Microsoft Windows XP Professional Full Version with SP2
- Automatically keep your PC up-to-date with the latest security enhancements including the Windows Security Center, Windows Firewall.
- Windows XP Professional provides rich, wireless network support, helping simply & easily connect to wireless networks whether in home, office or out.
- Quickly set up and connect all the computers, printers, devices, and an Internet connection in your home with the all new Network Setup Wizard.
- Encrypting File System provides an additional level of file protection from hackers
- Clean, simple design of Windows XP Professional puts the features you use most often at your fingertips, helping you find them quickly.
Microsoft Windows XP Professional is the next version of the Windows operating system which is designed for businesses of all sizes and for individuals who demand the most from their computing experience. Windows XP Professional goes beyond the benefits of Windows XP Home Edition with advanced capabilities designed specifically to optimize productivity using the latest advancements in the digital world. Built on the solid foundation of Windows 2000 Windows XP Professional provides improved relia
List Price: $ 299.99
Price: $ 259.99
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Windows XP Professional: a (mostly) fair and balanced review,
Windows XP Professional is perhaps the best version of Windows that Microsoft has released. It’s rock-solid, well-supported, and easy to use. It’s also ridiculously expensive, bloated, and the anti-piracy measures are nearly draconian (and woefully ineffective to boot).
What follows is a pretty lengthy breakdown. If you just want the executive summary, read no further than the following bullet-point list:
- If you don’t have any special needs consider XP Home instead. If you truly need XP Professional, you’ll know.
- If you don’t really need Windows (in other words, if you’re not a gamer or need to run an application for work that’s strictly Windows-only), consider switching to a Mac. Or even Linux if you’re a power user.
- Windows XP is a decent OS under the hood. But lingering security issues, price, and Microsoft’s questionable behavior over the years should give you pause.
Now for the extended, in-depth review…
Pros:
- Built on the Windows 2000 codebase. It’s not so prone to BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) and other random crashes as 95, 98, and Me. I still get crashes, but they’re usually the fault of a particular app, and a single crash rarely brings down the entire system.
- Excellent hardware support. It’s plug-and-pray no longer; it recognizes and automatically configures a wide range of hardware.
- Well-supported. Like it or not, Windows is the dominant OS. You won’t find a greater selection of commercial software for any other operating system.
- More secure than previous Windows versions. With the introduction of Service Pack 2, Microsoft is finally doing something about the rise of adware with improvements to Internet Explorer 6, a better built-in firewall, and a one-stop Security Center.
- Easier networking. Service Pack 2′s wireless networking tools are often better than the ones bundled with wireless networking hardware. It’s also easier to share files over a LAN, especially in comparison to Windows 2000. But if you need Windows 2000′s more fine-grained control, that’s available to you as well.
Cons:
- Expensive. Microsoft’s monopoly position basically lets them charge whatever they want. Sometimes (and if you’re a good bargain hunter) it’s cheaper to buy a used computer with Windows XP preinstalled than to buy a boxed retail version. It’s out of control. More on this later.
- Bloated. And not just bloated, but hard to cut down. Applications like Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, and Movie Maker are bundled and do not have uninstallers. You’ll need some technical expertise and quite a bit of free time to get rid of these apps.
- Still very insecure. Check Secunia or a similar security site, and you’ll see that Windows XP and Internet Explorer are riddled with security holes. And many of the critical ones remain unpatched! Save yourself a lot of grief and use an alternative browser like Mozilla Firefox or Opera (but not ones that embed the IE engine like Maxthon).
- The new visual themes are an acquired taste. Some people like big and colorful. I’m not one of those people. Luckily, “Windows Classic” is still available. You’ll get your traditional desktop and Start menu back, as well as a hefty performance increase.
- Activation. It’s not as bad as you might have been led to believe, but it’s still annoying. The process takes seconds over the internet, and you don’t have to provide any personal information. But if you’re in the habit of upgrading and swapping out hardware often, you might find yourself on the phone with Microsoft trying to prove that you’re not doing anything illegal. Meanwhile, Windows piracy still runs rampant, especially in third-world countries where a genuine copy of Windows costs a month’s wages or more. Hell, it cost me a week’s wages here in the U.S. of A. for my copies. (The job market’s not exactly laden with golden opportunities for recent college grads. But I digress.) Seriously Microsoft, drop the price. What you lose in the margins up front will be more than made up for by the decreased loss due to piracy.
Other considerations:
- Unless you have ancient hardware (by that I mean computers built before 1997), get away from Windows 9x or Me as soon as you can. Leave that crash-prone monstrosity of an OS behind.
- I’d say get away from Windows entirely if possible. This isn’t a viable option for everyone. For gamers, there’s no real good substitute for Windows short of a console. Sometimes you’ll get Mac and Linux releases, but they’re often released long after the Windows version and are not as well supported. Then there are those who need a Windows PC for work. Solutions like Virtual PC and VMware provide a Windows environment for Mac and Linux respectively, but they can be clunky,…
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|Windows XP rocks, you might not need professional!,
If you’re reading this. You’re thinking of buying Windows XP Professional Edition here are a few things to keep in mind.
First thing is, you might be able to get away with buying just the upgrade edition. The upgrade edition allows you to do a full install. It just asks you for the CD of a previous version of Windows. Also remember you can download service pack two from the Windows update web site. So no need to buy it integrated with XP.
These are what I consider the minimum system requirements:
256 MB of RAM. I have found is adequate more equals better.
500 MHz or higher will do.
7200 rpm hard drive will help a lot.
If you’re running Windows millennium edition, or 98 upgrade now the stability is vastly improved. Gone are the blue screens of death.
Frequently asked question: is Windows XP Pro better than home edition?
Windows XP Pro has a more high-end networking features that most home users will never miss or would even know were missing. So for most users Windows home edition is fine. They both are based on the same code and are almost identical.
And the price differences are drastic and deftly not worth it in my opinion unless you need these networking features.
If you’re thinking of upgrading from Windows 2000, I did, because I like the GUI interface better. But Windows XP is as stable as Windows 2000. So it’s your call.
The plug-and-play ability of Windows XP is totally great! Windows XP will by default find most drivers for video card sound cards, network cards, etc. that is such a bonus gone in the days of having to search for CDs with drivers.
I recommend upgrading to Windows XP be it professional or home edition. It is a great operating system
Have some fun and get it done
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|from a long-time Mac user…best Windows to date,
While I could write that there are better alternatives to Windows, I realize that not all of us have the option of simply trashing Windows and going to Mac OS or Linux. In my case, I have worked for companies that are Windows based for 14 years. In this time I have always used some version of a Mac…mostly Powebooks. In the early years there was no option to use Windows on my Mac, so I often found myself using Windows on a desktop at my office. Thus, I have experienced the evolution of Windows over the years. The earlier versions always seemed to complicated and/or counterintuitive to my Mac senses, especially the installing of software and drivers. I also had way too many viruses and crashes (even with virus proetection and fairly good IT support) when using earlier Windows versions. Thus, I have been pleasantly surprised with Windows XP. I currently run it using Parallels on a MacBook. In four months of fairly regular use, Windows XP has not crashed on me. I should note that I mainly run business applications (i.e. Open Office, QuickBooks, Explorer) and for a time I ran Slingplayer (until released on Mac). These applications ran installed with ease and ran flawlessly. Perhaps the only thing keeping me from giving XP 4 stars is the price. A few lesser issues are the screen (I prefer Windows classic), the constant need for security updates, and the rather time consuming activation process (I worry that I may have trouble if I decide to upgrade my computer and move Windows to another machine).
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