Rating: 
Summary: The most stable Windows for home users
Review: Recently I upgraded computers (Athlon XP1700+, 512mb ddr ram, nVidia 4x agp w/64mb ddr ram). I had three options, Windows 2000, XP Home or XP Pro. This was disconcerting because I use my computer primarily for audio editing and software synthesis.This is demanding work and requires components typical users do not have. Driver issues were a concern as it took quite some time for Windows to catch up with the music creation industry. A big negative was the idea of XP spying on me. The idea of WinXP needing to be "authenticated" bothered me quite a bit. I use other software that has copy protection that is similar and have had some unpleasant situations including downtimes. As Win2k was not going to be supported fairly soon XP was the decision and in all ways it has proven my preconceptions wrong. WinXP Home is stable. Coming from a Win98se system I'd grown used to crashes, the blue screen of death and a ergonomically dumb interface. XP changes all that. The expanded Start menu is more funtional that previous Windows versions. Programs may crash but when they do it is easy to terminate them. The worst that has happened is the need to reboot the computer to regain access to certain high performance peripherals. The crashes I grew to expect in Win98se just aren't here on XP. Besides having a smarter user interface it is considerably more secure and FLAWLESS when setting up new or legacy hardware. Every program I use runs better in XP, it doesn't hurt having a decent computer but Win98se didn't fare much better on this computer than it's old sibling. Windows help has been rewritten and is vastly supereor to previous versions. There is a wealth of configuration tips and wizards which make troubleshooting or simply finding information a snap. This friendly layer is beneath a high performance operating system that has more in common with NT or Win2000 than Win ME or older. When I booted up for the first time I did have to spend half an hour even with XP preinstalled. But the time I spent was positive in nature as WinXP kept detecting new hardware and configuring it to run correctly. In Win ME or older versions installing hardware and software could be a painful mess. XP was informative and worked perfectly. Beyond that it stays out of my way when working. This will require some tweaks as Win XP can be intrusive. This is probably to help new users and since these actions are defeatable it is perfectly acceptable. Win XP is as close as a PC user will get to a Mac computing experience. It insulates you from as much as it can. You have to actively seek to do the kind of tedium installing hardware like earlier Windows OS'. You do have to register to unlock Win XP. If you have a modem or as in my case cable it will configure instantly. There are some legacy equipment that won't work with XP but the database of compatible hardware is amazing. When problems occur XP premptively informs you so you can save data. Sometimes it doesn't but lets your computer recover quickly. You will be prompted to send the error report to Microsoft but the choice is yours. These reports are used to create bug fixes and update Microsoft's online FAQs so it's worth doing. You need at least 256mb ram to run XP comfortably. It will work with 128mb but for the extra cost it's worth getting some more memory. I chose to have Win XP Home installed with considerable misgivings and came to like it quite a bit. This is the first Windows home OS I would recommend. In fact several friends consulted me. All chose XP Professional or Home. All of them were concerned as I was. All of them love working in it. I have been a beta tester for some versions of Windows. The progress was impressive but this is the version where Microsoft gets it right.
Rating: 
Summary: Windows XP - no backward compatibility
Review: Although Microsoft doesn't say so, most older software will not run under Windows XP, including their own Office 97. If you want to upgrade to XP, better plan on replacing all your older software as well.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: Do not buy this OS.
If you use Windows stick with 98, 2000, or ME. XP may look flashy and stable on the outside, but believe me it is not compatibe with 1/3 of my nearly new hardware(it all works in 2000 and ME). It even crashed repeatedly when I installed a brand new harddrive. My new scanner wouldn't work, ever, and my printer was finiky, my graphics card(an Nvidia GeForce 2) performed much slower; all after a fresh install. And to top it off, the Remote Desktop feature was born from the Remote Access Security Vulnerablity in Windows 2000. And here's something swell, XP actively reports stuff to MS. I am well aware of this since I am smart enough to run a logged firewall. IE was the worst culprit, but since it is practically part of XP, XP users have to live with it. And it would seem as though CD's burned with XP's integrated CD burning software sometimes do not work in any other OS besides windows. I also noticed massive compatibility problems with older applications that were written for Windows 95 or 98. And if you think XP SP1 makes it any better, you're wrong. Contrary to what MS promised in court, the SP only hides MS's middleware and leaves IE integrated even if you swap it out. And Windows XP hides almost all of the inner workings of the OS and computer from the user so that most people have no idea how to fix it if something goes seriously wrong. This applies more to sys admins than desktop users, but it is still relivant; the easier to use an OS is, the more likely a company is to hire unskilled people to administer it, and if something goes horribly wrong they wind up paying a specialist to fix it. Is the higher total cost and frustration really worth it? Of course it is smoother if you buy it preinstalled on a new computer, but most of my review holds true even then.
Rating:
Summary: Dismal Human Engineering -- poor for begineers
Review: We bought some retired friends a Dell system with
the new Home XP operating system. I spend more than
a day trying to show them basics. They were having a tough time, and I developed a negative
impression of XP.
Some of the reasons: -- _Too many_ ways to do things, too much info coming at
a new user, popup messages end up confusing the user,
and in some cases obscure important alternatives. -- The organization was not good for facilitaing work flow.
-- The muli user login is a nice idea, but also confusing
in execution. When are you installing or changing
something just for this user, when for all .... -- Important functions are obscured -- A major negative move towards too many
possibilities and too much confusion relative to
Windows 98 or NT the other Windows systems, that I am
familiar with--also, I see no reason to upgrade
from 98, 2000, or NT that I saw. -- Too many places where you would want to encourage using
the right mouse button, something easy if you are
familiar with Microsoft, but hard for beginers -- Fairly easy adjustment if you are a microsoft veteran -- Driver installtion was more difficult and confusing
partly because of a pop up messages you get if the
driver hasn't been registered with Microsoft. -- The people I was teaching were intimidated, I wished
we had bough them an Apple instead. Microsoft should reorganize their user interface /
human engineering team, and start over. This is a move
in the wrong direction.
Rating: 
Summary: Saved my ...
Review: Could not restore my patched and repatched version of Windows 98 to a stable condition after a hard drive failure. I could barely get Windows 98 functional, and as soon as I selected "scan for new hardware" every piece of equipment that had ever installed on this system over the past five years, reappeared. It was a nightmare. Faced with going back and reinstalling the original OS, SPs and programs, probably a week long job, I decided to buy XP Upgrade and run it over my flaky Win 98 installation, which I had reinstalled for the umpteenth time from backups (but the last time I did NOT run the scan for new hardware program). Much to my amazement, the upgrade went flawlessly. XP found and installed all correct drivers for my AMD 450 clone with 384 megs of ram, even improving on my video drivers. I was saved! Although I had concerns about running XP on such an old chip, my system was just as fast as Win 98 and much, much more stable. I have not liked the new MS policy on authentication, and swore that I would not upgrade to XP because of it. But I have to say, they handled the authentication flawlessly, and I did not have to enter a single piece of information. However, it will be interesting to see what happens when by new replacement Deskstar hard disk arrives from IBM and I do a mirror copy of my backup drive to the new IBM drive, change it do drive C, and reboot. Will MS think I'm running a new system? I'll update this review with the results. UPDATE: No problems, XP apparently knows that both copies of XP, on two different hard disks, are running in the same machine. Updated 9/20/2002
Rating:
Summary: Here It Is!
Review: Microsoft got it right on this one. Smooth, secure and basically glitch free. The only heavy complaint I have is the price, but I have a feeling this will be a viable operating system for quite a while.
Rating:
Summary: Much better than Windows 98
Review: I've been using XP for about a month now, without a single crash. All my programs and hardware run without a problem. (I did have to purchase a new version of Roxio Easy CD creator, but the upgrade is worth the price.) As other reviewers have mentioned, it's better to do a clean installation of XP rather than updating Windows 98. So back up your files onto some CDs or zip disks, wipe your computer's hard drive clean, and then install XP. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: The best operating system on the market.
Review: I've tried a lot of different operating systems, nearly every one on the market, and let me assure you, Windows XP is the best one, hands down. It's far more powerful and feature rich than Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. It's plenty more stable than Windows 98, less bloated than Windows ME and just plain easier to use than any version of Windows NT. In fact, the only other operating system available on the market today would be Windows CE, and comparing that to XP wouldn't be fair since CE is only for handhelds. So as you can plainly see, the choice is easy. If you're buying a new PC you simply have to get Windows XP. There's really no other option.
Rating:
Summary: M$ must be paying some of these reviewers...
Review: ...I mean come on: "no crashes in 10 months"? The power of NT is a joke. Oh yeah you don't get the blue screen of death anymore: now you get this cute little dialogue box that says the system is going to shutdown in xx seconds and gives you the opportunity to close your programs. Yeah that's real power alright. I work for IBM and I fight with Windows all day. Nothing CPU-intensive mind you, just IE, Excel, etc. But it's a constant struggle to get anything done because of the lockups and crashes. Macs cost a little more but geez if you consider all the downtime and rework from struggling with Windows, Macs are a bargain. When I get home, I sit down at my Mac (which I never turn off) and enjoy a clean, no-hassle experience. I do videography on the side and am using Final Cut Pro to render movie edits (a real test of how powerful a computer is) while simultaneously checking email, browsing the web, and working in Studio Artist (another CPU workhorse). All without a hiccup. You know why? The Mac OS is built on UNIX, the most powerful and reliable OS in the world. If Windows users only knew what a wonderful experience Mac offers they would ditch their peecees for good. And now with the latest Mac OS, you can network with a Windows machine and exchange files and data WITHOUT KNOWING A THING ABOUT NETWORKING! Try THAT with a Windows machine. Hey peecees can't even play nice with other Windows machines. When Apple released its latest version of OS X, there were parties and celebrations all over the world. People lining up for hours to get the latest version. Ever seen that with M$ Windows??? The only one I remember was Win95 and Bill Gates paid for the hoopla. Get a Mac and enjoy yourself or buy XP and kick yourself...
Rating:
Summary: After the preview in Windows 2000 SP-3 they'd have to pay me
Review: I innocently downloaded Windows 2000 SP-3 based on XP to the Windows 2000 installation on a multi- booting system.Then spent a week in hell trying to get the Windows 98SE installation back, after the so called improvements trashed both the Windows 2000 and 98SE installations.I can only imagine how much more damage the full upgrade would do.Microsoft's track record on the number of times you have to re-instal Windows regardless of W3.1 ,W95,W98,W98SE,WNT & W2000 is not good.The conveluted way the Upgrade vs the OEM vs the Full Version CDs are not compatible with restoring of fixing an up to date system with out wipeing the drive is already monopolisticly criminal.The restrictions on the XP CDs are a joke.At the price they are asking wait a year and buy a computer with it pre-installed on compatible hardware with working drivers.
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