Product Features
- Eligibility for upgrade consists of current users of Windows 98/Windows 98
SE and Windows ME only
- Create and enjoy home movies with the built-in Video support
- Share your video project with the easy E-mail attachment &
mass-mailing features
- Go Mobile with the ability to Communicate anytime, anywhere
- Discover and Download online music, with the easy-to-use Internet features
Product DescriptionWith Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2,
you get safer browsing and communication, powerful security tools, and improved
experiences. Packed with multimedia features, Windows XP Home Edition with
Service Pack 2 aims to unlock the full potential of your personal computer. It
also looks great, with rounded window corners, larger and more detailed icons,
and a clean-look desktop.
The best thing about Windows XP is that, because it belongs to the Windows
NT/2000 product family, it's designed from the ground up for reliability,
security, and networking. XP Home users will soon see the benefits of this. The
dreaded Windows crash-and-reboot cycle really is much less common with XP, and,
provided the hardware is up to scratch, XP's performance is better, too. The
downside is that using a different code base can make compatibility with old
applications less assured. Business applications normally run fine, but older
games, MIDI software, and system utilities may well cause problems.
Windows XP is more customizable than previous versions, including its visual
themes that let you change the whole appearance of Windows in an instant. Fast
User Switching is a neat feature for computers used by more than one person--it
lets another user log on without killing the previous user's session, and when
you switch back, running applications and open documents are as you left them.
This is impressive, but what really counts is that XP understands how to deal
with multiple users. Each user has their own special folders, such as My
Documents, which cannot be seen by other users. And for those with more than one
computer, the network setup wizard simplifies setting up a
network.
Windows XP Home has many strong multimedia features. New Media
Player lets you copy music from CD to hard disk, create your own playlist, and
write your own music CDs if you have a CD writer. You can also play back
DVD-Video (but only if a hardware or software DVD decoder is already installed)
and play MP3 audio files and MPEG videos (but sadly not the popular RealMedia
formats). Admittedly, Media Player does nothing that you cannot also do with
free alternatives, but it is slick and nicely integrated. There is also Windows
Movie Maker, a basic tool for capturing and editing videos that's fun to use,
although too limited for serious work.
For Web browsing, XP Home comes with Internet Explorer 6.0 and MSN Explorer.
The most significant new feature for Internet users is the built-in firewall. A
firewall protects against one of the most disturbing security risks, in which
other users unknown to you might connect to your computer while it is online,
reading private files or causing other damage. XP's built-in firewall is a
simple affair, but it does prevent most types of unauthorized connections.
The XP user interface is not a radical departure from earlier versions of
Windows, but there are a number of small changes that together add up to a
significant improvement. For example, you can add and remove shortcuts from the
Start menu by right-clicking on the icon and selecting Pin or Unpin from the
pop-up menu. Windows online help is integrated into a Help and Support Center
that works like an internal Web site, with searchable help, tutorials, and
walkthroughs. Laptop or other flat-screen users can set Windows to use ClearType
for screen fonts, for a more readable display.
There are, of course, some pitfalls. Windows XP Home is demanding on
hardware, and it would be a mistake to install it on less than Microsoft's
recommended minimum. Business users note: unlike Windows 98 or Me, XP Home
Edition cannot join a Windows server domain, so the networking is peer-to-peer
only--see Windows XP Professional Edition for this functionality. There is also
no multiprocessor support, and a mildly annoying anti-piracy measure requires
you to obtain a code from Microsoft for full installation and any future system
changes. But don't let that put you off: this is Microsoft's best Windows
yet.
System Requirements:
- Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)
- At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
- At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk
- CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
- Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse or some other compatible pointing device
- Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600)or higher resolution
- Sound card
- Speakers or headphones
Click here to check for Windows 7 compatibility.
For complete product details please visit the manufacturer's website.
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