Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition: An OS So Nice, Even I am Surprised!
Written: Jun 06 '03 (Updated Dec 09 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Noticeable speed improvements. Stable, intuitive, reliable.
Cons: Has stringent system requirements. Not always suitable for an older computer.
The Bottom Line: I was pleasantly surprised, astonished even, by how well XP installed and performed on our old home computer.
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| mrs-j's Full Review: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (N09-00048) For ... |
I've owned a lot of computers in my time. A LOT. I've had computers of every variety. UNIX workstations, old DOS PCs, Macs and yes, every flavor of Windows that has ever come out. My husband is the exact opposite. He knows Windows and he only knows Windows. And he's never been very fond of computers as a whole. He considers them a tool and nothing more. For him, they certainly aren't for fun.
Last year I decided I was through with Windows. I had a copy of Windows 98 running on my PC at home and I was getting the famous Blue Screen of Death at least once a day. When the OS would BSoD on me every time I inserted a CD I decided to kick out the computer for good.
I took the plunge and I bought an iMac. I gave the almost dead computer to my husband for his home office.
While I loved my iMac I found there were still programs that were Windows-only that I wanted to run. And my husband's complaints about the Blue Screens from his hand-me-down computer ("I'm not dead yet!" - Mrs-J's computer) grew increasingly louder after he decided to put Quicken on it and run our household finances from the almost-dead computer. (Why one would put our financial records in the silicon-coated hands of a nearly-dead Win98 box is beyond me.)
So I took the plunge. I paid $90 for a sealed OEM copy of Windows XP Home Edition (Full Version) on eBay. While my husband was away on business I backed up our Quicken, reformatted the drive with the Windows XP CD and went on my merry way installing the software.
Installation
Installation of the OS was a snap. I set up my BIOS to read the CD-ROM drive first and popped in the CD. In moments Windows XP was checking out my requirements and ready to go. Fortunately, I'm the kind of woman who "overbuilds" my computers so my 4 year old computer had plenty of RAM, hard disk space and processor power to run XP. It will not run on slower computers. You need to make sure you have 128MB of RAM (minimum) and I'd recommend a PIII or later before you even consider XP.
The installation was complete in nearly an hour. I caught up on watching "The Daily Show" on the TiVo and had a few beers, barely paying attention to the computer by my side as it chugged away.
Configuration
Configuring the computer once it is set up is also just as stunningly simple. In addition to the default user account I created a second admin account for my husband and I was ready to go.
Configuring our wireless USB network adapter took a little more time. A small snag occurred when I realized that I could not enter in the password for our 128-bit WEP encrypted wireless LAN in plain text. I had to go to the wireless router and copy down the 26 character ASCII version of the key and then painstakingly type it into the wireless configuration window before my computer saw the wireless network. Once that was done however, I was up on the Internet! Total time from logging into my account and being on the Internet using the wireless adapter was about five to eight minutes.
Usability
The big improvement on this OS is its usability. The user experience has become much more intuitive, although if you're like me you may find it a little weird at first. Those of us who find the "dumbed down" user interface annoying can also switch back to a Windows Classic interface very easily. I, however, like not feeling like I'm on a Windows system of yore, so I have stuck with the new interface.
Sharing folders is as simple as it ever was. Burning items to a CD-ROM is seamless now. You just right-click on the item and copy it to your CD and it burns, all without third party software!
It might just be me, but it feels like everything is just snappier! I currently only have 128MB of RAM and while I'm planning an upgrade to 512MB, that's only because memory is so cheap. All of the applications on my XP box seem to run quicker than any of the same applications did under Windows 98. Internet Explorer is noticeably more responsive. And Quicken 2003 installed beautifully, imported our financial data, and was ready to go in an instant.
Other Impressions
Windows XP is pretty much good to go right out of the box with a few minor tweaks. One thing I would recommend is that you update all of the latest service packs and security updates as soon as you install the software and that you stay on a regular update schedule. Windows is still the most exploited OS out there and will continue to be so as long as it is so popular and widely-used. If you're on a cable modem, have a firewall between your computer and the modem, to thwart any malicious attacks.
Summary
If you have a computer with the horsepower to hold it, XP is a definite improvement over other versions of Windows. So far our XP box has been up and stable for about 12 days now, with no faults, no errors and best of all, no Blue Screens of Death.
My husband loved his surprise when he came home and was especially impressed by the fast user switching (enabled also by the Logitech keyboard I bought that allows you to switch users with the touch of just one button). I had tweaked the computer to put a photo of his dog and my cat next to our respective usernames, another touch he enjoyed even more.
I think most telling, however, is that he has not left his computer in days without being dragged away from it. Previously he would get on my case for sitting in front of my iMac too long. Now when I want to know where he is, I simply go to his office and tell him to get out from behind his new computer. He's never been very "into" computers but in the past couple of weeks he has suddenly discovered AIM, the joys of maintaining an MP3 collection and creating a slew of new playlists, and he's beginning to eye the digital camera and mumbling something about "organizing all of those **** photos we have".
I'm an XP widow, but I guess I can't complain since it's my own doing. One thing's for certain, he really looks forward to doing all of the household finances on his spiffy new computer.
Recommended:
Yes
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"Man was made for something better than disturbing dirt." - Oscar Wilde
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