The best Windows operating system yet (Microsoft Windows XP - Home Edition)

Member Name: stuff10

Product:	Microsoft Windows XP - Home Edition
Date:	07/07/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy-to-use, nice Start menu, quite stable

Disadvantages: Not as pretty as Vista, defragging and uninstalling not great

Windows XP is an operating system developed by Microsoft. It was first released in 2001 but has since been succeeded by Windows Vista and the forthcoming Windows 7.

I have experience in using both XP and Vista (my work computer is XP, whilst I have Vista at home) and I can honestly say that I much prefer XP.

When it was first released many people weren't impressed with XP, but I have grown to love it. The changed Start menu makes it easier to load your most-used programs thanks to a handy "pin to start menu" feature which means your favourite programs show-up on a handy list as soon as you click the Start button! Tip: for even faster program loading, give Launchy a try... www.launchy.net ...also reviewed on dooyoo! :)

The Start menu list also contains a link to the new Control Panel which has a different interface to previous versions of Windows, although this can be changed to the classic view with a click of your mouse. The Control Panel allows you to create and manage the different user accounts that can log-on to Windows, as well as giving you control over a whole host of other options.

XP has many built-in tools that allow you to maintain your computer, one of the new ones being System Restore which allows you to restore your computer's settings to an earlier point in time. This is a great feature that can be very handy if/when your machine develops a problem.

XP isn't as bloated as Vista is (look at all the rubbish you get on the Vista desktop), it seems to have fewer updates that you have to install (or maybe that's cos Mircosoft are concentrating on Vista and Windows 7?) and just generally seems to be more reliable - I can't remember the last time I saw the blue screen of death on XP!

On the downside, XP doesn't look quite as flashy as Vista does and it can sometimes take a while to boot-up, although the time will vary from computer to computer. Some of the built-in utilities also aren't as good as they could be - Windows' defragging and uninstalling tools are two that can be better through free downloads.

All-in-all though, it's a pretty nice operating system!

Summary: Better than Vista

Variety of features:
Reliability:
User friendly: