Developer: Microsoft
Release Date: Out Now
Avg. Price: XP Home £159.99, $199.00

Avg. Price: XP Professional £230.99, $299.00

Windows XP, the next in the long line of Microsoft operating systems. After Windows ME, Win XP didn’t have a lot to live up to-anything was an improvement. And as the packaging says, Windows XP is definitely an eXPerience; thank god it’s a good one.

So, the system I’m running my Win XP (home edition) on is an AMD 800mhz Duron processor, with 512mb RAM, and a 40gb hard drive. After installing the essentials, about 4gb has been used. Bear this in mind if you PC is still a little out of date, as Windows XP can be very power hungry and likely to drag a little if you don’t have plenty of RAM. Although my 800mhz processor is old, it doesn’t seem to have a problem with that.

Win XP also comes with a video-editing suite. But it’s rubbish. I wouldn’t advise you use this program, it couldn’t do anything I wanted it to, or anything I had seen other programs do (although I did pay £100 for my other software). It’s free, but that doesn’t mean you have to use it. It seems very rushed and not even for amateurs. Maybe for sending a short video as an email, but nothing more.

People who use Windows Messenger will also be glad to know it’s included pre-installed on Win XP. With a few extra nifty features too. There are three new features to Messenger – application sharing, whiteboard and remote assistance. Application sharing is exactly what it says it is, if you link up to someone else with XP, you can give them the opportunity to share any applications you have open, like word, if they don’t have it. Only one person can use it at a time. Whiteboard is just a bit of fun; draw pictures together, or to each other. Remote assistance is a great feature for someone who’s got a problem, and requires help from someone else. Instead of explaining everything, simply let the person see your screen, or even control it and do it for you if you allow them to. All little extras that aren’t included in the free version available to download.

No more crashing, not with windows XP. If a program crashed on Windows 98, it would crash the whole computer, forcing you to reboot. However, windows XP runs programs separate from each other, meaning if a program crashes, it can be isolated and shut down without affecting the other programs you have open. Saving a lot of hassle if you would otherwise lose work.

The simple games included with XP are basically the same as 98. However, there are now online versions of Backgammon, Checkers, Hearts, Reversi and Spades. When you open these games, it simply finds a random opponent, and you start to play against them. Nice, but it would be better if you could single out a friend using MSN, and challenge them instead of constantly playing against people you don’t know.

 

Windows XP also has just about all the drivers you need for any hardware you might have. This was particularly useful for me as I could just plug in my SoundBlaster live card, my digital camera, my scanner and my printer without installing any drivers at all, making life a lot easier.   Networking is annoying, as if you put a password on one of the other computers in the network to prevent virus’s and hackers spreading, Win XP will not remember this password, meaning you have to type it in each time. I could also not find a way of sharing, but password protecting my drives. Maybe this is because I have the home edition, not the proffesional edition, but Win 98 managed it, why no XP?   Remember the troubles of having about 10 programs open at once, three or four of them being Internet Explorer? The icons on the taskbar would become so small you wouldn’t be able to read them, causing a lot of inconvenience. Microsoft have though of another way around this, as Windows XP is meant for multitasking. If your taskbar becomes full, it groups the programs meaning several Internet Explorer pages only take up the space of one, which is very useful for surfing the internet. However, if this just annoys you it can be turned off.   So apart from having a nice colourful new design (which you can change back to the old Win 98 style if you prefer it that way) those are just about all the new features for Win XP. What do I think? Well, although the value for money is questionable, it’s definitely a good operating system, better than all the other windows I’ve tried. There have been reports of incompatibility issues, but I haven’t had any of those myself. All you need to do is decide, is it time you had a change?

User Friendliness:	9/10
	Makes it very easy for people to use, even those who haven’t ever used a computer.
Value for money:	7/10
	Well, it’s good, but I don’t know if it’s worth all that money they charge for it. It’s likely to be the program you use on your computer the most, so it probably is.
Features:	8/10
	Several handy features that I mentioned above. A great improvement to Windows 98.
Installation:	10/10
	Very easy, just choose the first few settings and it does everything else itself. I did, however, purchase the full installation and not the upgrade, so depending on which you buy it might be different.
Extras:	7/10
	Media Player actually works for me now, that’s got to be worth something. It hasn’t fully crashed once yet.  The online games are also fun to pass the hours. Just a shame the video editor is so rubbish.
Overall : 41/50 A fine operating system. Does the Windows name proud.