Win XP: Why should I buy it?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m running Windows 98. I never bothered to go to ME or 2000 because, well, I don’t see any significant difference. Mrs. RickJay runs 2000 Professional and if it makes any difference to what we do I’ll be darned if I see it.

I have a P3-1000 with all the trimmings and high speed access. I pretty much use my computer for four things:

  1. Video games
  2. More video games
  3. Internet
  4. Writing stuff in Word and Final Draft

So, is there any reason I should upgrade to XP? Would I see a real performance difference over '98, or does it have any productivity tools I don’t currently have?

NOTE: Please don’t start up an OS Holy War. I don’t care about Macs or Linux, because it would be harder to run EverQuest on them, and if it won’t run EverQuest, it’s not for me. I’m just interested in the differences between Windows 98, 2000, and XP.

2

In my opinion I think upgrading from 98 to anything for a basic computer user is futile.

I inadvertently upgraded from 98 to ME when I bought my new computer. I noticed no difference in the capability. However you said that use your computer for composing documents. XP has the latest versions of Microsoft Office. Maybe your only benefit.

Note: I left out some advantages, this was done because of his computing needs. Basic.

3

Do you have any stability problems on 98? 2k/XP is MUCH more stable (in my rather significant, 300 or so systems, experience), and XP is just as compatible, games-wise. But, on the other hand, if you’re happy with 98, then by all means, no, don’t upgrade. But I think you’d notice more stability.

4

Because the lovely green field background and the blue window frames are just so darn cute!

On the down side, some of your games might not work any more.

You won’t see any noticable increase in performance (you’ll not likely notice a decrease either).

If all of your hardware is not on the XP compatibility list, you’ll likely never get it to run right.

It’s going to strongly suggest that you go to MSN for your internet, and it’s going to sign you up for a passport so you can register, whether you want a passport or not.

I have XP on a machine just so I can play with it. Haven’t found much I like about it so far. The one place I would definately NOT put it is on my 98 box that I use for all of my games.

5

Have you not found the “compatibility mode” option under preferences for your games? I’ve found that it runs literally everything that I’ve thrown at it.

6

Hmm…

Because if you buy it from Staples, you get some really cool free stuff? :slight_smile:

7

Yes, I did find compatibility mode.

Just playing around, I tested 2 dos programs out on XP, duke nukem 3D and PC 64 (a commodore 64 emulator). Both of these run fine under 95 or 98. Duke nukem won’t run at all, and the best you can get with PC 64 is that it works with no sound. 0 for 2 on my dos attempts tells me that XP isn’t quite so good for old stuff as Microsoft says it is.

While poking through the XP reviews, I came across a lot of people claiming that games would not work. Some had gone so far as to contact the game manufacturer. Unlike my tests, most of these were newer games.

Hardware incompatibility made up a majority of the gripes through, from what I read. In my own experience, the first machine I tried to install XP on had problems due to the graphics card and the network card. I thought I would try the graphics card first (since the screen was too hard to read to fuss around with much else). I clicked through the video properties screen, but could not find the old change driver button I was used to. So, I followed the help. It told me to press the change driver button. The one that wasn’t there. Grrrr…

I gave up and tried a different machine. I’m gonna have to learn how to manually install drivers for this thing sometime soon though. Anyone?

I’m still playing around with it, but so far I am fairly underwhelmed by XP.

8

Everyone, I’d just like you to know that pretty much everything EGC has said is complete bull. Look at any legitimate technical/consumer review. Or hell, look in MPSIMS, GD, IMHO…

I’ll give you some links when I have time, if you want.

9

And I am a dyslecix retard and can’t spell ECG…

[sub]yes, I meant to misspell ‘dyslexic’[/sub]

10

I’ve been running WinXP for the last 3 months (I was a release candidate tester), and I don’t have any games that don’t work, and that’s without compatibility mode. This includes games such as: NHL 2001, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, Need For Speed:PU, Tony Hawk 2, Black and White, Rollercoaster Tycoon, the Sims, and more. That’s just my experience. YMMV. I’ve found XP to be 10 times more stable than 98, and it seems to handle crashes better than 98 when they do occur (which is very rarely). The blue window borders are butt ugly, so I use the silver ones, which look really spiffy, IMO.

Jman

11

Poloin,

Just to clarify, Windows XP and Office XP are two separate products. Windows XP is the operating system and does not come automatically with Office XP, which must be purchased separately.

12

Can’t we all just boycott XP and hope it goes away?
I can’t stand this registration crap and having to contact Microsoft if I change “too much” hardware.

13

Surely to God we can avoid an OS Holy War, at my request, just for me to ask my little question?

To answer some of the speculation, I’m having basically no stability problems at all with Win 98. Guess I need not upgrade.

14

I had no trouble upgrading the one test system that I put XP on.

In answer to your OP, I would say that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. XP does have some decent new features, but you have to ask yourself if they are worth the $100 ($200 for Pro edition) that it will cost you to upgrade. Also, be aware that while I personally didn’t have any problems with the upgrade, many report that they have.

15

If you’re in that sweet spot with 98, don’t even make sudden movements around your computer.

I’ve been running 2000 for a year now, and find it infinitely preferable to 98; however, I’m constantly doing different things with it, so the added stability really makes a difference.

Don’t change anything until you know that you need to.

16

Monster104, this is a discussion forum. Stating that something is “complete bull” without giving any reason whatsoever why, or any specific information, is not productive.

Since you don’t give any specific disagreements, here is basically where I’m coming from:

This site talks about some of the passport issues, as well as giving many differing opinions about other parts of the operating system:

This site talks about upgrade difficulties, MSN issues, and the fact that Sim City 3000 does not work with XP:
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/opinion/techtest/ml102501.htm

This site mentions that Kyodai and Battlezone II (I’m not familiar with either of these) run horribly, but Diablo runs smoothly, and Max Payne freezes (although another post mentions this one as running fine). GlQuake and Unreal were reported to run with no problems.
http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/2352.html

This site has some interesting comments:
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2811839,00.html
Specifically, “When push comes to shove, reliability takes precedence over compatibility in Windows XP” - Microsoft’s Mark Croft. I have heard similar information from other Microsoft sources.

This site has a good overview of the issues involved:
http://www.larrysworld.com/articles/lat_xpreview.htm
“The vast majority of programs tested work on XP even if they were written for much earlier versions of Windows or even MS-DOS. There are, however, programs that won’t run properly or at all. Games are especially vulnerable, as are utility and anti-virus programs and CD-burning software, including Roxio’s popular Easy CD Creator.”

The rest is just my own admittedly limited experience with XP, and my knowledge of how the internals of 9.x, DOS, and NT are all put together.

If you have something you specifically disagree with, please give me a little more detail as to why. I re-read my post loooking for any accidental incidences of bovine scatology and did not find any, but would be glad to be shown the error of my ways.

17

I don’t know if this is going to help or not, but the conventional wisdom among my geek friends is that it is a good idea to wait around until at least Service Pack 2 before trying to tangle with a new Microsoft OS.

I’m not saying this to be controversial. The fact of the matter is that Windows XP is an incredibly complex piece of software which must attempt to be backwards-compatible with both poorly written software and poorly documented and near-obsolete hardware.

A perfect example is going to be the thousands and thousands of system owners who have 3DFX Voodoo-series video cards which work perfectly well, except for the fact that 3DFX is defunct and therefore is not producing any new device drivers for the cards. MS may feel some obligation to attempt to support these cards, but problems are almost certain to arise.

18

I just went to the MS Windows XP rollout event. I have ME and it’s not that stable so I will probably upgrade for stability. The independent reviews seem to agree that XP is way more stable than 95/98/ME. If you bought a PC recently (I got a Dell last month) you can probably get a real cheap XP upgrade. I think mine costs 20 bucks. I think the new features are nice but may not be worth the upgrade cost. The main new features are helpful for remote computing , connecting to laptops, and using video and audio files. If you buy a new PC now you are probably going to get XP on it anyway.

19

Just got XP installed - works great except it wants no part of my modem - have to work on that. A word of warning - this does [flashing bright colors]NOT[/flashing bright colors] upgrade your current windows - it deletes the windows subdirectory and installs itself (or leaves it alone if you install windows somewhere else). When you install it you must install all your programs again.

that in itself would account for some stability but I’ve not had any problem but still only have been using it for a few hrs. also bootup time much faster the 98 (1st ed).

20

Also I want to point out that I have removed ME from some computers and installed 98se because ME was so unstable - the main reason I didn’t upgrade to it.