Are there any really useful freeware/shareware programmes for Windows XP. I suppose it depends on what your definition of useful is but for a start are there any such progs’ to rotate your choice of wallpaper automatically? I think there was a group of progs Powertoys/tweakui for windows 95, any such equivalent?
There most definately are:
Good for any flavor of Windows, from 95 up.
Microsoft also has the power toys for XP available: I don’t have the addy for that off hand.
I haven’t seen any tools to automatically switch wallpaper, but then that’s not something I used in previous editions of Windows either. Perhaps someone else knows of one…
There are also a few out there to eliminate certain… annoyances with XP, like oh say, Messenger, etc. But since I tend to find those programs only on… er… ‘questionable’ sites, I won’t put up any links here. A google search should come up with more than a few hits though.
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The best possible Add-On for Windows XP would be Red Hat Linux, or any other non-XP version of the Windows OS (I’d recommend Windows 2000).
XP is the first step to Microsoft’s big brother-esque Windows.Net scheme, where all software will be rental ware and everything you do in the cyber world will have to pass through the watchful blokes at Redmond. .Net is evil, and must be stopped.
Personally, I also find the “Activation” feature of Windows XP to be quite objectionable. I don’t steal software, and wouldn’t pirate my copy of Windows to friends. But in reality, Windows is crap, and genearlly has to be reinstalled once a year or so to keep a computer running well. With XP, that’ll eventually become a problem, because everytime you reinstall it you have to “prove” to Microsoft that you’re allowed to do this.
Plus, on my Dell, I found XP to be totally unsstable (which is strange, because the beta version I tested for MS was quite stable). So frustrating, in fact, that the second Apple came out with their new G4 iMac, I ran right out and bought one.
Great little machine. Hell, maybe the new iMac with OS X is the best possible add-on to Windows XP. 
Kirk