if its pre-loaded onto the computer you bought and you have broadband, make sure you spring for a good internet security system (e.g. McAfee or Norton) and be prepared to deal with adware, spyware etc. etc. If you have a lot of pre-XP software, be prepared to say goodbye to a lot of it. Some of it will work, but a lot of it will not. One other piece of advice--do not set up separate user accounts. We did and XP crashed a LOT. We went back to a single account and its become more stable (though far from perfect). All in all, this is Redmond's worst OS since Windows 98. One of my grad students has me about talked into jumping to Linux. I can't see how that alternative could be any worse, and it's sure a lot cheaper! Haven't gone quite that far ... yet. But it's back to 2000 for me, and I'm vowing never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever to buy into Microsoft's claims about its "new and improved" products. If XP is the flagship product, this company has some serious quality control issues.
Rating:
Summary: Not for every user - Difficult Install
Review: Personally, I found that this was a trying experience from the beginning. First off, few stores even carry XP software, so that even locating the package is difficult. Thankfully there are on-line opportunities like Amazon to fulfill the dream. Physically installing this product was an even greater difficulty. I could not find this in a 3.5" format and had to upgrade my PC in order to be able to run the CD. After re-booting, I found that the CD was not mounted and that the software could not be recognized. I spent numerous hours on the phone with MicroSoft Tech support, only to determine that the system requirements were not fully explained in the promotional literature. This upgrade requires an extremely fast processor, at least 512 Mb memory, minimum 40 Gb hard drive. In fact, the system architecture and operating system are completely different! Who knew? I can tell you it is not recommended for the typical Apple II or Mac Plus customer. This is probably much better suited to the owner of a new Power Mac machine with the latest in video & IO features.
Rating: 
Summary: If you have ME, dump it and buy XP
Review: Several years ago, I made the horrible mistake of upgrading my home computer from Windows 98 to Windows ME. From that point on it was nothing but trouble. I thank God that my home office is in a windowless basement room or I would have thrown my computer out of the window. Finally, after numerous crashes I came to the realization that something had to be done. Going back to Windows 98 was not an option (I had misplaced my disc long ago) so I upgraded to Windows XP. Aside from the sticker shock, I am pretty happy with it. No longer does my computer freeze up every thirty minutes or so. Although I am sure that it has new and improved features, I am not a new and improved kind of guy- Email, some web surfing and word processing pretty well describes my computer use. For this, Windows 98 was just fine. But, time marches on. If you have Windows 98 and are doing fine, there probably no compelling reason to upgrade (I still use Windows 98 on my church computer), but if you are into video, advance graphics or the like, an upgrade would be in order. There are two features that I appreciate. You can set up user accounts that keep people from changing your settings or reading your private correspondence. And, you are given the option to change the look of the screen to the older Windows look- I guess you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. If you have Windows ME, to not hesitate, dump the junk and buy XP, you will never regret the change.
Rating:
Summary: Great OS
Review: When I bought this Computer 4 years ago it came with Windows ME I had nothing but problems when I was online it would freeze up about every 30 to 45 minutes and I would have to reboot very frustrating. I kept having people tell me to upgrade to XP so I finally upgraded to XP Pro and that was about 6 months ago and now I can stay online all night if I want without a single problem it has not even skipped a beat and I was on dial up at first and now I'm on cable. I lokv it in fact I am bulid a new computer from case up and XP Pro OS is what I am putting in it.. I would recommend XP Pro to anyone...
Rating:
Summary: You don't know what you are doing
Review: I don't blame all of you for giving this OS bad marks. God help you, you just don't know what you are doing..and that's ok. I've installed this OS on over 200 machines. It's by far one of the most stable OS's ever made. My users have never had a crash..not one. I'm talking about 150 people, using it 40 hours a week, all day long for 2 years. However.... If I wasn't there, it would be a nightmare. With increase functionality come increased confusion. This is completely unavoidable. I understand that not everyone is a geek so I can see where people could really mess this up. It's ok, it's not your fault..but it's not Microsoft's either. Should you get a Mac with OSX? Absolutely. They make great software, and you should have a relatively easy time of it. However they are 2% of the market and if you want to go outside of the bounds of what they do you are going to have a big problem.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty but LINUX IS BETTER, CHEAPER
Review: Linux is a better and cheaper operating system. A free download (such as Mandrake 10) includes what would be thousands of dollars worth of software if it was a MS operating system. The GIMP, while not as polished as Photoshop, is also free (Unlike Photoshop for windows, which is almost $1000). In my opinion, I would rather spend $0.00 on linux and spend the money I saved upgrading my computer. I would go with Linux if I were you (even has an office suite that works with MS Office documents). You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: XP=eXpect Pain
Review: Let me say that Windows ME was great with backwords compatibility. XP is better right? WRONG! This OS is very random on what it will run! Even on programs that say they work on XP! The reason? Mainly because security updates will mess up a lot of them. Also with old programs it won't run well in the first place. ALSO even with all the security updates XP is very vulnerable. If you plan to get a new computer and want to use DSL I heard Macs are very good. Also people who use older OSes will have to learn how to do stuff again. Another problem is that XP is a BIG HOG OF RAM! If you can find one get ME. XP is bad espiaclly for DSL!
Rating:
Summary: don't buy retail
Review: buy this as an OEM product with a cheap piece of hardware for only $85 dollars at newegg.com- for $175 dollars you are only getting a useless manual with your CD
Rating:
Summary: Solid performer.
Review: Windows XP Pro is a very good to use and stable operating system providing it's installed onto a good quality machine. Less than a P4 2GHz and 512 MB of RAM isn't going to really work out. Stick to Windows 2000 Pro, SP4 for anything less. The go back to a previous date feature is tremendously useful for when something goes wrong, but I could do without the snoop-doggy-dog in the file search section. Looks a bit unprofessional to me. It's also good to be able to use the familiar Windows themes instead of the XP ones, if you want to. Users of the latest graphics cards and Adobe multimedia applications will have to upgrade to XP to have the required system support, or even get an installation to proceed. Be sure to check this before buying anything current. Avid DV Express, etc, is also only XP compatible. Any hardware such as printers, scanners, modems, etc install very easily. An anti-virus and firewall are essential additions, Sophos and Kerio Personal Firewall work well for me. Also be sure to never be on the web in Administrator mode. Instead, set yourself up as a user with Power User attributes. A Restricted User profile is also available, but if you have Screenwriter 2000, or other Screenplay products installed, they may not launch or function properly. XP Pro will give a great deal of satisfaction. XP-Home is much less expensive, but is little better than Win 98.
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