Windows XP is an OUTSTANDING operating system. (Microsoft Windows XP - Home Edition)

Name: Spike4874

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Product:	Microsoft Windows XP - Home Edition
Date:	26/10/02 (2837 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Windows XP is easy to install. , Windows XP is more stable than Windows 98 (which is the only other operating system that I have used to compare it to). , Windows XP has a lot of new and advanced features and a a beautiful new futuristic look (interface).

Disadvantages: Microsoft forces you to activate your copy of Windows XP. (For complete information as to why this is a bad thing, read my review). , The outside plastic casing that sealed the Windows XP box was a major struggle to open. I had to use a knife on it to open it, and still it took five minutes to open., If you want to run a lot of software programs on Windows XP, then you will need a lot of memory-(at least 128MB of RAM. Unless you want to be like me and only have a couple of programs in which you can then get by on 64MB of RAM).

I got my computer two years ago which came pre-installed with Windows 98. I was using Windows 98 all that time until two days ago when I finally after all this time updated my operating system to Windows XP. I ordered the full version from Amazon.com for $179.99- (U.S. dollars because I live in the United States)- on Saturday and UPS brought it to me four days later on Wednesday-(talk about great fast service). The reason why I had to get the full version instead of the upgrade version which costs less money is because I DON'T have an actual Windows 98 CD-ROM. Gateway didn't give me a Windows 98 CD-ROM, they just installed it for me on my computer. If I had bought the upgrade version of Windows XP, I would have been required to insert the Windows 98 CD-ROM in the drive at some point during the installation of Windows XP. That is Microsoft's way of verifying that you bought a previous version of Windows and are therefore eligible for their special low price upgrade version.

In other words: if you have an actual CD-ROM of Windows 98, or Windows 2000, or Windows ME, then you will be able to buy their special low price upgrade version of Windows XP for around $100.00

If you DON'T have an actual CD-ROM of a previous version of Windows, you MUST buy the full version of Windows XP for around $200.00. (Of course if you order it from Amazon.com like I did, you can get it for less money).
With the full version of Windows XP, you WON'T have to insert any other CD-ROM in the drive. And you WON'T have to verify that you owned a previous version of Windows.

Now as far as Windows 95 users are concerned, it doesn't matter if you have an actual Windows 95 CD-ROM or not because Microsoft will NOT allow you to upgrade from Windows 95. If you are running Windows 95, you MUST buy the full version of Windows XP no matter what.

Note: Windows 3.1, Any Evaluation Version, Any Server Version, Windows NT Workstation 3.51

, Windows NT Workstation 4.0, and Windows 2000 Professional are also NOT eligible for the special upgrade version.

I have a Gateway computer with a 13.9 GB hard drive and 64MB of RAM. Even though a lot of people recommend installing Windows XP on no less than 128MB of RAM, I took a chance and installed it anyway. An important thing to keep in mind is that Windows 98 crashed on me constantly: my computer would freeze up on me all the time and I kept getting tons of the "blue screens of death".

Right after UPS brought me my Windows XP, I UN-installed my GoBack device from my computer and then I re-formatted my hard drive. Then after my system restore disks auto downloaded and installed the programs that my computer first came with two years ago, I deleted the Norton Anti Virus that my computer came with, and I restarted my computer. Then when my computer came back on, I paused the Microsoft Task Scheduler that was in the right hand side of the system tray and then I put in my Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive.
After it loaded, I clicked on the Install Windows XP button and it prompted me to enter in my Product Key number which can be found on the back of the folder in which the Windows XP CD-ROM is stored. And then I chose to have it do the full install option instead of the upgrade one. Windows XP is super easy to install. I didn't have any problems with it, unlike a lot of other people who tell horror story after horror story about their nightmare trying to install Windows XP. I guess those people just don't know what their doing because I had NO problems with it whatsoever, and I only have a mere two years computer experience. Anybody with half a brain can install Windows XP. Just insert the Windows XP CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive, click on the Install Windows XP button, enter in your Product Key number and then follow the on screen instructions. Really people, it can't get any easier than that. With the full i
nstal
l option, it re-formatted my computer again-(which gave my hard drive a double re-format because I had already re-formatted it beforehand).

Windows XP offers you a choice of using the FAT 32 file system or their new and more stable NTFS file system. I really wanted to use their new NTFS file system but I wasn't able to because I have LESS than a 32 GB hard drive. I had to have it stay with my FAT 32 configuration because the NTFS only works on hard drives that are 32 GB or bigger.

After Windows XP installed on my computer-(which took about an hour)-, it kept bugging me to activate it-(which I will talk more about a bit later on in this review)-, but I refused to do so until I downloaded and installed all of the updates. The first thing that I did was download and install all of the updates through their Windows Updates service. Then after that I downloaded and installed all of the software that I intend to use on my computer. In my case it's only five programs:


* McAfee VirusScan 7 Professional (which is a combination anti virus and firewall).

* Norton Utilities 2002

* PopUpCop (which is an outstanding device that prevents pop up windows. It's built right into the Internet Explorer web browser).

* Fresh Download (which is a free download manager).

* ALZip (which is a free compression utility that opens 30 different file formats).

(I WON'T be installing GoBack on my Windows XP because Windows XP already has a built in feature called, System Restore which does the same thing as GoBack would).

Those are the only extra programs that I have installed. And I don't plan on installing any more because I only have 64MB of RAM which is not really enough for computers running Windows XP.
A lot of people recommend having no less than 128MB for Windows XP, so I am really taking a huge risk by running it on only 64MB.

But so far my computer h
asn't
crashed once since I installed Windows XP two days ago. It hasn't froze once and no "blue screens of death". It's running great. (Of course as soon as I am able to afford it, the next thing that I get will be a lot more RAM for my computer).

After I did all of that, I activated my Windows XP.

Speaking of activation, this is the only thing about Windows XP that I don't like. This is a NEW policy that Microsoft uses in order for them to crack down on "piracy". In other words, Microsoft hates the fact that in the past people would share their Windows operating system CD-ROM with other people. Bill Gates didn't like it when people shared their Windows CD-ROM because that meant less money for him. (If people shared their Windows CD-ROM, not everybody would have to buy their own copy. Which further meant taking a couple scraps of food out of Bill Gate's hungry mouth. Not that it would have mattered considering how much money he already has, but we all know how greedy Bill Gates is).
So he came up with this new anti-"piracy" feature for Windows XP that forces everybody to "activate" their copy of windows XP within 30 days. And if you DON'T activate your copy of Windows XP after your 30 days are up, you will NOT be able to use your computer at all.-(the ONLY thing that will function is the activate feature).

What this activate feature does is when you give it the go ahead to activate your copy of Windows XP, it will scan your computer and it will pick certain drivers that your computer has and it will register itself to those drivers. And if later you should change-(upgrade/update) five of them, Windows XP will stop working and you will then have to get permisson from Microsoft to use your Windows XP again after you explained why you changed some of your drivers. You will have to get a new serial number from them-(Microsoft)-to re-activate your Windows XP.


This is a
terrible, terrible thing for them to do to people and I really hope that the government forces them to get rid of that activation nonsense. (Although I really doubt that the government is going to do anything about it).

But aside from that, Windows XP is FANTASTIC. Windows XP is stable and fast-(at least it is on my computer anyway).
And as I said before I have been running Windows XP for two days now, and I have NOT had one single computer crash.

Windows XP has a bunch of new features and a brand new look (interface). In fact I still haven't discovered about 99 percent of the new stuff yet. It will take me a while to get familiar with the new features and interface.
But I will say this, the new interface is a zillion times better than Windows 98. It is far more advanced, better looking and with a beautiful futuristic look to it. (As if we were in the year 3002 instead of 2002. I never had Windows NT, 2000, or ME so I can't compare XP to any of them).

I just can't say enough good things about Windows XP. I highly recommend you buy a copy and use it as your operating system. It's great, fast and stable. It has a bunch of new and advanced features with a beautiful new look (interface).

It's also a good and wise investment because you won't have to worry about not finding software for Windows XP because it is new and still under development. Whereas Windows 95 on the other hand for example is already ancient history. A lot of software manufacturers have STOPPED making new versions of their software-(as well as software in general)-for Windows 95.
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Pros:
-----
* Windows XP is easy to install.

* Windows XP is more stable than Windows 98 (which is the only other operating system that I have used to compare it to).

* Windows XP has a lot of new and advanced features.

* Wind
ows XP has a beautif
ul new futuristic look (interface).

* Software will still be available for Windows XP for a long time to come.

* Windows XP has a built in System Restore feature that you can use if you make a major mistake that you are not able to fix. System Restore will let you go back to a time when your computer worked perfect.

Cons:
-----

* Microsoft forces you to activate your copy of Windows XP. (For complete information as to why this is a bad thing, read my review).

* The outside plastic casing that sealed the Windows XP box was a major struggle to open. I had to use a knife on it to open it, and still it took five minutes to open. (The knife really wasn't able to break through it. That's how strong the outside plastic casing is).

* If you want to run a lot of software programs on Windows XP, then you will need a lot of memory-(at least 128MB of RAM. Unless you want to be like me and only have a couple of programs in which you can then get by on 64MB of RAM).
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Special Note for those of you who live in the UK: If you order the full version of Windows XP Home Edition from Amazon.co.uk, it is 159.99 (UK currency)

United States currency is $ 179.99 if you order it from the United States version of Amazon.com

Summary: