Honest Opinions of Win XP

[DVader]

After using Beta 2 and RC1 as well as several current versions of Linux, I think WinXP will be great for Home users but a bad choice for Business/Corporate users who are running Win2000.

After having looked it over, I feel WinXP can be described as The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The Good: Home users of Win9x/ME will finally get the WinNT/2000 Kernel. This stability will greatly benift home users who are struggling with Windows ME(I personally find it satisfatory, yet quirky).

The Bad: This one will mostly be the thorn in Corporate Techs side, I am one myself. Windows XP doesn't let you choose what does and doesn't get installed. All the installs I've went through, Windows XP doesn't even give me the option of a custom install. Business users will get an MPE/Video Player (Windows Media Player) and several games on the start menu by default. Sure you can remove them from the menu, but a search of the hard disk will bring them up again. You could comb the hard disk and erase the files, but what a relief it would be if they were not ther in the first place. If someone knows a workaround for this please share the information with us. I don't mind Microsoft including their other products with their OS, but forcing them to be installed, in my opinion, is what make the anti-trust/monopoly suit seem very legitamate.

The Ugly: Microsoft Product Activation, need I say more. A article I read on another site is absolutily correct in saying "It's like having to be frisked every time you leave a department store." And the fact that if I upgrade my computer, could make me need to reactivate my product is outragious!
Fortunatly, the cracks I have found seem to work and I don't think this will be a issue when the final version is released.
Quote: "What one man can invent another can discover." -Sherlock Holmes, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Adventure III

All in all, I love the interface, compatability and improved ease of use. However forcing the people who use it to jump through Microsofts hoops is where it goes awry.

If my Linux Mandrake 8.0 would support more apps/games and devices, I'd switch to it in a heartbeat. Don't get me wrong, It has come a long way, but unfortunatly, Microsoft still holds the ball as the desktop OS. So, to all you Linux developers out there, keep up the good work. People are going to be looking for other alternatives then a Microsoft OS, and I feel that your effort with most certianly not be in vain.

Sorry about the long rant, but I feel that I needed to state my mind.

[HIESLanMan]

Okay, I haven't actually tried this on XP, so I may be way out of line. But I suspect that you can customize the installation to a great degree. I think that you probably have to use answer files to do it, though. This makes a lot of sense, since the techies who are going to be doing a lot of installs (and therefore probably have a good grasp of what they're doing) will be doing unattended installs anyway. By not putting a lot of options in the default install, you remove a big opportunity for people to get confused or screw something up. Of course, this doesn't do much for the people who know what they are doing, but only need to do a couple of installs, but maybe MS figures they're in the minority. Personally, I think it will do just fine in a business environment, although I don't see a compelling reason to move away from W2K.

[DVader]

I thought about the answer file for an unattended install too. Guess we won't know if it can be done until it is released. However if the articles I've been reading about how Microsoft wants computer suppliers(Dell, Compaq, Gateway, ....ect) to handle Win XP icons on the start menu and desktop is any indication, I tend to think even the answer file will not allow a selection, however this is purely speculation.

Ironically, after putting in the CDkey, checking the time and time zone, and network settings, Win XP is a pretty unattended install as it is without an answer file.

[Budster64]

hmmm good review Dvader.
I agree about the product activation, I also agree that for those companies that currently use W2K there really is not alot of incentive to spend loads of money upgrading their workstations to XP. The only good thing is that, insofar as Corp upgrades, I am in the same boat as you I think, those with EMOLP or involved in any of the corporate licensing programs will receive discs that have product activation disabled.
I am sure there is some way of making a tailor-made install like you can for W2K I just haven't researched it yet.

[habib1982]

The only advantage to Windows XP over W2K is program compatablilty! That is an advantage for Home Users but not really to businesses.

[Daemon]

I liked XP id run it its fast but not that stable I had it crash and blue screen 5 times in 1 week on me. The one major thing why I will not go to it. Is the Activation thing F'that. So ill stick with Windows 98 and 2000 Pro for another 3-4 years

[Windowscrash]

OK, The truth comes out

I stuck Win XP RC-1 on my old Packard Hell 233mhz with 160mb ram and 4gig hard disk and it's still running pretty good!!!

The software compatibility is Very Good, as I have yet to come across a program that dosen't like XP

The only thing that is wrong, in my opinion, is the Software Activation. Why the hell do Microsoft spend even more time trying to prevent software privacy when somebody will find a way to bypass this, just like DVader said.

[techs]

Surprisingly fast. Faster than win2k. So far ZoneAlarm won't run because Windows detected an incompatiblily and disabled it. Norton antivirus warned me it would not work so I didn't install it. Netscape 4.78 browser works fine, did not try the mail.
The default user interface is too different from win9x. You can change it to look like previous versions though.
btw the user interface reminds me of saturday moring cartoons. Get'em while they are young Microsoft.
I like the lack of reboot after installing programs.
IMHO Microsoft will push winxp like no other os they have made. EVERYTHING will be designed ONLY for xp so you have to upgrade and they can get the registration thing universal. From my point of view thats not too bad though. No more arguments with customers over why I won't put unlicensed software on their computer.

[pcejim@dol.net]

I really like XP. Roxio 5.0 doesn't work correctly, but Nero works fine. McAffee doesn't either, and I refuse to use Norton. Have to do Virus scanninbg from another PC on my network at the moment. That's a pain. I like the interface. For sucha drastic change, it was really easy to become accustomed to. Very intuitive. Also, ATI TV Wonder works, but is quirky. Drivers will be out soon according to ATI tech support.

[JungleMan1]

I'm not upgrading to XP, Why because i already have win2000.

I'd recommend it in a flash to my Dell using friend running Windows ME, but it's quite unnecessary for anyone running 2000 already.

All the bugs (nero doesn't work, etc) will soon be resolved..

Anyone running a computer 500mhz or more should run it fine with the skins disabled, once you get over 800mhz the skins shouldn't really drag u down that much

Below that...err get a new computer er somethin

[Wildman6971]

I upgraded my Win ME (that works fine) to XP and it was disasterous. Ending up having to reformat to get machine back to functioning properly.

On a clean install it was much better, but other third party software has to catch to it first.

Wasn't able to use several of my important programs.

[DVader]

Nice to see other peoples experiences finally.

I must confess, I just got through installing it on an older Toshiba laptop (AMD-K6 333Mhz, 96 megs RAM, 2.8 GIG partion) and other than the long bootup, it runs better and faster than Windows 98SE on the other partion on it. Cleartype is beautiful on the LCD screen and it had drivers for all the proprietary hardware and even a PC Card Ethernet adapter.

It seems to be a good, stable, compatable, OS and I love it colorful interface. I also appreciate the driver support. I've not had to install one single driver yet, so far every piece of hardware on four remarkably different machines has been detected and installed correctly the first time around.

The only things disappointing is the lack of installation control, and the product activation.
I wonder how much Microsoft will charge for this OS when it ships?

Tony

[WindBlowzXP Professional]

Ive already tried XP, but ... I hate their selection about the color blue ... seems too strong in the eyes, and ... too MANY NOTIFICATIONS!!! i hate it ... but i love the performance.. the speed!

[cabal]

I am using Xp RC1 on a Athlon 650 with 256 megs and it is quite fast and stable. The only problem I am having is geting my ATI Raddeon 64 drivers to work, they crash anytime i try to us anything but the default drivers on the XP cd. I will have to wait till ATI releases drivers for XP I guess.

[WindBlowzXP Professional]

[quote]Originally posted by Cabal:
<strong>I am using Xp RC1 on a Athlon 650 with 256 megs and it is quite fast and stable. The only problem I am having is geting my ATI Raddeon 64 drivers to work, they crash anytime i try to us anything but the default drivers on the XP cd. I will have to wait till ATI releases drivers for XP I guess.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Hmm.. try Windows 2000 drivers ... i am using NVIDIA and Windows XP have drivers for it and i install NVIDIA Drivers for Windows 2000, it WORKS!