RIVER BENDER - September, 2001
Remember when Windows 95 replaced flakey Windows 3.x and people lined up to buy a copy? Well, it might happen again. Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer is expecting a repeat performance when he says "Windows XP will be the highest quality Microsoft operating system ever" and "users will encounter new computing experiences." I hear MS plans to spend twice as much as they did at the Windows 95 coming out party. Is this just a bunch of hype? Should you even be interested? Windows 95 was a definite improvement over 3.x but I don't think Windows 98 or ME had all that much to offer. Ho hum, just another upgrade? Not really - read on.As of this date Windows XP (XP stands for 'experience') is planned to be released on October 25th unless the courts decide differently. Hearings are still planned for September on the release so anything could happen. Sen. Shummer, a New York democrat, has already asked federal and state trustbusters to delay Windows XP release unless MS agree to changes. Small wonder, since MS competitors like AOL Time Warner, IBM and Kodak are based in New York.
In the meantime numerous reports are written about the performance of Windows XP beta versions and surprisingly most critics have nothing but praise. A comment that impressed me most was that XP ran and ran and ran without restarting. Rebooting Windows 95 and 98 has become a common practice for every quirky thing that happens. They're saying that XP is supposed to be the most dependable version of Windows ever released because it uses highly reliable and proven Windows 2000 code instead of continuing with old Windows 9X code.
Windows XP will come in two versions: Home Edition and Professional Edition. Both are close cousins to Windows NT and Windows 2000. One might ask why bother upgrading if you have NT or 2000. It turns out that NT and 2000 were more expensive, harder to install, had trouble with certain software and didn't even offer up-to-date technology like USB, digital media and CD-RW. Nevertheless, there's probably less incentive for someone with NT or 2000 to go to XP but it's definitely a good deal for Windows 95, 98 or ME users. If you have an old PC like me you might want to consider waiting for Windows XP in a new PC, perhaps one with a new 64-bit Intel Itanium processor that will be a giant leap from current 32-bit processors.
Here's a plus for XP: Gone are the days of trying to keep up with the myriad of Microsoft's fixes and updates that one has to download. Window XP Update will provide an automatic means for updating over the Internet.
Another plus is that XP is expected to play older software that Windows 9X had problems with, except for DOS software. DOS, in case you haven't kept up, pretty much died with Windows ME. Many DOS programs may not work at all with XP. That's too bad. I still have old DOS programs I like but the solution mentioned is to keep an old PC with DOS around just to run them.
They say that the user interface of XP will be simplified. Problems with overcrowded task bars, start menus and system trays have been addressed and the welcome screen makes it easy to create individual accounts for each individual's log-on environment. Microsoft has added applications to XP that are already stirring up protests from 3rd party software vendors. For example, their movie-making and photo-editing software will probably help digital camera and camcorder sales but will surely hurt Adobe. They'll also include support for wireless networking. Actually, the conventional wisdom is that Windows XP may be the answer to boost poor PC sales. I think many folks will be waiting on the sideline with their IRS refund checks for Windows XP.
Windows XP will probably be a winner if for nothing more than increased reliability over Windows 9X and ME. There's little question that Microsoft is bundling in more applications that will shut out some third party vendors. But it will only happen to those vendors who don't know how to stay one step ahead of Microsoft.
See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/default.asp for more information on Windows XP.