Rating: Summary: None for me, thanks. Review: I upgraded to XP from Windows 98. Thereafter, the system regularly got hung up performing even the simplest of tasks (didn't know checking email could be so difficult!) Like other reviewers have noted with their experiences, a lot of my peripherals didn't work anymore. Becoming increasingly disgruntled with the XP package, I have since gone back to a fresh install of Windows 98, and am much happier with that. At least it works most of the time. My computer is more than equal to the task of running XP, but XP is nothing but trouble. Also not happy with having to call Microsoft every time I want to change hardware in the machine. I fix computers and like to change parts frequently. Didn't enjoy the once-over I got, for instance, when I upgraded my hard drive. Ridiculous. Why bother upgrading to something that is going to give you a headache? Latest doesn't equal greatest, and this is a perfect example. Rock solid this is not. Better than Millennium Edition but that's not saying anything.
Rating: Summary: Windows 2000 is better Review: Even though Windows XP has an annoying soccermomish look to it, it does have some nice "under-the-hood" features that power users and developers will like: specifically multiple simultaneous logins (ahem... finally 1970's technology arrives at Microsoft) and permissions for registry keys. That said, the "creamy" GUI just remind me how Windows XP is a sad attempt to duplicate the OS X experience, though nowhere near as satisfying. Good news? You can turn it off and enjoy classic 2000ish look. Bad news? If you disable the annoying "clickable" login screen, you no longer get multiple login ("switch user") ability. Multimedia-wise, XP seems to be more tolerant towards mm devices, much more so than 2000. It is perhaps for this reason that it will often crash, for the stupidest reasons (for me, it does so when I insert any audio CD and try to have Winamp play it). In general, it seems rather intolerant towards anything not manufactured in the last 2-3 years (sorry!) I'm glad I still have my copy of Windows 2000 around (still the best version of Windows). I've yet to see an OS that recovers from crashes more gracefully, or gives the user more control. However, if you want a Mac OS X throwback (I like OS X, but dislike Apple's tendency to automatically assume all users are blithering idiots), go with XP. At least it looks nice. If "creamy" GUI is your bag.
Rating: Summary: The best new operating system from Micrososoft yet! Review: I bought the Windows XP Pro upgrade and was very satisfied with the results. It has allowed me to get the most from my time on the computer. It was able to remove the clutter from the desktop, hasn't frozen for 4 months now, it has ten times more useful features and built in add-ins then windows 98 and previous versions of windows did. It is easier than ever to set up a network and integrate more hardware into the system. It is also much easier to fix you system after a large error. For example, you can restore all of you files and setting using system restore. Also Windows XP allows different progrmas to run in separate memory, so if one program freezes it doesn't crash the whole computer. Also if you are in a network you can connect to your computer using the remote desktop feature of windows xp. Remote desktop allows you to take over the desktop of a different computer and acces all of the files just like you were sitting at that computer's monitor yourself. It also is a lot more secure. Windows XP Pro gives you the ability to encript your files and folders, it also comes with enhanced internet virus software and a firewall. Combined with Office XP it creates a state of the art computer for your use. I highly recomend people to upgrade to Windows XP Pro.
Rating: Summary: Not for the avid gamer... Review: Lets just keep it simple: Still alot of bugs. XP is built for the "little people" of the world. It is not built for games, simply because games were not designed for XP (think about it...), thus, only the newer of games will have any XP internal-functionality. This has been worked around somewhat by the introduction of patches and the such for certain games, but it still IS NOT the OS for games earlier than 2000.Other than that, it has a catchy look and a knack at making any non-techy go "ewww... pretty!". The reason I don't rate this high: You can't install it very many times without having to go through b.s. with MS. Its basically has a built in anti-copyright system that requires online activation, which gives me a slight scare considering such a process is right on the edge of my right to privacy, and I'm not too wild about such a thing AT ALL.
Rating: Summary: not perfect but better than win 98 Review: I have Windows XP UPGRADE on my computer for about 3 months now and am very impressed. Some words of advice though,it doesn't seem very stable if you have win 98 installed,mine crashed terribly into a totally unrecoverable mess.I wiped my main harddrive and did a clean install of 98 then installed XP Upgrade,another horrible crash.After three failed installs I did a bit of research and then called Microsoft support,do yourself a favor and call the free support (it's a toll call but not very long) instead of calling 1 800 number where they charge [money] for same info. Best is to reformat harddrive and do clean install,go into Bios and make the cd drive the boot drive install will start and ask for Windows 98 or Win me disc,then will proceed with install.I went with NTFS ,you have a choice FAT 32 or NTFS, FAT 32 is same file system as 98 and I believe Me too,NTFS is more stable but that's a decision you should make. All in all it's a great system,great but not perfect,if you have older hardware like joysticks,(my Microsoft Sidewinder Forcefeedback Pro was unsupported)and make sure you download the current drivers for your hard ware. Take your time,it's a great operating system.
Rating: Summary: Not Worth The Upgrade Review: While Windows Xp is pretty to look at, the problems that came with it has made me regret buying it. First of all is the registration. I can hardly stand getting on my computer anymore due to all the registering, passwords, tweaking, pop up adds, ect. Secondly, out of 10 programs that I tried to load, three failed. Resident Evil 3 locks up, I could not install my scanner software, and a very important language program. All of these worked on 98, absolutely no problems. If this is your first computer, get Xp, but do not upgrade.
Rating: Summary: Easy to set up! Review: I was waiting a while to order this from Amazon.com, but when I saw the rebate offer, I bought it right away. Why did I wait! I love the new look of Windows. Everything seems to be more seamlessly integrated. It was so easy to set up, a couple of software configuration problems but... I've always hated the "power and dominance of Microsoft." But XP makes your computer run so much better, better file management, better media play, much more stable (havent crashed it since!) If you have bought a new computer recently but before XP came out, please buy this. If you like to have the best of the best, like to be organized, and use your computer often, this is a no-brainer buy.
Rating: Summary: XP Pro [is not good] Review: The reasons i bought it was that it supports dual processors and WMP8. A wrong choice on my part. I can no longer can copy CDs to my harddrive, i get an error message every time i put in a CD. i've reformatted and reinstalled XP Pro about 3 times so far and within a week WMP acts up again, restarting the computer and not able to copy a CD........and the peoples at microsoft have not answered my email, and another thing; what good is that error reporting, i mean it reports the error and then what....are they [microsoft] planning to fix the problem or what....
Rating: Summary: Not compatible for PC gamers¿ computers Review: If you play computer games like me, don't get this operating system. This new Microsoft OS causes a lot of bugs to a bunch of old PC games and "addons" and "mods" that gamers make for their PC games. Maybe it's because some PC games are old and Windows XP is new. But stick with an older OS like Windows 98 if you intend to use your computer for PC games only. I never had any problems with some of my PC games in my old computer, which had Windows 98. Now I do with Windows XP when I bought a new computer.
Rating: Summary: XP - where are you upgrading from today? Review: If you have the hardware for it, Windows XP is definitely recommended for users who want a stable operating system. I wouldn't go so far so as to say that it's crashproof, but only three crashes in seven months is a passing grade in my book at any rate. The new look is neat and a very nice variation on the classic Windows theme. XP screams "multimedia". The Media Player may not be my first choice, and neither are the CD-burning tools, but they should be able to satisfy the average home user. XP would have been a five-star program were it not for the fact that it is a little unaccommodating on the software side. I had to buy new versions of my Norton applications since XP refused to run the 2001 versions. Someone contemplating an upgrade should keep this in mind as a potential additional upgrade cost. Windows XP may not be enough of an improvement over Windows 2000 except on the multimedia side, but it solved all of the reliability problems that I had with the Millenium version. I'm very pleased with its stability, and I would recommend it to any 98 or Me user with a reasonably potent computer.
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