win XP rulzzzz

[Guest]

i got win xp

 :-P

[Ryan Lintker]

This brings up a question that I've had for a while.  I'm currently running win2k pro and am really happy with it.  With the school's academic alliance with Microsoft, I have a chance to get a legit copy of XP before the semester is out.  Is XP worth the trouble of installing a new OS on my computer?

[Chris Swingler]

Windows XP really doesn't have that many more options or features that would make you want to make the move from 2K, as long as you're happy with it.  The main features which you'll notice are user switching (which most people turn off for security purposes), the new start menu (which I personally like, but most people don't) and the globby green Start button (which most people find annoying and switch back to grey, or disable to improve performance.)  The tab-completion at the command line is nice, though it may be a feature in 2k (which I haven't spent a whole lot of time playing with.)  XP seems to be a little more tolerant of older games that 2K, but don't expect everything to work, and your old DOS games still are a no-go.  The built in firewall is a joke, disabling all the stupid services (e. g. Windows Messenger) and the stupid applications (e. g. MSN Messenger) that are installed by default is a chore. The networking with Home is totally worthless, and some of the networking stuff works kinda stupid with Pro.  The 10-user limit isn't something I like (though I believe it's true for all Windows Workstation editions).  On top of that, if you run the occasional old hardware device that has lost support from its manufacturer, you could be unable to find a driver (though _most_ 2k drivers work fine).  If you own a Handspring Visor, the revisions to the USB libraries make HotSyncing require excessive tinkering, and occasionally will reset every device on your USB chain when you drop the PDA in its cradle.  The installation is annoying... remember Clippy?  He is revived as a blobby question mark!  Okay, that's enough ranting from me.... if I remember anything else, I'll post it up :-).

[Kade P. Cole]

One of the nicest features of WinXP Pro is the remote desktop sharing. If you have ever needed remote control of your computer this is a great feature and worth the upgrade.

[Chris Swingler]

However, TightVNC does exist for Win32 (though it isn't secure out of the box)

--Beanie

[William Grim]

Tab completion is available in both Win2K and NT4.

Open regedit, go down to HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Command Processor.

Once here, change completion char to 9.

You can also make this change to HKEY_USERS so everyone else gets the change too.