Rating: Summary: impressed Review: I hadn't heard anything about XP prior to using it. Little Ole' me was satisfied with Win98-2nd Ed. XP came preinstalled on my new P4 and its a whole new experience. I'm very surprised.Downside is that one gets very used to the &#%backward Win98 system and may have to actually take the XP Tour and Tutorial to even realize how dark ages Win98 really was. I did. Another downside is compatibility. Since most software packages, games and input devices haven't been completely tested as XP compatible, you'll either have to ingnore compatibility issues (this seems to work) or wait for your software to be upgraded.
Rating: Summary: Windows XP, The beginning of new era ! Review: This "very stable" operating system finally has solved my Home PC problems for life. We have two computers for the 4 of us at home, finally everything is so easy: managing different users independently with all security (nobody can touch my files or change my settings any more!!, !!YES!!), recognizing home LAN, sharing printers, recognizing new hardware, easy photo albums, excellent with Digital Camera, and best of all, the support from Microsoft... yes, they are finally giving fast and excellent support!!! I'm amazed with Microsoft overall improvement. I bough Windows XP professional a moth ago for one of the computers, I'm so happy now, I'll by the second. It pays the price. Also, I made my 82 year old father buy Win-XP Pro and now I can take control of his computer from my home (or everywhere), and helping or teaching him very easily how to do things. If you have old software that runs on 640x480x256 colors, don't worry it will run, at least almost all of my children's old games, run without problem, some of them didn't used to run on Win98. My advice: End that old daily pain, go for Windows XP Professional!! you don't have to wait.
Rating: Summary: Don't jump on this train ... yet Review: Like many folks, I reluctantly decided to upgrade my OS from Windows 98 SE to XP. This was a difficult decision having passed on ME and 2K for all of the obvious reasons. After two months, I've decided to go back to my old OS. My biggest problem with XP is the lack of compatability with most of the major video card and sound card providers. Anyone with an Intel- or VIA-based motherboard and graphics card using the NVIDIA drivers will tell the horrific tale of the nv4_disp.dll crash, a problem that appears to have no solution, at least not in the near-future. Microsoft's suggestions regarding the problem have been worthless. If you're an avid gamer or someone using 3D-based applications, avoid XP for now.
Rating: Summary: Thanks to all of you! Review: I was considering upgrading to XP until I read the horror stories on this site.....I discounted some of the 5 stars reviews after reading a review about it: "Stopping the fan from making noise"(?) I am one of the fortunate ones in that I didn't buy the software before I checked the reviews. The bad news for most of you is that it's money out the window...hmmmm maybe that's why it's called "Windows".... Again thanks to all of you and better luck with Linux (That's my next step after 98 if things don't get better)....
Rating: Summary: MSXP Undeveloped Review: On a recent computer upgrade, I Purchased Windows XP. My ISP, CD burner,printer and scanner needed to have upgrades and patches to allow them to work.(They still have problems.) The system looks great and within it's self works fine, just don't try to operate something else with it. I'm going back to "98se".
Rating: Summary: Good Operating system - Unscrupulous business practice. Review: OK, I've had XP loaded on my machine now for a few days. So Far I really like it. My PC does boot faster, and even though it takes some getting used to I think it is a better OS than the 9x versions. This Operating System is definitely more stable and is also much more easy on the system resources. If you are considering this software I would recomend it assuming you can get over the hurdles I am about to list. Here are the things I really don't like about this software: 1. Almost nothing I need is compatible. The Installation would not run unless I removed programs that had known compatibility issues, (ie. All of my antivirus and security software) Now that I have XP loaded I have two options. I can go back to my Old OS and normalize everything. Or I can Shell out my life savings on new software that is "XP Approved" Even Office for XP requires an activation code. 2. This OS is very expensive. Once activated you can still upgrade your computer to some degree without having to reactivate. (by a new copy and activation code) But for this Price? You've got to be kidding me! Software this expensive should give a user unlimited use allowing installation on as many machines as are in his or her household without extra cost. Of Course some households qualify for a multi user discount, but from what I hear it's a pretty skimpy discount. 3. Good Wizards and Bad Wizards. Yes, like a good Tolkein novel there are Good Wizards and Bad Wizards, and MS typically has bad ones. When you run the wizards they will do all the work for you, which is good for some people, But I want to know why some things are done the way they are done. The Windows XP Wizards make assumptions that they should not make. If you really know what you are doing, it won't be too difficult to figure out why your network suddenly doesn't work when you enable the ICF (Internet Connection Firewall) feature. Basically this is going to be a very big money pit to any one who decides to upgrade. In an understandable effort to prevent/thwart Piracy, the Software company has taken measures to make sure that everyone has to buy their own copy as well as the upgrades or newer versions of the most commonly used programs in those machines. All in all I am not displeased with the new operating system, But I do not recommend it. It offers flexibility on our desktops but is very inflexible as a continued expenditure. If you buy it you will Pay much more than what the Operating system itself cost. Good luck in your endeavors!
Rating: Summary: I don't want to like it but I do Review: finally a new OS based on a different kernel than the one all versions of Windows (excluding NT and 2000) used since windows 95 kernel was made in 1993. Set up was so darn easy. Although I chose to back up my existing data from my win98se install and format the hard drive with the newer NTFS (NT file system) instead of using FAT32. No problems on install and hardware detection was a breeze. I am currently overseas and using a german made ISDN modem. Previously the installation process was 3 step and painful. I prepared myself for this again, but when I open the Device manager on first boot THERE IT WAS ALREADY. Ok I am impressed. Networking setup was simple and I love being able to have 2 separate user accounts so that my wife can keep her own favorites and I can arrange the desktop as I want and never the twain shall meet. There is a lot of stuff which is just eye candy, but vast improvements too. During times of being idle XP arranges your programs on the disk to make them start faster. Optimizing it is called. After hearing friends' horror stories about installing and using WinME I was thrilled with XP
Rating: Summary: Warning to those with more than 1 PC Review: Windows XP is a fine piece of software and the first really significant upgrade to the Windows system in a very long time. but beware, an individual license is required for EACH AND EVERY computer that you insall plan to Windows XP on. So if you have a laptop and a desktop, you will need TWO copies. If you want to install on your office computer and your computer at home, you will also need two copies. You can try and obtain just an additional license as I did, but for reasons I still don't undertand, the license I purchased didn't work with the media I had. Furthermore, Microsoft's specialists on its product support and actvation lines were not knowledgabe enough about the process to help, so I was ultimately obliged to shell out the extra money for a second boxed copy. And getting a refund for those unusable licenses is not easy. (...)
Rating: Summary: Horror show Review: I am not a computer guru but I am very good at fixing problems on my machine and have been using windows since 95. I did a fresh install of XP home edition on Oct 30th. I still have not been able to get my CD writer to work properly. The burner worked fine with M.E. No matter how much I slow the write speed, the disks are corrupt. It burns the disk but the disk cannot be read (sometimes it can). Doesn't matter if it is data or music. This all happened when I installed XP. I have contacted support, updated the driver, replaced my IDE cable. It just does not work (I replaced the writer, just for fun - no change). Also my DVD player will not read DVD's. I have purchased software to burn CD's and play DVD's that is supposed to work with XP but no luck. I used to have issues about Microsoft's hardcore piracy protection. I like to reformat sometimes. I have read that you have to contact Microsoft and explain why you are installing again. This used to concern me but it has fallen low on the list. Since I have installed XP, my machine is horrible at doing the things XP was supposed to be made for. I have had no luck with any support. I think I am going to bail on it. I am a beaten man...
Rating: Summary: GREAT OS, but not so great price Review: it is a very very good operating system with multi-language support,cool GUI and very stable system. it rarely crashes, and even when i see it crashed, it will tell me what was the problem, for example, it says it is because of the bad graphic driver that cause the system unstability instead of the stupid blue screen that tells nothing but lock the computer. well, it doesn't support some old softwares, but let's face it, when windows 95 comes out, many old dos softwares become incompatible, but now, who cares about them. it is a highly recommended operating system. BUT, a big BUT, the price is... damn crazy,(...) it is crazy to buy 2, 3, or 4 copies just because my family need 4 computers, and each computer needs a license for it, hey microsoft, you dominate the OS market and what you do is RIP OFF your customer, i think OS is just like phone service that needs to be regulated. one star off for it's crazy price with stupid activation.
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