A Total Make-Over To Other Windows (Microsoft Windows XP (Whistler))

Member Name: raffi257

Product:	Microsoft Windows XP (Whistler)
Date:	25/12/01 (188 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast Loading

Disadvantages: Quite Costly

The long awaited Windows XP finally came, but was it really worth the excitement?
Well, Windows XP now looks totally different to any other Windows and it also doesn't even seem like you are using 'Windows'.
At least anyway all Windows programs run much better on XP and it contains many extra and useful features, such as stuff to do more with digital video and audio work, and also the ability to make multiple networking much easier. There are so many changes made to Windows that its quite hard to state all of them, I would have to go through a very long list!
One feature that I did like was the driver protection which blocks other drivers which are causing stability problems with the computer. These are usually thrid-party drivers. The reliability of XP is basically the same as Windows 2000 from my opinion, but it is a lot better than Windows ME. Another feature that I liked in Windows XP is the compatibility mode which checks to see if a program is compatible with Windows XP. Its a very clever utility as it also keeps your computer away from future problems. Windows XP also features the Sytem Restore utility which was first built into Windows ME, and has now come onto XP. This is a tool which can keep your computer up and running if anything nasty goes wrong with it, and along with this utility comes many more of similar utilities.
But some bad things that I heard from Microsoft is that they plan to release downloads to make Windows XP Bluetooth wireless networking and USB 2.0 compatible. Its a shame that this was not already introduced with Windows XP when it went on sale, but as long as you can download the patches, then that should be alright. Its the same thing with two other programs, Windows Media Player 8 and Internet Explorer 6. For Windows Media Player 8, it still does not have the capability of encoding MP3's which is a shame, but yet again! there is the capability of downloading a patch to allow MP3 encoding. And as for I
nternet Explorer 6, it does not include Java Virtual Machine......which yes you guessed, it has to be downloaded!!!
Microsoft seem to rely a lot on users downloading patches and extras. I mean say if someone did not have the internet or had a really slow connection, what would they do then! They would just have to cope without the additional downloads.
When booting up the the computer with XP installed, it may or may not have a Welcome Screen depending on how the computer is configured, but it looks fantastic and made in Flash gives it an excellent look. Its worth having it on. Another thing when you boot your computer is that the desktop features no icons, not even the My Computer icon. I have to say that this did ennoy me because I found it hard to add the icons back onto my desktop, but I eventually got to do it. The Start button has changed into a big green one. You can change the whole look of Windows XP by making it into 'Classic' view. This changes the entire look of Windows XP to the Windows 2000 look. This is excellent as it is exactly like swopping between two operating systems whenever you want.
When you first put the Windows XP CD in your drive, it presents you with a choice of three options. Install Windows XP, Perform additional tasks, or Check system compatibility.
Once you boot XP, there is a limit of 30 days in which you have to activate XP either through the internet or through telephone. The activation is a way to block piracy. The serial is a huge 50 digit one. Once you have successfully activated XP you can't make more than five major changes to the hardware configuration without reactivating. The clock for the activation is reset every 120 days and you can make the extra hardware configurations. Whenever you reformat the hard drive or replace it, then you will always have to reactivate XP.
To install XP you need to have a computer with at least 300 MHZ clock speed, 128MB of RAM and 1.5GB of hard drive space.

The only thing I can say is that if you are already running Windows 2000, then there is no need to upgrade to XP. However if you're using any other operating system, then upgrade NOW! :) because it will make your computer feel like its had a makeover!

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