# Overall Windows XP has been a pretty good Operating System to date **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060 "2005-08-08T02:55:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/41 "2005-08-10T00:07:25Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > This thread wasn’t designed for your drive-bys adding to the OS religious war. If you have something solid and interesting to add to the XP discussion, please feel free to do so; if you’re just planning on throwing in yet another one-line criticism accompanied by that annoying smilie you have trailing most snide comments you make, don’t bother. Considering I didn’t advocate for any particular platform, I think the accusation is somewhat misplaced – I can think of a half-dozen solidly reliable systems that were around long before Windows XP hit the scene. I just think the implication that the computer market was a morass of unreliability before Windows XP arrived is a myopic view to take. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/42 "2005-08-10T00:40:16Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Considering I didn’t advocate for any particular platform, I think the accusation is somewhat misplaced – I can think of a half-dozen solidly reliable systems that were around long before Windows XP hit the scene. I just think the implication that the computer market was a morass of unreliability before Windows XP arrived is a myopic view to take. Your protests ring pretty hollow, **rjung**. Were it another poster who didn’t have your history of crashing into a PC thread to deliver a one-line payload touting your belief that Macs are superior, I might believe you meant for others to look in the direction of more than Apple’s shining star. Unfortunately, your posting history belies that interpretation. You’re welcome to continue posting to computer threads; however, step carefully when doing so. I no longer want to see what amounts to inappropriate, one lined “Windows sucks!” cheers from you. You’ll be officially warned if you do so. My advice to you is that, if you don’t want your briefer posts to be interpreted as yet another bowl of Kibbles 'n Bits to feed one of your pet causes, you should expound to say exactly what you mean. I encourage you to take part in computer threads, but thou shalt litter no more. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/43 "2005-08-10T11:22:18Z")
My main gripes with XP were the extra pretty bits that slowed the computer down and the fact I couldn’t install Quake 2. I bought a better computer so now it runs smoothly with all the bumph turned on and I found out how to install Quake2 thanks to someone on here so I’m almost a happy bunny. The things that still annoy me are the dman restart now or later option that comes up whenever you install updates (I pressed update later and I’m busy, stop pestering me) and the fact that, despite specifying I live in England and speak ‘UK English’ I still have ‘centers’ and ‘colors’. Mainly it’s fine and does everything I want with the minimum of fuss. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/44 "2005-08-10T13:36:34Z")
Disclaimer: While I do think it’s a pretty decent operating system all in all, I still wouldn’t want to date it 😉 ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/45 "2005-08-11T16:44:24Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > 1. The activation crap really, REALLY, gets on my nerves, and I’m not someone who is anti-microsoft. The online activation didn’t work for me, so I had to enter the damned four thousand f-ing digit super secret code into the phone and then enter the four thousand f-ing digit super secret code the phone gave me back into the computer. So far I’ve only had to reformat my disk once, and it did activate the 2nd time ok, but just the idea that I have to get microsoft involved just to format a disk really pisses me off. If I could find another operating system that would run the software I need to run I would switch just because of that. Yeah - what’s up with Microsofts Anti-Piracy stuff? Legitimate paying customers get all sorts of aggravation from things like this, while the pirates are circulating versions with it stripped out or bypassed. If I recall correctly there was a version of XP circulating a couple of days before the official launch which had no activation, and I saw a report on the BBC that Microsofts latest validation scheme was cracked within a day or two of being introduced. Why don’t they just give up on it, given that it doesn’t seem to work AT ALL. But other than that XP is pretty decent - doesn’t fall over too often, isn’t that obtuse (if you have been Microsofted from an early age), doesn’t get its knickers in a twist over conflicts and so on quite as often. However it is starting to show its age. It doesn’t even attempt to use modern hardware properly - multi-cpus, \>4Gb RAM etc. In particular I found building it on a machine with a SATA disk a nightmare, enough that I haven’t reinstalled in over a year - fortunately it doesn’t need clear-cutting as often as 98. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/46 "2005-08-11T19:22:39Z")
My biggest objection to WinXP so far is that you don’t get install disks if it comes with your computer, and it’s _WAY_ too expensive. My wife’s newest computer came with XP, which wouldn’t run some of her legacy software for work. We ended up wiping it and installing Win2000. Now, we’ve got her off of that legacy software, and I’d like to upgrade her back to XP. No CDs came with the system, and buying a copy of WinXP costs a couple of hundred bucks. Even though WinXP was included in the price of her hardware, we can’t have it. Remember when Microsoft software included install disks and a manual? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/47 "2005-08-11T19:32:33Z")
I’m partial to 2k on the PC platform, but it is finally starting to get creaky enough to abandon it for good. So, with XP, I’m happiest when I’ve turned just about all the bells and whistles I can right the frick off. I just don’t care for most of uSoft’s aesthetic additions to the user experience, though I do appreciate the greater degree of plug&play capability that comes with XP. So, going bare-bones on the visuals, my old 1GHz Celeron still feels pretty stable and zippy, and though I toy with the idea of going back to 2k again (just unloaded my old, old 2k box, a 700MHz Celeron from ages past), what I’ve got does the job well enough for when I just need to use a PC for something. I’ll probably never use Longhorn, but we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/48 "2005-08-11T19:36:06Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > My biggest objection to WinXP so far is that you don’t get install disks if it comes with your computer, and it’s _WAY_ too expensive. > > My wife’s newest computer came with XP, which wouldn’t run some of her legacy software for work. We ended up wiping it and installing Win2000. Now, we’ve got her off of that legacy software, and I’d like to upgrade her back to XP. No CDs came with the system, and buying a copy of WinXP costs a couple of hundred bucks. Even though WinXP was included in the price of her hardware, we can’t have it. > > Remember when Microsoft software included install disks and a manual? Microsoft can be blamed for a lot of things, but you can’t blame Microsoft for this. The hardware manufacturer placed XP on your system. It’s their responsibility to supply you with XP install disks, not Microsoft. ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/49 "2005-08-11T20:15:09Z")
I provided tech support for an office of 120 people until i was laid off (outsourced IT) in July. We migrated from NT to XP last year and it is dramatically more stable … but i think my favorite thing about XP (Pro anyway) is that it comes with all sorts of IMEs (Imput Method Editors) so I can type my Japanese homework using a standard keyboard layout … ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/50 "2005-08-11T21:22:16Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Computers are not like air conditioners at all. Wish they were more like them. My damn comp blasts hot air out like a furnace. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060/51 "2005-08-12T13:29:00Z")
> [@Terminus Est](#): > > Microsoft can be blamed for a lot of things, but you can’t blame Microsoft for this. The hardware manufacturer placed XP on your system. It’s their responsibility to supply you with XP install disks, not Microsoft. Fortunately almost everyone knows someone who has a CD of XP available for loaning/cloning. My understanding is that it’s legal to do this providing a little holographic certificate or sticker came with the PC indicating the original preinstalled copy was legit - since you have paid for the right to use the software it doesn’t matter where the actual disk is from. At least, that’s what I’ve convinced myself and others, so I hope I’m right ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overall-windows-xp-has-been-a-pretty-good-operating-system-to-date/316060.md?page=2)