Full Review

As a long-time user of Windows 2000 Professional, I finally bow to Windows XP Professional SP-2. Notice the important word "SP-2" (Service Pack 2).

In August 2004, Microsoft released SP-2 patch files for Windows XP. At the same time, they released new versions of Windows XP SP-2 as a Full Install or Upgrade. Service Pack 2 represents Microsoft's greatest effort, and response to consumers as well as corporates feedbacks and complaints, regarding the security hole inherent in Windows XP; for example, such as the incident of summer 2003 with Blaster worm virus. Windows XP with its patch files in Service Pack 2 places great emphasis on security and stability making it a worthwhile operating system for home or office use.

Initially, while using Windows XP Professional along side Windows 2000 Professional, I often regarded Windows XP to be nothing more than Windows 2000 Professional with fancy GUI (Graphical User Interface) and a few bells and whistles. I believe it was true in the case of Windows XP SP-1, in spite of the fact that it contains some wonderful (and often useful) features that Windows 2000 Professional lacks, such as:

- Built-in wireless networking
- User Switching
- System Restore and Driver Rollback
- Simple File Sharing
- Built-in multi-media features
- Remote Desktop

There is, however, a clear cut between Windows XP SP-1 and Windows XP SP-2, namely, security. This is very important for those who rely on using this operating system out of the box. Windows XP SP-2 is not simply Windows XP with enhanced security features. Its core binaries have been recompiled to incorporate security enhancements that features Firewall protection, Computer updates, Antivirus programs. It's got new and enhanced features on browser security, network security such as LAN (both wired and wireless), dial-up and virtual private network (VPN). As a security measure and to block spammers from taking advantage of Alert and Messenger services over the internet, SP-2 disables these services by default.

To sum up, there are a lot of security feature improvements on Windows XP SP-2 that take place at the very core of its operating system. One of them is data execution prevention (DEP) which guards against any malicious program (sent by a senseless hacker over the internet or network) from attempting to exploit unexpected memory locations and insert an executable code in the system.

Installation, Hardware Compatibility/Requirements, Activation

Windows XP SP-2 has a minimum hardware requirement (similar to its predecessor):

- CPU with 266MHz or higher, Intel or AMD
- RAM of 64MB
- Hard Drive space of 1.5GB
- CD-ROM Drive

In reality, this minimum hardware requirement provides nothing suitable to practical performance. It basically shows that Windows XP can be installed on it and nothing more. On my old desktop (Intel Pentium II 350MHz, 192MB RAM, 5400RPM 4.2GB hard drive), Windows XP performed so slow to yield any real practical or productive application. Windows XP (Professional) is a very capable operating system; and therefore, it requires a very capable hardware with huge RAM (512MB recommended) and fast CPU.

The installation (via a media disc) only requires a CD-ROM drive. For a fresh install on an existing hard drive, it requires a few technical steps from the user, such as setting the BIOS to boot directly from the CD-ROM drive. If you intend to install Windows XP SP-2 along side the existing operating system (e.g., Windows 98), then it only requires inserting the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and follow a few installation procedures, provided there is an empty partition for Windows XP, to avoid a dual-boot disaster.

Windows XP can be installed on FAT32 partition or NTFS partition. However, NTFS is recommended for the benefit of high security features, large capacity disk population, disk space management, data compression, system crash recovery, etc. The benefit of NTFS is so vast that only when you get to utilize its feature that you release its great advantage over FAT32.

Installation time varies between hardware systems. It took over 40 minutes to install Windows XP on my old desktop (mentioned above). The same installation took no more than 12 minutes on my system with dual AMD Opteron CPUs (2.0GHz), 1024MB RAM, and a fast hard drive. In most cases, Windows XP SP-2 detects and configures many hardware components (such as Ethernet, modem, graphics card, sound card), provided they came out prior to Windows XP SP-2's release. When installed on my desktop server (Tyan S2466MPX motherboard), Windows XP SP-2 configured the built-in Ethernet (3Com 3C920) and both PCI cards (Creative Lab SB Live and SupraMax). However, when installed on my newer system (Tyan S2875ANRF), many built-in components must be activated via the motherboard's driver.

Microsoft has provided a list of hardware components that are compatible with Windows XP. Microsoft also indicated that they only provide hardware support for those components on the list. Frankly, I never bothered to check the list if any of my hardware components are covered under this support. Firstly, I have never encountered hardware compatibility issues. Secondly, I have never contacted Microsoft for help; except to activate my Windows XP system.

Windows XP has a 30-day activation period from the day it was installed. The user has 30 days to use the operating system. After that period, the operating system has to be activated before it can be logged on. Activation can be done via a phone or internet. I have done both in the past. But most of the time, I had to call their 1-888 number to speak to the Microsoft representative at the activation center.

If the existing system has gone through a series of hardware upgrade, Windows XP will require reactivation. This is one thing that I was initially put off by Microsoft. A system upgrade involving adding new hard drives does not trigger this reactivation. Only when the motherboard's PCI slots have changed their IRQ addressing (that is, adding more PCI cards) did Windows XP require reactivation. This has happened to me several times (under Windows XP SP-1).

Using the Windows XP

I still have a love and hate relationship with Windows XP, despite having been exposed to it for three years now. The impressive new log-on screen, where I can attach a photo image of every user on the system for a good and fancy look, lasted only a short time for me; and I converted back to using the classic log-on screen. It seems oxymoron to me that Windows XP (SP-2) places such high security features on the system, yet supports a log-on method where a hacker gets to see who has an account on the system and with a password hint. At the same time, these two features can be the best of what Windows XP has to offer: for a secure system in a work force and for a friendly system at home.

The Windows XP's GUI requires time to learn; and this can put off people who are used to the powerful classic GUI on Windows 2000 Professional. I have tried using the new GUI for a while, then went back to the Classic style, for fast navigation and simplicity. A new user of Windows operating system will probably fall in love with its bright green and blue desktop, and with such colorful taskbar. It is nice that Windows XP incorporates many GUI styles (themes, appearance), including the Classic one, allowing the user to "tweak" the GUI system to their preference. Windows Explorer in Windows XP is highly customizable.

Security
The difference between Windows XP SP-1 and Windows XP SP-2 is very minor on the skin. The one important feature that separates the two is perhaps the placement of the Windows Security Alerts icon on the group taskbar and its pop-up message balloon about Firewall, System updates and Antivirus. Underneath the skin, I believe the two versions are quite different. The new Windows Security Center is grouped within the Control Panel, which is absent in the SP-1. Its built-in firewall is very secure, even within the local network workgroup. With this firewall put up, no one on the network can get into your system, except for a remote desktop access.

Windows XP SP-2 does not have a built-in antivirus program, but it scans for any third-party such program and warns us of the condition and recommends an installation. For me, I regularly turn on the firewall and system updates for new patch files. But I have never used or installed any Antivirus programs to help secure the system, except a SpywareBlaster software that helps prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, hijackers, dialers, etc., combined with Lavasoft Ad-ware SE Professional software. Suffice it to say that, using common sense and careful interaction on the internet, I have been surfing the web (using both Mozilla and Internet Explorer 6) free of virus attacks or any potentially harmful pests.

Multi-media
My only initial acceptance of Windows XP was its great multi-media features, particularly its digital media in Organizing and Editing Images, and Image Files Compression and Shrinkage. Digital files management such as slide show or filmstrip view are features that Windows 2000 Professional lacks. Since I regularly work with image files, Windows XP's built-in Image handling and manipulation is a very welcome feature. With a free download of Microsoft Powertoys application, I can quickly put together an HTML slide show.

Out of the box, Windows XP has so many multi-media features that I (we) often overlook, even though most of them only offer the basics. A few such useful features, in addition to those mentioned above, are the Windows Movie Maker, Windows Media Player, CD-R or CD-RW Copy, Image and Video Capture, Music Library, etc. Among them, I regularly use Windows XP's CD Writing Wizard for a quick copy of image and data files with a simple drag-and-drop feature. I have used its Movie Maker program to produce a simple video with my MPEG video clips with various degree of success. If all you need to produce a home-made video with just the basic features, Windows Movie Maker may be the one, and no need to spend money on a third-party product.

By default, Windows XP stores user folders (My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, etc) in the system partition. This is a bad thing which can slow down log-on and log-off process, not to mention the invasion of system's disk space. It's nice that these folders can be moved to a different location. On my system, I move them to my data partition on a separate disk.

It's funny that I have Microsoft Office 2003 suite installed on my system, yet I often use Windows XP's WordPad or NotePad to write letters or papers. In fact, most of my epinions reviews were written using either WordPad or OpenOffice suite in Linux system. That said, most general documents, letters or papers, requiring less sophistication, can be done using Windows XP's built-in text/word processor. Why pay over $300 for an impressive MS Office suite with features that you will never require beyond the basics? It's only when I write documents consisting of images and HTML related project that I turn to MS Office 2003.

Great Dynamic Disks Management
I like the Dynamic Disk feature in Windows XP Professional. For a simple desktop workstation with one hard disk drive used for everything ranging from system operation to data storage, Windows XP is being run under-powered. With three or four hard drives, Windows XP can be a formidable operating system. In Dynamic Disk setting, Windows XP Professional can add a new hard drive to combine with the existing data hard drive to make a large volume in a spanned structure. With two identical hard drives, Windows XP Professional can combine them in a striped volume so data can be written to both drives in equal chunk-size with great accessing speed far beyond what a single drive can offer.

I have set up my desktop system using two identical hard drives configured as striped volume for Windows XP's paging file and program files. I have seen great increase is speed and performance, even for web surfing. My cousin has a one hard drive desktop system using DSL for his internet. I could swear that for basic web page, my dial-up system could display it faster than his DSL PC system based on a "one hard drive for everything". Sometimes, there is no advantage in having a DSL if the system is experiencing bottle-neck on data management. Of course, downloading data on the internet is another story with DSL vs. my high-speed dial-up. But for read/write and browser web page display, a high-speed dial-up combined with system with good "tweaking" is just as capable; all possbile with Windows XP's Dyanmic Disk feature.

Along with this powerful feature, Windows XP also includes the basic disk management tools, such as Defragmenter, Disk Cleanup, Errors checker. Even though these are basic, they provide the most useful disk management needs for basic and smart system maintenance. I often find them very useful, without the need to purchase and use third-party vendors, such as Diskeeper, Symantec's Norton, etc.

At Ease on the Internet
With Windows XP SP-2, Internet Explorer 6 has a new feature on blocking pop-ups. This is one nice feature to have and to be spared from the annoying pop-ups from advertisement or hacker who wants to establish connection with your IP port. Internet Explorer 6 is a great web browser that I use on and off. But because of its weak security inherent in ActiveX in earlier Windows version, I resolve to regularly use Mozilla as my web browser. Internet Explorer 6 can be removed from the system. Instead I installed Mozilla along side and set it as the default web browser.

While Internet Explorer 6 works fine out of the box, I often "tweak" its features on Security under the Internet Options to give me a peace of mind while surfing on the internet.

The Good and The Bad

Command Lines
Windows XP (both Home and Professional, beginning with SP-1) incorporates a wonderful feature that users may fall in love with. It is text-command utility, accessible via the Command Prompt. Personally, I think Windows XP tries to "mimic" the UNIX/Linux text-command utility, by allowing users to set or configure the system via the command prompt. This is a very good thing, because it is fast.

However, I think there are two bad things. First, it requires time and patience to learn Windows XP's command-line syntax. Second, the text-command utility is running on top of the GUI. Therefore, if the GUI crashes, the whole system crashes, carrying the command-line utility down with it. Actually, there is a third one, namely, that Windows XP has abandoned the MS-DOS commands. Despite these short-comings, I kind of like the Windows XP text commands, and prefer to use them quite often.

Operating System is Too Large
Windows XP contains all the useful features. This is a good thing. The bad thing is that all these features were installed along with the operating system, no option to leave them out, to conserve space, system resources, stability or compatibility. However, most of them can be removed later on. Some other features can be added by using the Windows XP CD-ROM. The real bad part is that, because it is so big, Windows XP requires a powerful hardware system to provide a smooth operation. That's why Windows 2000 Professional or Windows 98SE are the best bet for those who prefer to use third-party products. Under the same "weak" hardware system, my Windows 2000 Professional responds (performs) much better than Windows XP.

Single, Multi-user, make up your mind!
Windows XP is a pseudo multi-user system with its User Switch feature. Nonetheless, it remains a single-user system at all time. Even when different users are logged on, they each cannot use any program applications being used by others without cutting them off. Its fancy feature like the Remote Desktop Access (via LAN, dial-up call or internet), only permits a single log-on. When I tried to perform a remote access via a LAN connection, I could not log on to my remote system if I was still locally logged on. I had to disable to local account to log on remotely. This is a bad thing.

Stability and Softwate/Hardware Compatibility
With the right software setup, Windows XP is hands down stable and with smooth operation. The good thing I like about it is its Rollback feature, where I can reset my hardware driver back to its original setting. My scanner driver was working properly until I decided to explore its new features from a driver update, but only to find out many instability issues. Without having to uninstall and reinstall the driver, I simply used the Windows XP's Driver Rollback feature. This could save a lot of time and headaches.

What I don't like about Windows XP is that it sometimes pretends to be smart and tries to install a driver for a new hardware I just added (via USB, IEEE-1934, or PCI) which only leads to compatibility issues. I had to proceed the normal way by installing drivers from the third-party CD-ROM, bypassing the Setup Wizard. I had this experience with my Nikon LS-40 scanner as well as PixelView PCI video capture card.

Windows XP is excellent (but not as good as Windows 2000) at handling run-away program. If any program does not respond, the system shuts it down right away. The quick Task Manager tool (via right-click on the taskbar or Alt+Ctrl+Del) is also very capable at handling or killing any stubborn programs. Based on my experience with various hardware system, it seems that Windows XP is capable in different level. For a single-CPU system, some run-away program could cause Windows XP to stall for a long time before it finally ended. I found out that on a dual-CPU system this process (with the exact same program) was handled much quicker.

System Backup/Restore
I like the Backup Utility in Wndows XP. Frankly, I rarely use third-party system backup utility, if only what I need is a data backup, in incremental or differential, daily or weekly. Windows XP's backup utility is very powerful in that regard, which can be done in manual mode or in automation. Combined with Dynamic Disk utility, system backup and restore utility is perhaps the best feature offered in Windows XP that should not be under estimated.

Conclusion

This review does not pretend to cover the complete features and capabilities of Windows XP Professional SP-2. However, all the features I have used so far demonstrate that Windows XP Professional SP-2 is a highly capable operating system (at least for a workstation). With a good amount of time and patience put into it, I believe Windows XP can be a likeable operating system to everyone (even for me who is a regular UNIX/Linux user).

It appears that Microsoft Windows XP is quite popular, which comes in various versions: Home, Professional, Media Center Edition 2004/2005, Tablet PC Edition 2005, 64-bit Edition. There is a subtle difference between the Home and Professional Edition. My discussion above concentrated on the Professional Edition. The difference between them is very minor on the skin. In fact, at startup, both versions display the same Windows XP logo (the "Professional" word was dropped in the Professional version in SP-2). Under the skin, the Professional SP-2 version has more features on hardware support and security. For example, the Professional Edition supports a dual-processor system, secure network group and policy, dynamic disk management, etc.

Clearly, if you do not intend to utilize these features, then it would probably work best (in terms of saving money) to use the Home Edition. However, for a powerful workstation with multi-disk management, file and print sharing, networking, etc, Windows XP Professional SP-2 is probably the one to consider.

There is a good upgrade route to consider if you are currently using Windows XP SP-1 (Home or Professional). The SP-2 patch file (cabinet file) is 266MB in size, which can be downloaded at Microsoft web site. The SP-2 disc can be purchased as well, which I did for my SP-1 version. Updating to SP-2 is quite straightforward, and can be done on a fresh install of Windows XP SP-1 or on a working Windows XP SP-1 system with everything already configured to the user's preference. I have done update a number of times for many people I know, using both methods without any problems on the system's integrity or stability.

The Windows XP Professional SP-2 is very expensive, even though I paid only $79 for it at school (for the full version). The retail package sold in stores can be as high as $200. It seems that one has to spend a lot money on a hardware system to have Windows XP run the way that it should. Personally, I would not purchase it at this price. This is why an OpenSource organization like GNU/Linux tries to provide a free distribution of an operating system, for those who cannot afford the hefty price of Windows XP that can only be installed on one PC system (and with the annoying activation process). The down side is that GNU/Linux can be very difficult to use compared to Windows.

Speak from experience, Windows XP provides a good manageable multi-media system compared to GNU/Linux (for the reason that few software vendors support Linux system). For this reason, I use Windows XP mostly, if not solely, for my multi-media applications.

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Tips for New Users of Windows XP: Performing a minor tweaking on Windows XP for increase responsiveness.

Windows XP (SP-1 or SP-2) is poor at system resource management; or, perhaps it is too stingy with the way it "uses" resources. In a fresh install of Windows XP, a paging file (swap file) can be at least 530MB and as large as 3100MB depending on how much RAM is available. The way Windows XP prepares its paging file size is based on the amount of physical RAM; and it assigns a minimum of 1.5x physical RAM and a maximum of 3x. On my workstation with 1024MB RAM, Windows XP assigns paging file with a range of 1536MB to 3072MB. This is bad, because the system spends so much time using hard drive for its virtual memory, while the capable physical RAMs sit and do nothing. Even worse, the paging file resides on the system partition, thus further slowing down the system responsiveness because the hard drive is so busy reading/writing bits of files to and from various sectors in the hard drive.

For a multiple hard drive, the advantage is to set a system paging file on a separate disk (spreading out on several disk even better) out side of the system's drive. If you have large RAM, 720MB or 1024MB, it's good to reduce the paging file and "force" Windows XP to use physical RAM. For my desktop with 1024MB RAM, I set paging file split into two parts on two separate disks each with a range of 32-512MB. The system was very responsive. For a desktop with 2048MB RAM, I set two separate paging files each with 32-256MB. Of course, the advantage of using a separate paging file only works with a desktop system with multiple disks. However, for a laptop, the same procedure can be done if it has a good amount of RAM (say 512MB or larger). Reducing the paging file to about 480MB on a 512MB RAM system should also improve the system responsiveness. Sometimes, if Windows complains about low virtual memory, you can increase the paging file, especially with many large applications running.

Moving My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, etc., out of the system partition (preferably on a separate disk) is another good way to increase Wndows XP responsiveness.

After a long use, the paging file becomes very disorganized with fragmented files much like normal data partition; and this can really slow down the system. Performing a disk defragmenter only "defragments" data sectors. Windows XP does not touch paging file section, because it is constantly using it. The advantage of multiple disks is to move the paging file around while performing a system wide disk defragmentation on each drive or partition. This is where the advantage comes in with the use of several partitions even on a single hard drive.