Microsoft Windows XP (Professional)

After a buildup of Hollywood proportions, Microsoft released its final cut of Windows XP, promising that the "biggest release since Windows 95" would end the stability woes of Windows 95 and temper the unfriendly interface of Windows 2000. We found the first release of XP expensive and occasionally annoying--nagging screens and pop-up bubbles galore--and chafed at the new license restrictions. But XP Pro offers powerful Remote Assistance tools, administrative controls, and security, and it wraps up the best features of Windows 2000 in an easier-to-navigate package. It's a must-have upgrade from Windows 95/98, but even stolid NT/2000 admins should give the new order a try.After a buildup of Hollywood proportions, Microsoft released its final cut of Windows XP, promising that the "biggest release since Windows 95" would end the stability woes of Windows 95 and temper the unfriendly interface of Windows 2000. We found the first release of XP expensive and occasionally annoying--nagging screens and pop-up bubbles galore--and chafed at the new license restrictions. But XP Pro offers powerful Remote Assistance tools, administrative controls, and security, and it wraps up the best features of Windows 2000 in an easier-to-navigate package. It's a must-have upgrade from Windows 95/98, but even stolid NT/2000 admins should give the new order a try.

This major upgrade at long last ends the distinction between the corporate (and more stable) NT/2000 Windows and the consumer-oriented Windows 95/98/Millennium. XP provides similar variations of the same OS for both home and business: XP Home and XP Professional editions. On the outside, XP looks radically different from any previous Windows version. It's spiffier, with both aesthetic and functional redesigns, and features login screens for home and corporate systems alike--something many Windows 95/98 users have never seen.

Like any radical overhaul, XP takes some getting used to--we often lost patience with it--but, after time, it's hard not to like the new design. While its new, hand-holding "task-oriented" design may annoy experienced users, Microsoft nevertheless managed to create an OS that works equally well for novices, corporate users, and enthusiasts. Despite hefty system requirements (a Pentium II-300 or faster, 128MB of RAM, and 1.5GB of free disk space), onerous product activation, and some not-so-obvious touting of Microsoft's business partners, you'll want to consider an upgrade--if not immediately, certainly the next time you buy a PC.

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