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To XP or not to XP?
 Nearly
a year after Microsoft’s release of
it’s latest operating system, home
users, small business users, and IT Managers
of large corporations alike are still asking
themselves: “Should we take steps towards
Windows XP, or not?” This is a good
question, and I believe the answer lies
in the answer to a relatively simple question:
“Well, where are you now, and where
are are you going?”
In general, Microsoft has not done a very
good job of educating the average business
user of the various advantages of Windows
XP, nor has it done a very good job of convincing
IT Managers of the enterprise market that
they should upgrade. This may not have anything
to do with bad marketing, but with the simple
truth: Windows XP’s features are simply
not revolutionary enough to merit paying
$199 per machine, and going through the
trouble of upgrading a perfectly good PC
that is happily running Windows 2000, especially
on a large scale. To the average user, Windows
XP is simply a prettier version of Windows
2000 – aside from some improvements
in security, better memory management, and
the like, it’s also just prettier to
the more advanced user. In fact, if you
want to impress your peers at the next cocktail
party, you can tell them how Windows XP
and Windows 2000 run the same 32 bit kernel.
If you’re running Windows 98, and it’s
giving you trouble, making the move towards
a Windows XP upgrade will be right move,
granted you have enough computing power
to pull it off.
This is what Microsoft recommends:
300-MHz or better processor, 128MB RAM or
better
This is what SADA Systems recommends:
Pentium III 600-MHz or better processors,
256MB RAM or better However (and this comes
from a discussion with a client last week
regarding the purchase of new PC’s),
there is no reason to choose anything but
Windows XP as the operating system of the
new PC’s to purchase. There is nothing
better in 2000 than in XP, so to NOT choose
XP would be silly – after all, at the
time of purchases, whether you choose Windows
2000 or Windows XP Professional, the price
is the same. You would have to fork out
about $199 if you change your mind and wish
to upgrade to Windows XP later. However,
if you hold a Windows XP license, Microsoft
states that you have every right to run
Windows 2000 instead, should you choose
to (which, most likely, you won’t).
So, unless you are running some very special
software, that has not been approved for,
or simply cannot run on Windows XP (and
this is very rate), go ahead with Windows
XP.
The same rules apply if you’re buying
a PC for your house. In most cases, Microsoft
has made it so that you have no choice but
Windows XP Home version as your operating
system if you’re making a purchase
at any of the large computer retailers around
(Windows XP Home version is about $100 less
than Windows XP Professional). As long as
you’ll be using your PC in a non-network
environment, this is perfectly okay. If
you’re a bargain shopper, and find
some close-out deals on older home PC’s,
please, please don’t get anything that
has Windows Me installed. Windows Millennium
is possibly the worst operating system that
Microsoft has ever released.
Related links:
www.microsoft.com
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