Windows XP: Running XP

During the first boot, you will be prompt to activate Windows.  It's really up to you if you want to activate in a few days time or immediately. 

User Interface
The first thing you will notice is the new taskbar.

The Start Menu is a another new item:

Notice that the start menu is twice the size of the original.  If you don't like this new menu, then you can switch back to the original menu.  Also, I've changed the color scheme to silver rather than the default blue - there is also olive green.  The new Start menu is quite customizable, allowing you to manually place frequently used programs on the menu.  Frequently used programs will also be automatically placed in the menu by Windows.  The new Start menu may take some time to adjust, however once you get the hang of it, you will not look back to the old menu.

The whole desktop can be clutter free - meaning no icons.  However, you may find that not useful.  ClearType is another new feature in XP, providing a clear text on CRT or LCD monitors.

Internet
Internet Explorer 6 is bundled with XP, including Outlook Express 6.  Though both programs offer nothing new compared to the Win2k and Win9x versions, they still offer the best web page loading.  Windows Messenger 4 also comes with XP.  You will need to download version 4.5 which has new features such as .Net alerts.  MSN Explorer 6.1 is also included with XP, Version 7 is also available for download.  In terms of the firewall, the firewall works well for incoming data and not outgoing data, meaning trojan horses are not immune in XP.  The firewall passed with flying colors on online tests found at www.grc.com.   If you are looking for a more complete firewall that can block outgoing traffic, then ZoneLabs' ZoneAlarm, Norton Personal Firewall 2002 and Norton Internet Security 2002 work well with XP.

As for broadband connections, PPPoE is supported and well integrated with XP.  This means that Sympatico or DSL users that require a PPPoE program do not need one anymore.  As for cable users who use DHCP - it will work like a charm.

Multimedia
Windows Media 8 is included with XP.  With a slick new interface, WMP 8 is like a Swiss Army knife - allowing you to rip audio CDs in WMA formats, play video files and play music files.  DVD playback is not available out of the box.  In another words, even if you have a DVD drive you can't play any DVDs until you purchase add-on packs at $9.95 US, which would integrate with WMP.  However, some software decoder products are already XP compatible such as WinDVD 2000 version 2.3 and PowerDVD version 3.  MP3 playback is supported within WMP, however MP3 encoding is not.  Again, you can purchase an add-on pack to allow this feature.

New to XP is CD burning - as long as your CD burner is supported.  You can simply drag and drop the files into the CD-RW drive and it will actually copy these files to a temporary location.  Once you have completed the CD, you can start the burning process.  However, don't expect to have the advanced features such as ISO burning or DirectCD capablities.

Windows Movie Maker offers a limited video editing experience with its simple user interface.  Don't expect a full fledged product like Adobe Premiere, but this tools will allow you to digitalize and compress home videos that you can send to your family.  This tool can definitely improve with more features like Apple's iMovie which is almost a complete video editing package.

System Tools
XP comes with a standard defragment tool and scandisk.  A backup tool (by Veritas) offers limited backup capablities.  Msconfig is now available - allow you as the user to control which program starts up.  The system information tool provides a simple detail of the overall system.

System Restore will definitely be an important feature that many Windows user will live by.  Like Win Me, System Restore allows you to restore the system back to a specified date.  However, this feature may consume some disk space.

WindowsUpdate like all previous version included with Win9x and Win2k will allow the user to download all the latest updates with one single click.

Remote Assistance is available in both XP versions, however, only Remote Desktop Connection is only available in XP Professional.  Both these tools share the same technology but act differently.  Namely, Remote Assistance in Home Edition allows another person to control your machine remotely, you can not remote control another computer with Remote Assistance.  If you have Remote Desktop Connection (in XP Professional), then you can remotely control a XP computer.  Remote Assistance is also nicely integrated within Windows Messenger 4.5, so you can ask anyone with XP Professional or Microsoft Technical Support to help you.

Software Compatibility
Most Windows program will run correctly in XP, however a few applications may want to run in the Windows 9x rather than in XP.  Once solution Microsoft developed was Program Compatibility Wizard, which allows the system registry to emulate Win 9x.  Almost all the software that I installed worked perfectly.   Surprisingly, the MSDN library from Microsoft Visual Studio 6 had a little trouble displaying the side window.  The compatibility program helped fix this issue.  Some games may or may not work - check the software developer's web site for patches or upgrades.

Issues
Blue screens of death (BSOD) are still in Windows XP, however the system is more stable than Win 9x versions.  Memory management is well tweaked as you can run your computer all day without rebooting the system.  One thing to avoid BSODs is to have the proper XP drivers installed (certified by Microsoft will be even better).

One interesting problem I ran into was with Norton Anti-Virus 2002, where the system would be somewhat unstable.  Though I do think this issue is really isolated (namely on my computer), my computer would randomly crash without any warning.  So I decided to try out McAfee Anti-Virus, in which this product deleted all my e-mails as I activated E-mail scanning (a known issue that McAfee is trying to resolve).  With McAfee Anti-Virus 6, crashes are much less than before, however I do miss my deleted e-mails.  If you are going to go the McAfee way, then backup your e-mails before installing and activating E-mail scanning.  I would recommend Norton Anti-Virus 2002 also, since most users do not experience such problem as I do.  Note: McAfee Anti-Virus does take more memory than Norton Anti-Virus.

Microsoft Plus! for XP
If you are considering purchasing Plus! for XP, you might think twice because you will be disappointed.  Plus! does not come with anything revolutionary but rather a few more themes and screensavers with a few games.  A few additional programs such as Voice Command for Windows Media Player, Speaker Enhancement, CD labeling tool and DJ tools are included.  If you think Speaker Enhancement will enhance your speakers - it might not.  You will need speakers that Plus! supports to have this feature otherwise it won't do anything.  Voice Command is a nifty feature, however, voicing the commands to the computer may be slower than a simple mouse click.  The themes only change the wallpaper, icons and sounds - don't expect it to add more color themes such as silver, olive green or blue.  As for the games, two of the three games require a 16 MB graphic cards as a minimum.  For the price you pay for this product, you are probably better off getting more RAM or an anti-virus program for you computer.

PowerToys
Microsoft's PowerToys are back.  These set of tools allows you to customize XP to your liking.  The interface for TweakUI has changed for the good, taking on a much clean menu system.  A PowerToy calculator is included which allows for graphing capabilities (e.g. y = sin(x)).  Desktop Manager allows you to have four desktops simultaneously (just like Unix/Linux).  Timershot is a tool that can take pictures at a set interval (using a digital camera) and save these files at a location.  There are few more tools that are included with PowerToys.  Weighing in at 938 KB (yes Kilobytes), this download is well worth it.