Windows XP purchase ??

[Flubber]

After learning that the constant crashes I experience with windows ME are not the norm for Windows products I have decided to get the some version of XP-- I will be doing some online research but I wondered a few things and the benefit of people's experience here might save me some time.

1. What are the main differences/benefits of XP office versus the Home version . I would assume that the home version would be more appropriate to a gamer/surfer but I assumed that Windows ME would be better than previous versions.

2. Upgrades from previous windows versions to XP Home seem to be available at half the cost of the from-scratch version of XP. If I get the upgrade will I still have an operating system that incorporates the crappy bits of ME or will it completely replace ME as the price difference is just marketing. I giuess what I am asking is whether "upgrading" will result in the exact same operating system.

3. What is a reasonable price for XP ? The one store I checked had the upgrade from ME version for 129 Canadian dollars.

[JohnT]

I have XP home at home and XP professional at the office, and I have yet to notice any difference when it comes to being able to play games (UT: 2003, GTA3, Freedom Force).

[Provost Harrison]

The only Windows XP purchase you should undertake is a blank CD-R and a cracked version of it to disable the hardware protection cack*

* In no way does this represent the views or comments of Provost Harrison nor does it endorse piracy. Really!

[Q Classic]

this is the official difference page 'tween home and professional.

i honestly prefer professional, but that's because i'd rather err on the side of more power than less.

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
The only Windows XP purchase you should undertake is a blank CD-R and a cracked version of it to disable the hardware protection cack*

* In no way does this represent the views or comments of Provost Harrison nor does it endorse piracy. Really!

correct, you can even DL the updates!

[Q Classic]

btw, you won't get the crappy bits of me with the upgrade xp. all the upgrade does, iirc, is that it checks to see if you really do have windows installed, before erasing it and installing itself.

here in the states, the avg price for the upgrade to xphome is 99; to xppro, it's 159. the from scratch for xphome is 199, to xppro, 299.

[Berzerker]

I don't know much about computers but I was talking to a guy today who was discussing XP. He said XP is fine if you don't need to do alot of complicated stuff, but that it crashes alot once you delve into graphic intensive programs. He said he uses 95 NT cause it's more stable as demand for power increases. Anyone with 95 NT?

[Willem]

Originally posted by reds4ever


correct, you can even DL the updates!

That depends on the copy I guess. I had a pirate copy of Pro and I couldn't install Service Pack 1. So I went back to my purchased copy of Home Edition.

[raghar]

XP pro has support for two processors, so if you are rich and want play my games, you'd go for pro. I ment If you are rich you'd buy two processors motherboard and download Linux for free.

[SlowwHand]

I'm under the impression that XP was Office initially and was pared down for Home; and that in doing so, Home isn't as "clean".

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Willem


That depends on the copy I guess. I had a pirate copy of Pro and I couldn't install Service Pack 1. So I went back to my purchased copy of Home Edition.

There are 'ways' shall we say

[Spiffor]

I orignially had XP home on my computer, and I fdisked to install XP office instead. I waaaaay prefer XP office. There are only a few differences for the unexperienced user (read : non-geek), but XP home considers the user as an utter cretin/ 6 yo child who needs assistance in every step

However, if you haven't switched to XP yet, you might consider switching to 2000, which is powerful and doesn't rely on the same technology as ME. 2000 is stable while ME is the worst OS ever done by M$. Besides, if your computer is fairly old, you may experience slowdowns with XP, which is very demanding hardware-wise.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison


There are 'ways' shall we say

Yes, so I've been told recently. No matter, my system will be gone soon and it will probably be awhile until I can afford to get a new one.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Besides, if your computer is fairly old, you may experience slowdowns with XP, which is very demanding hardware-wise.

I've been running it on a Celeron 400 and it's actually faster in most areas than 98 was. Though I've noticed that I seem to have trouble using an optical mouse, I get these annoying lags every so often. I suspect now that XP might have something to do with it, because of my lowly processor.

[optimus2861]

I've been using XP Home for a few weeks now, and after I turned off all the new-interface crap, I must give MS its credit. I haven't crashed it once, where the last time I reinstalled 98, it crashed the first freakin' day!

I did do quite the pruning job on the services that load on startup, mind you. There's at least half a dozen that MS loads by default, that are of little or no practical use to most users (i.e. the "Portable Media Serial Number" service).