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| Value for Money | 7.2/10  |
|---|---|
| Overall rating | 7.3/10 |
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Platforms: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP
Full review by
skiddie2003
expert review 
on 17th Jan 2006
User Rating : 10
Respect :
-1
Good Points: USB plug and play drivers Automatic updates Layout (on Windows XP style) Start Menu (popular programs) Integrated firewall Support for networking Support for CD burning Ability to lock computer or switch users
Bad Points: Cannot connect Windows XP home edition to a domain Windows XP Home edition is limited to 5 users You have to purchase Windows Plus if you want more themes
General comments: Microsoft Windows XP is a reliable operating system when comparing it to Windows 98. In Windows XP there are no blue screens when there are system errors. Also comparing to Windows 98, Windows XP rarely requires a computer reboot (even on a 6 year old computer with Windows XP upgrade).
The Windows update function is useful as it can be programmed to check for updates automatically. The updates provide security patches, and downloads for the hardware on your computer (in some cases).
The Windows XP new style, in my experience, is best viewed on a screen with a 1024 x 768 resolution. Some people may not like the new Windows XP style theme, but it can easily be changed by going into the display properties and changing the settings in the themes or appearance tab. The new Windows XP start menu design is better as it puts the programs that you mainly use on the start of the start menu.
The Windows XP operating system comes with good games such as 'Solitaire' and other games like '3D pinball'.
In Windows Explorer windows such as 'My Computer', and 'My Documents' to your left you have a menu called the 'task pane' which host tasks you want to do such as copying files.
The plug and play drivers integrated into Windows XP are excellent. A device such as a USB flash drive is just plug and play. You plug it into a USB port and within a few seconds it will appear as a drive in 'My Computer'. The plug and play feature in Windows XP is very good, but sometimes Windows XP does not have some USB drivers installed, so therefore the found new hardware wizard keeps flashing up when you are trying to install hardware, and occasionally you get messages such as USB device not recognised.
Depending on how a CD burner is configured, with Windows XP you can drag and drop files that you wish to burn to a CD-R or CD-RW into the CD burner drive folder/letter.
Other tasks such as add/removing programs are much easier as it is presented in a bigger more laid out way than Windows 98.
In Windows XP some of the run commands are different than Windows 98. In windows 98, to view a network assigned IP address it is winipconfig; in Windows XP you type cmd into run to start the command promt, and then when in command prompt you would type ipconfig or ipconfig/all (for a more detailed view). Sometimes in Windows XP I occasionally miss MS DOS. I Sometimes prefer DOS to command promt.
Overall Microsoft Windows XP is a better operating system than Windows 98. Currently my favourite operating system is Microsoft Windows XP, but if I was to ever purchase a operating system I would consider having Microsoft Windows XP Professional rather than Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
skiddie2003's review and ratings | 534 words | 1 comment added.
Review by
OMEGAGODLY
on 11th Dec 2005
User Rating : 10
Respect :
0
I upgraded my computer to Windows XP a while ago, and I am very satisfied. XP has better security, more applications, and you can personalize a lot of different things with this software. I think they should lower the price of this because not everybody can afford a $200 operating system.
OMEGAGODLY's full review | 82 words
Review by
shell1966
on 13th May 2005
User Rating : 5
Respect :
-1
Microsoft Windows XP: I have read that there is no difference between retail and OEM versions, this is not true as with OEM you can't download drivers from the internet, I purchased a laptop from Tiny with no disc, I reformatted with OEM version and couldn't as it kept coming up with errors, I purchased a full retail boxed version and have had no problems since and my laptop performs much better, there is a marked difference between the two.
shell1966's full review | 96 words | 1 comment added.
Review by
borrowed lab monkey
on 3rd Feb 2004
User Rating : 2
Respect :
0
I found on first instaling it that Microsoft Windows XP looked like the Operating System we've been promised by Microsoft since Win 95. After 4 hours of instaling hotfixes, patches and othe security updates (shades of Win98 stability?) i couldnt get my most important pieces of software to load, MS office XP and Norton System Works 2004 Pro. The problem? One of the 60 some patches turned out to be the culprit, though which one im not sure...
after a trip with fdisk and a reinstalation, i got ...
borrowed lab monkey's full review | 216 words
Review by
JBG
on 1st Feb 2004
User Rating : 2
Respect :
0
Microsoft Windows XP has got to be the worst MS OS ever apparently pro version is slightly more stable, im going back to win 2000, you people may have only had XP for a few months, (it seems to get worse the longer it is on your PC i suppose this is because their are more programs on here now that could crash it) alternatively you may just be insane, if it were up to me I would not use a MS OS at all, but I need to run windows programs. DO NOT AQUIRE XP AND FOR GODS SAKE DONT BUY IT.
JBG's full review | 119 words | 1 comment added.
Review by
Mac.
on 23rd Jul 2003
User Rating : 10
Respect :
+2
I have windows XP Pro installed under NTFS. It just has to be the best operating system from Microsoft yet. I cannot beleive how stable the system is. It just wont crash! And even on the rare occasion it does, only the problem application goes, not the whole damn system.
As an ex ME user, I was convinced that Microsoft did not know how to program. But now I have XP, Microsoft seemed to have redeemed themselves.
There is always room for improvement however, I have always belived that operat ...
Mac.'s full review | 231 words
Review by
Sali.
on 20th Dec 2002
User Rating : 9
Respect :
0
Someone above says that his scaner (3 years old doesn't work) well I have 3-4 years old scaner and it works on XP with Win 2000 drivers.
This is the most compatible OS from Microsoft ever. And full of multimedia support, such as digital cameras ...
Sali.'s full review | 67 words
Review by
Don Juan.
on 31st Aug 2002
User Rating : 8
Respect :
+1
My kids were constantly finding ways to throw our PC out of whack, causing crashes and leading to many OS re-installs. Microsoft Windows XP eliminated most of these problems, although my son can still bring things down from time to time. Also, allows for true multiple users so that I don't have to look at my daughters funky wallpaper.
Don Juan.'s full review | 71 words
Review by
Master.
on 4th Apr 2002
User Rating : 9
Respect :
+1
I think Microsoft Windows XP OS is a very good product
Master.'s full review | 17 words | 1 comment added.
Review by
TeriMaMadochod.
on 2nd Apr 2002
User Rating : 9
Respect :
+1
Microsoft Windows XP looks good and never crashes. You can still use DOS and will never have problems using the OS.
TeriMaMadochod.'s full review | 40 words | 1 comment added.
Review by
Chris.
on 14th Mar 2002
User Rating : 6
Respect :
+2
Microsoft Windows XP Operating System is a good addition but still the slowness of windows and .dll files. Why can't Microsoft get rid of .dll files like unix?
Chris.'s full review | 57 words
| Misco | £94.68 |
