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Microsoft: Windows XP Launch
With Fast Forward's Rob Pegoraro
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001; 2 p.m. EDT
Post columnist Rob Pegoraro talks about his review on the new product launch.
"Six years ago, Microsoft unveiled a new operating system that it promised would work faster, more reliably and more simply than anything it had ever made before... The best reason to pay XP's $99 upgrade price ($199 for Windows 95 users) is its stability." Read the article Windows XP: Stable But Often Annoying (Post, Sept. 21, 2001).
Microsoft Windows XP is available in stores on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001.
Below is the transcript.
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Rob Pegoraro: So, here we are, six years after Windows 95. Microsoft has come around to its next big product launch, Windows XP--what's been described as the most important product launch in its history. Or something like that.
And yet I don't sense nearly the amount of commotion about XP that we saw for Win 95. Will we see relentless advertising for XP? Sure. But will there be lines out the door of computer stores? Probably not. Will Microsoft pay to have the Empire State Building lit up in the four colors of Windows again? Good grief, I hope not.
Let's get into what's behind the fuss, or lack thereof. We've got plenty of questions about possibly upgrading to XP, but I'd also like to hear from people who already have it--by virtue of buying a new computer--and can talk about their own, uh, experience.
McLean, Va.:
What is the most compelling reason to migrate from 98/ME to XP? What about migrating from 2000?
Rob Pegoraro: Stability. XP crashes a whole lot less than 98 or Me.
There isn't such a clear-cut reason to move from Win 2000--which already has the same kind of more reliable underpinnings as XP. You'd be able to be play more games and use some additional hardware, but you also have to put up with product activation. And it's a fair amount of cash to shell out just a year after 2000 arrived.
Springfield, Va.:
My PC is outstanding in all respects but it keeps locking up and cannot be rebooted short of turing it off, and I get "Trayclnt not responding" frequently while on the Internet. I am running 1.3 Ghz, Pent III, with 525 Mg Ram using ME. Would XP help me? If I can stabilize my system it's worth twice the price of buying XP.
Rob Pegoraro: You sound like the target customer, although Microsoft probably can't pitch XP as "what will stop your computer from crashing all the time like it did under all our other operating systems." You've got plenty of memory on the computer, which is most important. But you should check w/ the manufacturer to see if all the hardware on it has been tested w/ XP.
wiredog:
While everyone else is mobbing the stores to fork over $100 for WinXP, I'll be going to ftp.redhat.com to get RH 7.2 for free.
Been playing with StarOffice 6.0 beta lately. It reads all the Word docs I've thrown at it so far.
Rob Pegoraro: I was wondering if we'd hear from any Linux users here. What I'd really like to see, however, is if any Windows users will throw up their hands at the latest upgrade and switch to Linux outright--as Linux advocates have been saying they should for years.
Washington:
What's this I hear about the XP licensing agreement? Is it true Microsoft requires you to give them the right to access your PC to check if you have any pirated software?
Rob Pegoraro: Wrong. XP includes "product activation"--XP takes a snapshot of your PC's hardware, generates a checksum based on this, and sends that magic number back to the mothership in Redmond, Wash. If enough hardware changes, XP will think it's been installed on a new computer and you'll have to "re-activate" it by calling Microsoft.
This has *nothing* to do with anything you might do with any other piece of software.
McLean, Va.:
I've read about the "compatibility mode" that XP has, but what percentage of software will have problems running on XP?
Rob Pegoraro: The figure that gets thrown around is "90 percent of the 1,200 most popular Windows applications" will work fine in XP.
Bethesda, Md.:
The comments from some of my friends who were on internal beta lists were: Fisher Price OS, and some of them turn on functions that screwed up the lan.
Rob Pegoraro: I agree with the Fisher-Price criticism, so far as it applies to XP's looks. I really don't like its Lite-Brite color scheme.
Bowie, Md.:
Why so many problems with printers and printer drivers in XP? Is that something that's going to be addressed in future patch?
Rob Pegoraro: This is something we've been checking out too-HP's inkjets seem to have particular glitches. Here's what my colleague Jonathan Krim has been able to find out:
According to Rob Wait, Hewlett-Packard's worldwide business manager for personal computers, about 8 percent of the company's roughly 400 peripheral components are not yet XP compatible. The might include certain models of printers, scanners, fax machines or other add-ons.
Wait said the delay is due to the large volume of new drivers, or code that enables the components to run, which needed to be developed and then certified by Microsoft.
Wait said before upgrading to XP, users with HP equipment should consult a special company web site, www.hp.com/go/windowsxp, to determine whether componets are compatible yet.
Laytonsville, Md.:
Hi, Rob.
Relatively new PC with Windows ME and most of the latest specs. Home use only -- email, Internet, documents/spreadsheet work.
Upgrade to XP or hold off? I'm thinking I'm fine as is.
Rob Pegoraro: If you're happy with how the computer runs now, I'd keep it as is. Give Microsoft some time to work out the bugs, give the developers of your software time to make sure it works properly in XP. It's not like the boxes of XP will rot on the shelf if they sit there too long.
Alexandria, Va.:
Is Microsoft releasing XP for Mac OS 9 and 10?
Rob Pegoraro: Nope--this is PC only. Well, only for some PCs; anything too old, too slow or without enough memory won't be able to run XP either.
Bethesda Md.:
I have a home network. Two of my computers use Windows 2000. What issues will I face if I buy a new computer with XP? Software, file access?
Rob Pegoraro: I wouldn't bother upgrading in that setup--two copies of XP Professional, the only version you're eligible to upgrade to, will cost a bunch. And XP doesn't add much to 2000.
Alexandria, Va.:
When I upgraded from Windows Me to Windows 2000 it broke both my built-in laptop Winmodem and my external CD-R drive.
If I shell out $200 for XP Professional should I expect a similar experience? Maybe it can break my keyboard or remove the color on my laptop's monitor.
Rob Pegoraro: Bad luck with OS upgrades has a way of persisting... I would make sure every piece of hardware in your laptop has tested and certified drivers for XP before even thinking of upgrading.
Juneau, Alaska:
I'm never one to buy a new software product as soon as it's available. Should most people wait for Microsoft to fix the numerous and inevitable bugs in XP before changing operating systems?
Rob Pegoraro: History does suggest this is a good idea. OTOH, if Win 98 or Win Me is blowing up your computer all the time--as they do for many users--upgrading now might give you less grief overall.
Silver Spring, Md.:
I'm just wondering why we have to pay $99+ for an update when they are usually provided free on the microsoft.com site. MS has a habit of updating every 2-3 years and if there is a problem with a new driver or hardware, their solution is "Please PURCHASE the updated windows 9x."
It sounds like they are flexing their monopoly yet again, do you see that?
Rob Pegoraro: Well, the Linux folks would point out, quite rightly, that you don't have to keep buying what Microsoft is selling. The company has a monopoly of the PC market, but it's one perpetuated by the actions of consumers. Don't like what Microsoft is doing? Take your business elsewhere.
Washington, D.C.:
Based on you comment about "product activation", appears as though I'd be shelling out for an additional copy of XP if I decide to upgrade my PC hardware.
Rob Pegoraro: Correct. You cannot use the same copy of XP on two machines (this has always been against the product license, but Microsoft hasn't had a way of checking up on this before).
The company does offer a small family-pack discount on multiple purchases, but it's not much--around 10 percent, I think.
Washington, D.C.:
I have Windows XP and aside from the fact that it is not supported by verizon DSL, my digital camera and my scanner. I love it. I managed to get my DSL to work and with DSL, and XP's integration of broadband into the everyday computing experience is very well done. This is what the future holds.
Rob Pegoraro: I was hoping somebody would mention DSL. I looked into this myself yesterday, and here's the deal:
You *can* use XP with Verizon DSL, and with any other DSL service based on the Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet system that Verizon and others (e.g., EarthLink) employ. XP supports "PPPoE" natively, to the point where it assumes that all home DSL accounts use this protocol.
The problem is that Verizon's own software--which you no longer need with XP--doesn't work in XP, and Verizon won't offer tech support for XP until a week or so. But if you can plug the configuration into into XP's DSL setup wizard, you can get online with it.
Atlanta, Ga.:
Why do you let yourself and the paper become a shill for Microsoft? You demean yourselves. Why even mention the XP? You're just sucked in by a marketing campaign.
Rob Pegoraro: Let's see... it's the biggest software company on Earth, offering the biggest upgrade in years to the operating system used by about 90 percent of PC users. You're right, there's no story here.
Alexandria, Va.:
Just wondering, if Microsoft is so anti-legacy (no more DOS kernel) why is XP still x86-centric? Seems lik hardware legacy is just as bad. Is XP available for Itanium or any other type processor? Does Microsoft plan to migrate away from x86, or will they stick with it through AMD's x86-64 and beyond?
Rob Pegoraro: Microsoft is developing a 64-bit version for Intel's Itanium processor. But after seeing how Msoft killed the Alpha and (planned) PowerPC versions of Windows NT, I can't imagine the company going outside the Intel fold again.
Columbia, Md.:
I own the full version Win 98 CD. Can I install an XP "full" version with the "upgrade" version on a newly-formatted HDD?
(i.e., does XP prompt you for a qualified upgradable product, or does Win 98 need to installed on the HDD). Thanks.
Andy P.
Rob Pegoraro: You need Win 98 or above on the hard drive to install the upgrade version of XP, otherwise you gotta pay extra for the full edition.
Arlington, Va.:
If you were buying a new computer in the next month or two, would you opt for Windows XP or 2000? and Why?
Rob Pegoraro: Personally, I'd be looking at an iBook or a new Power Mac G4. But that's just me.
Oh, you were talking about a new PC! I would go with Windows XP. I like the stability of Win 2000 just fine, but there are too many consumer-ish products that don't work there. Plus, XP has better support for things like FireWire and 802.11 networking.
Laurel, Md.:
Re: Linux
I played with it a couple years ago, and was left with the following impressions AT THE TIME:
1. It was really for college students who have very little money but know a lot about computers. People who value their time as much as their money should stay away.
2. There wasn't much you could do with it that was very ineresting. All the books were about creating things like user groups that don't have much to do with how one uses a home PC.
3. It could operate a lot my hardware. Not just my WinModem, but my scanner and USB mini camera.
How far has it come?
Rob Pegoraro: See the next question...
Alexandria, Va.:
I'm one of those Windows users who won't be paying to upgrade, it's Debian Linux for me from now on. The only valuable use Windows ever had was the ability to play DVD's legally and run the Windows copy of Quake I got from a friend. And on Word document filters, I've yet to meet one that handles files with macros well.
Rob Pegoraro: Here's one person defecting from the Windows camp.
Laurel, Md.:
Rob,
Other than the self-promotion you mentioned in the next-to-last paragraph, is there anything that looks like M$ is trying to make it harder to use competitive products like Netscape or WordPerfect or to use Partition Magic and Linux to set up a dual-boot?
Rob Pegoraro: I didn't see any evidence of that in my own limited tests. Netscape 6.1 installed and worked perfectly in XP, and I had no trouble making it the default browser (bumping IE off the Start Menu in the process).
Didn't try to set up a dual-boot system, though.
New York, N.Y.:
Does or will Microsoft offer a "Server" version of Microsoft XP?
Rob Pegoraro: There's a professional version that includes a lot of server-type tools, but the full-strength version--what would replace, I guess, Windows 2000 Datacenter and so on--isn't due for a while yet.
Washington, D.C.:
"Rob Pegoraro: Correct. You cannot use the same copy of XP on two machines (this has always been against the product license, but Microsoft hasn't had a way of checking up on this before)."
Actually I was referring to the fact that MS creates a "digital sig." of your machine based on certain components. If I change the components on the same machine won't I run into licensing issues?
Rob Pegoraro: Potentially. The big variable is if there's an Ethernet card in the machine when you install XP--the software will then use the card's hardware address as a reference point and will allow more modificatoin of components.
The other angle is how often you change things. If you spend a long weekend swapping out a bunch of things, you'll probably get dinged. If you only upgrade one thing per quarter, you'll be fine. (Well, assuming no bugs in this system :)
Taos, N.M.:
I've heard Microsoft boasting about security improvements on XP. Is there much truth to it, or is it only a matter of time before hackers find as many holes in XP as they did in previous Windows versions?
Rob Pegoraro: Microsoft does, indeed, say that XP is more secure. It does shut off a few more services by default, ships with a personal firewall built in, and benefits from all the other security patches Microsoft has had to come out with.
But the company's history in this department is so awful, I'm really skeptical about how well this will work out in practice.
Arlington, Va.:
I just got my copy of XP and I am ready to install it, but I am nervous about having to re-set up my Verizon DSL, which was a pain in the arse in the first place. Any thoughts?
Rob Pegoraro: First, you should write down the basic settings--DNS addresses, your user ID and password, that sort of thing.
But I'd also surf around a bit on DSLreports.com and the comp.dcom.xdsl newsgroup to see how other Verizon users are faring before upgrading.
APO AE - Germany:
Not so much a question as a comment.
I think it will be interesting to see what the sales of XP will be considering it's registration process. I have purchased Linux (SuSE), and while Linux has improved considerably in the last 5 years it's still not as easy as Win ME or 2000 I think although we are learning.
While I hear the registration is supposed to be painless, few things are as good as they are marketed to be. I simply can't afford to be caught in the situation of changing hardware only to find out my system won't boot and I'm stuck for a period of time struggling to get a registration key(s).
Is there a published change in hardware that triggers a reregistration? If we know we're going to change hardware in advance can we get advance registration keys?
Rob Pegoraro: The registration process--which is optional and separate from activation--is no more difficult than with Win 98 or 2000. (Although I do wish the installer could remember when I've typed in the CD key for the first time, instead of making me re-enter it if I halt an installation and return to it later.)
Activation isn't optional, but also takes only a few seconds over the Internet. But the problems people are worrying about wouldn't surface then, but months later.
wiredog:
On dual-boot systems: Install windows first, it overwrites the master boot record without asking. If you do install Linux/BSD/BeOS first, make a boot disk. The easiest way is to install to two hard drives. One is windows, the other is linux/whatever.
Rob Pegoraro: Good tip--and a good idea in general about using separate drives for separate OSes.
McLean, Va.:
From what you've seen so far from the media & public, what is the reaction to this product so far?
Rob Pegoraro: Not quite a yawn, definitely not a shout. We've all had enough experience of Microsoft PR and how it tries to spin every major new product as some kind of bet-the-company launch.
We all do kinda have other things to worry about these days, too...
Rob Pegoraro: Microsoft's Web site may be seeing a little more traffic than usual--maybe folks are getting a little excited. I just got this error message when trying to load www.microsoft.com/windows:
Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a0009'
Subscript out of range: '[number: 1]'
/products/shared/XmlMenu.asp, line 8
New York, N.Y.:
If an attempt was made to "activate" a single copy of Windows XP on a second machine and this was detected by Microsoft "central" would this prevent the first (already activated) installation of Windows XP from working? What would happen?
Rob Pegoraro: You wouldn't be able to use the second version.
Washington, D.C.:
Will XP boot-up and shutdown quickly?
Rob Pegoraro: I didn't see a real improvement in boot times with XP on all the machines I tested it with. It's supposed to start up quicker with the right hardware--but Microsoft has been making this same claim since sometime around Win 98. Have yet to see a real breakthrough here.
Washington, D.C.:
Rob,
I'm a grad student with an increasingly slow Win98SE. I'd like to upgrade to XP, but I haven't been able to find academic pricing for the Home edition, just Professional. Not only do I not want Professional, it costs the same ($99) as the Home upgrade costs in regular stores.
Is Microsoft trying to keep students from paying reduced prices for the Home version, or do they just think we all need advanced server tools?
Rob Pegoraro: I can't see any details on academic pricing for the Home edition either. I'm sure there will be some sort of deal, but I don't know why Microsoft hasn't announced it yet.
I'm not sure, however, that XP would necessarily work for you. If you find Win 98 SE slow, Win XP--with much steeper hardware requirements--may not be usable on your PC at all.
Silver Spring, Md.:
How possible is it to modify the interface colors and that sort? It looks too bright for my eyes... and what's up with the new Start Menu?
Plus, why are there new system requirements for XP? What takes up so much space, memory, processing etc. (I know Mac OS X requires it because of its impressive graphics, but...)
And do you think it's worth it to buy a Mac OS X based computer or Windows XP right now? I'm planning on buying a computer in the next few weeks.
Thanks.
Rob Pegoraro: You'd have to go into the Control Panel and click on, I think, the first category icon to set the interface theme. (Once you click through these categories in Control Panel, you'll find yourself mostly looking at the same old individual Control Panels as before).
The new system requirements aren't really tied into the interface, which is nothing all that special--they result from the Windows NT-derived foundation, which has always had a substantial appetite for hardware.
Mac OS X vs. XP? That's an extremely broad question, a quasi-religious issue. How much time do you have for my answer? :)
McLean, Va.:
I keep hearing that XP is microsoft way of getting their foot in the door w/.NET. Can you explain how this is true?
Rob Pegoraro: .Net (I refuse to type it in all-caps) is Microsoft's system of Web services. XP nags you to get a Passport sign-on--what you need to use any .Net services, including Hotmail and MSN Messenger--for the first five times you log on. Quite annoying. You can blow off these nags or get the Passport account; even then, you can elect not to use any .Net services.
So how well this ploy works depends largely on how individual consumers act. Do they want to have Redmond at the center of their Web universe?
Bethesda, Md.:
Is there a time limit on the activiation of XP? Does everyone have to reactivate after two years (and pay MS more)?
Rob Pegoraro: You have to activate w/in 30 days of installing XP, but then the activation is supposed to be good forever--or until XP thinks it's on a new computer.
Rockville, Md.:
I'm currently running XP, and have discovered that I don't have use of my modem, web cam, or scanner. Apparently no one has drivers that support them on XP. Is there any way I can get these to work? Or should I just reinstall my Windows 2000?
Rob Pegoraro: The manufacturers should have had drivers out already--it's not like they haven't had all year to do so. And yet these things happen. (For instance, in my testing of XP, I discovered that the extremely popular Canon S100 digital camera isn't supported at all by any of the digital-imaging software in XP.)
So for now your choice is to wait for peripheral manufacturers to get their act together, or revert to 2000--which will probably be an ordeal in its own right.
Fairfax, Va.:
What is the deal with XP and Snow White? I heard that the Snow White DVD (and potentially some others) don't work on XP.
Rob Pegoraro: That's correct. Unclear why this is the case, but it's not the first time this has happened--Mac OS X users have similar complaints about the Star Wars Episode I DVD (beyond the quality of the movie itself :)
New York, N.Y.:
Does Microsoft Office XP work better with Windows XP then it does with Windows 2000?
Rob Pegoraro: It shouldn't--Office XP was released months before Windows XP. I've never seen any problems using it in Win 2000.
Reston, Va.:
John Dvorak, in PC Magazine, says that the best way to speed up the boot process is to put the OS in flash ram.
Rob Pegoraro: Or you could simply not shut down the OS--which is what both XP and Mac OS X assume you'll do. Just put it in sleep mode.
Then again, XP isn't perfect about waking up from sleep. But loading the entire OS into a RAM disk... that's a little ridiculous. How often does Dvorak plan to reboot his XP box? Will he save enough time to make up for the time it will take to set up this kludge?
Bethesda, Md.:
Is it true the XP does not support Sun's version of java. What problems may this cause?
Rob Pegoraro: XP doesn't *include* a Java virtual machine. But you can install and run Sun's JVM without problems, in my experience.
Academic Pricing:
I think it depends on the deal your institution has with Microsoft. Boston University students can get XP home upgrade for $69 and Pro upgrade for $79
Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the tip--that's a hell of a deal on XP Pro.
(There's no info on this in Microsoft's online catalog, though.)
Washington, D.C.:
A couple questions for you:
In your opinion, what are the real privacy risks posed by XP features such as error-reporting for system failures, Passport and the general information-sharing, communication direction MS is taking?
Will any legal concern or complaint ever put a dent in this company's prosperity? It seems to be chugging along regardless of numerous suits, complaints and outright hatemongering by certain groups.
Rob Pegoraro: When a program crashes in XP, the system offers to send a bug report to Microsoft. What isn't quite spelled out, though, is that this bug report will contain a snapshot of whatever was in memory at the time--which could hide all sort of fascinating data.
Microsoft says it won't do anything with such data, and I do believe that. The company would be out of its gourd to snoop on consumers' data like that, after all the legal trouble it's been in.
To answer your second question: Who knows? This is a company that, down to the molecular level, doesn't appear to think it's done anything wrong. It has moderated some of its positions and it says it's trying not to abuse its market power, but corporate culture is a slow thing to change.
San Francisco, Calif.:
Hi Rob,
I look forward to helping my parents in New York with their computer by using XP's new remote assistance feature. Will both me and my parents have to have XP in order to use this feature, or is it enough if they do? Thanks.
Rob Pegoraro: Yup, both you and your parents will need XP for you to fix their computer for them.
Washington, D.C.:
I understand from the trade pubs that M$ will charge an annual 'subscription' fee to all users of XP Home and Professional one year after purchase. Have you heard anything to that and if so, what would the rental fee be?
Rob Pegoraro: That's not true either. Microsoft talks a lot about selling software as a service, but XP isn't being sold along those lines. Where you do see the company trying to get users to sign up for yearly contracts is in the office-computing area, where it doesn't seem to be getting enough people to upgrade to new versions of Office every year.
Academic Pricing:
It's called Microsoft Student Select and is only available to BU students (so says the University Computers website)
Rob Pegoraro: You mean to say, it's only available to BU students and their friends and family, right?
wiredog:
Well, you could put linux into a 20mb flash disk. There are flash readers that plug into the floppy ports, IIRC. I might have to give that a try.
Rob Pegoraro: I'd hate to try that through a floppy-based interface. The only way you'd have slower storage would be to plug the flash reader into the PS/2 port...
Chicago, Ill.:
What is the difference between an administrator and a user in XP?
Rob Pegoraro: An administrator can do pretty much whatever she/he wants on the computer, including a good amount of potential mischief or accidental damage. A user is locked out of some of the more advanced functions.
Most modern operating systems--Linux, Unix, Mac OS X--work on this basis. The idea is to log in as adminstrator, root, superuser or whatever only when you have to, and run as a user otherwise to reduce the vulnerability of the system.
wiredog:
SCSI or firewire then.
Rob Pegoraro: That's more like it. What's FireWire/1394 support like in Linux, anyway?
Santa Margarita, Calif.:
So, if I'm a consumer who doesn't know about this insidious "registration" (or spyware) process that Microsoft is now subjecting us to, then I basically have lost my RIGHT NOT TO REGISTER? That's absurd. If I'm a consumer and don't want to send any information to a company I bought a product from I should be allowed that privacy, no?
I'm a long time Windows user, since its beginnings (and more than just windows), but I'm not upgrading for this reason and I'm sure going to voice my opinion to others about NOT upgrading until Microsoft stops trying to play State Department and force us to give them our details so they can keep tabs on us with "passports."
What is this anyway, Windows 1984? Shame on those who go along willingly.
Rob Pegoraro: I see what you're saying in that last line--but at the same time, only the activation in XP is mandatory. Registration is still optional. Passport is still optional. You can blow off both of those steps and the Microsoft Police (tm) won't kick down your door with their jackboots.
Fairfax, Va.:
I'm planning on building my own machine next year. How hard will it be to find a copy of Win 2k in the stores in say 6 months? Is XP going to replace it or is it mainly a home user type OS?
Rob Pegoraro: I doubt XP will replace 2000 right away--lots of companies are still just starting to standardize on 2000 instead of NT. (Why you'd want to stick with the USB-less, blue-screen-of-death-prone NT 4 escapes me completely, but I digress...)
Arlington, Va.:
I'm one of those who for whatever reason signed up for the various versions of XP beta. It is indeed aolid yet garish (although you can set it to look like 98 instead.) Stability is very good, and I've only run across one game that doesn't work well.
What gets my goat is that beta testers have to buy the full Home version or Pro - the beta won't upgrade to XP Home. Gotta reinstall 98 and go from there!
Rob Pegoraro: No discount for beta testing it? That's a little cheap of Microsoft.
Alexandria, Va.:
Am I correct in stating that both 2000 and XP have MS's .NET architecture as the underpinning? Will a user need XP or 2000 (rather than 9X) to take advantage of the Web services coming down the pike from Microsoft (a la Passport, etc)?
Rob Pegoraro: No--Microsoft is advertising .Net as something that will be available anywhere, on any device.
Win 2000 has no .Net underpinnings or even any .Net promotions--predates the whole thing by a year or so.
New York, N.Y.:
In one of your earlier responses you made the comment that Windows XP doesn't really offer that much more than Windows 2000 if that's the case then why is Microsoft touting that this version of the operating system is the most significant advance since the introduction of Windows 95?
Rob Pegoraro: I think the company is printing the words "for home computers" in extremely small type between "advance" and "since." For home PCs, yes, XP is a real upgrade... unlike, say, Win 98 SE vs. Win 98.
Jackson, Mich.:
I thought I saw an article recently describing an new OS for Apple. Being an Apple fan, you must know it. What are your thoughts and how does it measure up to XP?
Rob Pegoraro: I reviewed Mac OS X 10.1 last month.
It's exceedingly different from XP, with a different set of risks. OS X looks and acts vastly different both Mac OS 9 and most other consumer operating systems. It also won't be most of what it's capable of until a lot more third-party software and hardware supports it.
XP isn't a huge advance over 2000, but it also works natively with many more existing products.
You could say that Apple is asking users to make a bigger leap into the unknown. Do you believe Apple's visoin of the destiation? Do you think it'll get you there?
Washington, D.C.:
I am thinking of purchasing a new P4 machine and then signing up for Roadrunner Broadband and then networking that with my other two machines at home, a PII 266 with 64MB of RAM and a Celeron 350 with 32 MB. Is this a feasable combination?
Rob Pegoraro: Before you do anything else, please please please put some more RAM in the other two machines! It's so cheap; there is no reason on Earth to still be limping along with only 32 MB.
XP, like Win 98 SE and Win Me, does inlude a home-networking wizard. The bigger issue, though, might be what OS you have on the other PCs.
wiredog:
MSN is not allowing browsers other than IE to access the site. Maybe they're taking their marbles and going home?
Rob Pegoraro: Shouldn't you be at work or something, wiredog? :)
I think Microsoft fixed the MSN site--I get no weird dialog prompts with Netscape 6.1 here. (Apparently, earlier today people using other browsers would get alerts that the site might not look right in their software, suggesting they upgrade to IE.)
That's the kind of mistake Microsoft keeps making--somebody there ought to think about how this kind of nonsense looks ot the public beforehand.
Alexandria, Va.:
The no discount for beta testing is a reasonable thing which arises from the fact that beta testers are no-longer involved in the sort of back and forth personal interaction with developers which directly leads to improvement in a product. Few companies offer discounts to open-beta users anymore, not with automatic report services which remove the need for a skilled user to send coredumps to developers. It's just too simple a process nowadays.
Rob Pegoraro: What about when the companies actually charge for beta-test copies?
Santa Margarita, Calif.:
But Rob, you said, "XP includes "product activation"--XP takes a snapshot of your PC's hardware, generates a checksum based on this, and sends that magic number back to the mothership."
Shouldn't I have the right not to send them ANY information? Not to mention the nightmare of trying to get technical support from Microsoft in case something goes wrong (have you ever tried to get through?).
This sounds like a real problem and I believe sales will suffer from this. Like I said, I like Microsoft products but I'm definitely NOT endorsing this upgrade to any clients, until this thing is resolved (if ever).
Rob Pegoraro: I think you are correct in that tech support will be no better than before.
But the part about acvitation that gets overlooked is what gets sent to Microsoft--not the list of your hardware, but the checksum number computed from that. All Microsoft sees is a number, with no knowledge of what went into that. XP itself sees if the ingredients that go into that number change or not; only if they change does it trip the activation flag. (This was documented by a group of programmers who got into the activation protocol several months ago.)
Activation can still become a royal pain in many occasions, but I don't see it as a threat to privacy by itself. There are certainly many more direct threats on computers and online today.
Washington, D.C.:
I am amused that all the hype about XP is going on without anyone making any claims about any superiority to Win2000. Everybody knew that all of the Win95/98/Me operating systems were toys, didn't they? I have several machines with Win2000 on them and was hoping that there was some considerable improvement, although it is a fairly reasonable operating system (Not as good as Linux) of course.
While you are giving all of this press to Microsoft, it is good to keep people aware of other products such as StarOffice, which can keep you from paying Microsoft another 500 bucks just for the privilege of actually using your computer to do something. Star Office is pretty good, and will be awesome if the user base expands. It is amusing that the integration in Star Office is better and smarter than in Microsoft office, with Microsoft constantly clamoring that it knows how to integrate features better than anybody else.
Rob Pegoraro: From what I'm hearing, Microsoft itself isn't too clear on how to sell Win 2000 users on the XP upgrade.
As for Star Office... I'm interested in trying the new 6.0 version myself. I was really not impressed at all by 5.0, which for some reason saw fit to include an animated assistant of its own and basically tried to replace the whole Windows desktop instead of just being a productivity suite. Expect a review when 6.0 actually ships.
Arlington, Va.:
With regard to beta testers paying for the real version: at least the beta should be able to upgrade to the "upgrade" version. I now have to pay $199 for a full version of Home or an upgrade of Pro, or go back to another OS altogether.
Rob Pegoraro: Oh, yeah--that is egregious.
Alexandria, Va.:
I have MS Office '98 on my work machine. I most often use MS Access, Excel, Word & Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. Is the stability that much better that I should upgrade or will it just irriate me over all?
Rob Pegoraro: With those apps--all of which work fine in Win 2000 already--you shouldn't have any problem. You should also check your hardware.
Which reminds me: Microsoft has set up a site listing software and hardware compatible with Win XP. That's helpful--but what would be even more useful would be a listing of what definitely doesn't work.
Arlington, Va:.
For the writer who wanted to network Roadrunner broadband -- I've been sharing a broadband connection between one machine running XP beta and one running 98, through a Linksys wireless network. No troubles.
Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the report!
Reston, Va.:
I noticed that while using Windows 2000 and Office 2000 that printer settings really effect the time it takes an application to load. What causes these problems and will we see them in Windows XP?
Rob Pegoraro: I'm not familiar with this effect--are you talking about laser printers, inkjets, over a network or not?
BTW: I can stay a little while longer, but I do have an issue to put out tomorrow as well! So please send me whatever other questions you've got...
Washington, D.C.:
Does Passport, etc. come activated in XP? If so, can it easily be deactivated? Please touch on any other privacy issues associated with XP.
Rob Pegoraro: Sorry I overlooked this question before... yes, Microsoft says you can delete a Passport from XP if you want:
"The Passport is simply a stored credential - so it can be
deleted from a user account. This is performed via User Accounts in Control Panel & then going to the "Change User Account" and then to "Manage my Network Passwords" & then deleting the Passport account."
Silver Spring, Md.:
Re: Mac OS X
I don't like Microsoft, and I would like to get a Mac (I'm familiar with Macs anyway). But I'm not sure how the software will hold up as more and more programs get released for both operating systems. I'm not looking for a high end system, but I want something that'll at least last for a little while (my 200 Mhz Pentium is slowly nearing the junk pile). Does that help?
Rob Pegoraro: If you don't like Microsoft and are interested in a Mac already--I'd say you sure sound like a Mac OS X convert. Or at least somebody who will find it increasingly useful as more software comes out for it. (For instance, Microsoft's own, quite attractive Office v.X for Mac OS X, due 11/19. It looks a lot nicer than Office XP, in fact.)
Washtech.com:
Hey Rob, isn't it true you're publishing your very thorough ISP directory in tomorrow's edition? washingtonpost.com:
Please join Rob Pegoraro tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. EDT, to talk about the Post's ISP Guide.
Rob Pegoraro: Why thank you for mentioning this! Indeed, I'll be back here in oh, 22.5 hours to talk about Internet providers. Set your alarm clocks now!
Washington, D.C.:
I just got XP and I don't have DSL yet -- I want anything but Verizon. Does anyone else serve the District?
Rob Pegoraro: And speaking of Internet-access questions--can you wait until tomorrow? I think you'll find a number of options in our ISP directory.
Reston, Va.:
Earlier question about printer settings and Windows 2000 was referring to network printers. I move locations frequently and login in to a variety of client networks. If a printer is chosen at a previous location and I try to run an Office program the program takes a very long time to open. If I change the default printer to one on the network the application opens instantly. Any thoughts?
Rob Pegoraro: This isn't something I've dealt with--the printers here are all extremely large and anchored to desks. But Windows XP doesn't have a fundamentally new printing architecture--that's one area where I can't think of anything new in XP, come to think of it. So I'll wager that this situation is still present in XP.
Rob Pegoraro: And with that, I need to get back to work. Thanks for keeping me busy here... if you've got more questions or want to talk later on about your experience with XP, you know where to reach me.
- R
washingtonpost.com:
That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the
discussion.
Please join Rob Pegoraro tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. EDT, to talk about the Post's ISP Guide.
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