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Features:
- Designed for businesses
of all sizes
Manage digital pictures, music, video, DVDs, and more
- More security with
the ability to encrypt files and folders
- Built-in voice, video,
and instant messaging support
- Integration with Windows
servers and management solutions
Product
Description
Windows XP is the operating system release that unifies
the Microsoft range, with all the desktop versions now
built on the NT/2000 code base rather than the shakier
foundation of Windows 95, 98, and Me. That makes XP
a great upgrade for users of the now-obsolete 9x and
Me line, but for those already on Windows 2000 Professional
it is a closer call. Despite the similar name, there
is no special synergy between Windows XP and Office
XP, which works fine on Windows 2000.
XP certainly looks different,
with rounded window corners, larger and more detailed
icons, and a clean-look desktop that on first installation
shows only the taskbar and Recycle Bin. XP is also more
customizable than earlier versions of Windows, and includes
visual themes that let you change the whole appearance
of Windows in an instant. That is the window-dressing,
but underneath are some significant improvements. One
of the most interesting is Remote Desktop. A standard
XP feature, this uses technology from Microsoft Terminal
Server to enable users to access their computer over
any connection; for example, by dialing into the office
from home. This is not just file access--this technology
lets you run applications remotely as if you were sitting
at your desk at work. This is mature technology, stable
and carefully thought out. So, for example, you can
print from a remote word processor to a local printer.
A variation on the theme is Remote Assistance, where
the user can allow a remote helper to view their desktop,
or optionally gain control of the keyboard and mouse,
in order to troubleshoot a problem. The feature can
also be disabled to ease security concerns.
Laptop users benefit
from enhanced power management, with options to extend
battery life by reducing CPU speed and display brightness.
IrDA support has been fixed so that, unlike Windows
2000, Windows XP can easily use modems in mobile telephones
via infrared. A new screen font, ClearType, improves
legibility for laptop or other flat screens, and there
is built-in support for wireless networking using the
popular 802.11 standard. A great feature of XP, also
found in Windows 2000, is the ability to synchronize
network files with offline copies. Previously, these
files could not be stored securely, but now they can
be encrypted.
For Web browsing, XP
comes with Internet Explorer 6.0. The enhancements in
IE 6.0 are mainly of interest to Web developers, and
in any case Microsoft makes IE freely available to all
Windows users. Although Java is not installed by default,
it is not difficult to download a Java Virtual Machine
(JVM). Windows Messenger, originally a chat client,
has evolved into a collaboration tool that allows for
video conferencing and application sharing.
The most significant
new feature for Internet users is the built-in firewall.
A firewall protects against one of the most disturbing
security risks, in which other users unknown to you
might connect to your computer while it is online, reading
private files or causing other damage. XP's built-in
firewall is a simple affair, but it does prevent most
types of unauthorized connection.
Windows XP has strong
multimedia features. The new Media Player lets you copy
music from CD to hard disk, create your own playlist,
and write your own music CDs if you have a CD writer.
Although there is loss of quality as a result of compression,
the process is easy and convenient. Media Player 8.0
can play back DVD video, but only if a hardware or software
DVD decoder is already installed. You can also play
MP3 audio files and MPEG videos, but sadly, not the
popular RealMedia formats. In the end, Media Player
does nothing that you cannot also do with free alternatives,
but it is slick and nicely integrated.
The XP user interface
is not a radical departure from earlier versions of
Windows, but there are a number of small changes that
together add up to a significant improvement. The Start
menu now automatically features the most frequently
used programs at the top of the list, and you can add
and remove shortcuts by right-clicking the icon and
selecting Pin or Unpin from the pop-up menu. Windows
online help is integrated into a Help and Support Center
that works like an internal Web site, with searchable
help, tutorials, and walk-throughs.
Windows XP Professional
includes all the features of Windows XP Home, and adds
support for dual processors, encryptable file systems,
offline folders, the Remote Desktop as described above,
and extra administration features that come into play
when connected to a Windows server domain. XP is demanding
on hardware, and it would be a mistake to install it
on less than Microsoft's recommended minimum requirements.
There is also activation to consider, a mildly annoying
anti-piracy measure that requires you to obtain a code
from Microsoft for full installation, and in the future
if you reinstall or make major system changes.
Overall, it's a big step
forward for those coming from Windows 9x or Me, and
attractive rather than compelling as an upgrade from
2000. --Tim Anderson
Product Description
Designed for reliability, security and privacy, high
performance, and ease of use, the Windows XP operating
system provides a host of benefits forbusiness and home
users. A clean and simple desktop, rock-solidreliability,
and easy-to-use features that take advantage of the
digitalage all contribute to the value of Windows XP.
Enhancements in real-time
voice, video, and data communications will allowthe
PC to become a center of communications and creativity
beyond juste-mail and instant messaging. Windows XP
will also allow the user toconnect back to the desktop
from any location, and support for new wirelessnetworks
will be built in. Windows XP will unify the user's supportexperience
by enabling the user to provide temporary and secure
control oftheir PC over the Internet to whomever can
best help them.
Windows XP takes an end-to-end
approach to how people transfer videos andpictures onto
their computer, how they use them on their PC and otherdevices,
and how they share them, whether in person or through
e-mail, over the Web, or through removable media like
DVDs and CDs. It extends this experience through applications
that help users buy music and videos, mobile devices,
services for saving your music on the Internet, and
more. Windows XP will make it easier for households
to share a single PC and share pictures, music, files,printers,
and other resources.
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Linux,
Mac
OS, Unix,
Windows XP / 95 / Me / 2000 / NT / 98