Windows XP must be activated before
you can use it.
Activation isn't the same as
registration (which asks you to provide personal info to
Microsoft), but you must complete activation within 30 days
of installation, or it will stop working. The activation
antipiracy step prevents you from installing XP on more than
one computer. Product activation means you can install
XP on only one PC. Microsoft makes a licensing concession to
home users who can buy additional XP licenses at a discount,
depending on the retailer, of $8 to $12.
Windows XP comes in two
different versions:
Home Edition ($99 upgrade; $199
full version) and Professional Edition ($199 upgrade, $299
full edition). Professional Edition has all of Home
Edition's features, plus some corporate
strength
capabilities that administrators and the security
conscious
may want. Most users, including many small-business owners,
will probably prefer the Home Edition. Professional's
attraction is its corporate-level system administration - which
requires official, corporate system administrators - and
robust disk- and IP-based encryption. If
you don't need these features,
purchase the Home Edition.
Multiple users of one computer
are supported by XP login
buttons for each of your PC's individual users.
XP has all-new Explorer windows.
Each folder window contains a left-hand bar full of links to
common tasks. The My Computer folder offers links in three
categories: System Tasks, Other Places, and Details - that
let you access the Control Panel, My Documents, the
Add/Remove Programs utility, and additional settings. In
other folder windows, you'll find options for sharing the
folder on a network, publishing it to the Web, or making a
new subfolder.
XP's new Help And Support feature
is easy to navigate. It
features short topic lists that expand as you click them.
Finding things is made
easier with the XP Search.
It asks a question and
lets you search under plain English categories
like
"Pictures, music, or video" and "Documents (Word,
PowerPoint,
etc.)."
You can search the Internet
using the Start menu's
search form and you can change the default search engine
from MSN to Google, Yahoo, AskJeeves, Excite, and more.
XP's has a
new sets of features
that Microsoft calls PC Health features.
In addition to a rollback feature called System Restore that
takes XP's system state back to a previous date in the event
of some catastrophic problem, there's a driver rollback
feature that undoes disastrous driver upgrades.
XP calls multimedia
digital media and can
easily handle all kinds of digital media, including video,
still pictures, and music. XP even has support for burning
CD-Rs and writing to RW discs.
Windows XP features an
improved autoplay capability.
As soon as XP determines the media type or source, be it a
digital camera or a blank CD-R, it pops up a dialog box
listing the appropriate, associated programs, such as a DVD
player or an editing app. Make the appropriate selection,
and Windows XP loads it. Check off the option, and XP will
repeat the action every time you load that media.
XP easily adds scanners
and digital cameras
to the list of disk drives and folders in My Computer. Plug
in your camera, and XP launches a wizard that helps you move
pictures from the camera onto your hard drive. It lets you
rotate and position photos, download them to your hard
drive, upload them to the Internet, or delete them from the
camera with a single command.
XP numbers your graphics
sequentially as they are saved to
your hard drive to
ensure that you don't overwrite any
images, and the wizard lets
you know if you've already copied a picture from your
camera. Printing graphics is easier, as the Photo Printing
wizard lets you select any pictures you want in hard copy
and send the job off in a batch.
Windows XP puts the
focus on the Internet with its setup routine.
Before the installer even begins, XP asks to check online
for any updates. After the check, XP offers networking
wizards galore, plus remote control tools and a built-in
firewall.
Windows
XP uses new wizards to configure Internet and
local networking. The
Network Setup wizard combines the older Home Networking and
Internet Connection wizards into one. It starts with a basic
checklist of things you need to do before continuing (such
as configuring a LAN, installing network cards and cabling,
and turning everything on) and steps you through the rest.
Once you're online,
Windows XP urges you to sign up for Passport,
a free online proof-of-identity service that Microsoft uses
to verify your identity for Hotmail, online chat accounts,
and electronic commerce.
The
new Windows Messenger is a retooling of the MSN
Instant Messenger.
The new Messenger tool offers conferencing tools on top of
the regular, typed chat windows. Messenger adds two-way
audio and video, application sharing (where your chat
buddy views and controls programs on your PC), and whiteboarding.
As a security feature,
Windows XP has a software firewall
to block hack attacks on your network connections,
dial-up and broadband alike. XP's Internet Connection
Firewall makes your PC invisible while you're on the Net.
Enable the firewall at the Networking control panel for each
of your possible connections.
For
hardware compatibility, Windows XP comes with
built-in support for about 12,000 devices,
with other drivers available via
the System Update feature, which downloads drivers as part
of the installation process.
As for software, XP
says it supports
1,200 legacy applications out of the box and offers its
Compatibility Mode,
which checks to see which version of Windows your software
needs, then emulates it. If a program refuses to run under
XP, right-click its icon and select Properties and the
Compatibility tab. There, you can choose an operating system
to emulate - one that you think the software would run on.
Once you've set the mode that you think will work, XP keeps
track of the settings and runs the program in that mode the
next time around. |