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There's No Blinds On These Windows 66 of 66 Ciao Users found the following review helpful
Rating from sandemp 4 Stars ()

Advantages Stable | User friendly

Disadvantages Not the most secure OS | Expensive

Before I start this review I'm going to apologise for how long it is likely to be, but to properly review such a huge product as an operating system is going to take quite a lot more than a few paragraphs. To make it easier for you to find the information you personally will need, I'll organise everything under headings.

---My History with Windows---

The first version of Windows I ever used was Windows 3.1, a long, long time ago and I remember thinking how wonderful it looked and how much more you could do with it. This was in a time, when all the other computer systems I had used were text based, and any programs that you might use were kept on some sort of floppy disc or tape.

I also had very limited use of Windows for workgroups, but these were a long time ago.

Quite a few years passed, and finally I was able to afford my own computer, which came with Windows ME, which looked very nice and was easily customisable, but boy was it unstable. I found that it was "crashing" several times a day and I almost cheered on the day that my next computer that came with Windows XP arrived.

I've since owned three computers that have each come with Windows XP Home installed, and have had quite a bit of experience with it over the last three years.

---Do you need the complete package?---

This is an important question to ask yourself before buying Windows XP/SP2 Home Complete, especially as there is a huge price difference between this and an upgrade. If you are running Windows 98, 98SE or ME, then you will only need to upgrade, if you are running any other operating system (or have none at all) then you will need to buy the complete package.

Another interesting point to make is that there are two versions of the complete software available, one is the retail package, which is what I'm reviewing and the other is the OEM version, which can only be bought with a piece of hardware and is intended for use when building a computer.

---Why I bought it---

I bought this package because my original operating system was destroyed by a nasty virus, and as I had changed the way my hard drive was formatted, the supplied recovery disc wouldn't work. I didn't have time to get an OEM version, and didn't need any hardware anyway, so I decided to just buy the complete package to save myself time.

---System Specifications---

Windows XP Home is quite hungry in terms of processing power, RAM and hard drive space and requires that the computer meets AT LEAST the following specifications (although the higher the specs the better it will work).

* PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233-MHz minimum required; Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended

* 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)

* 1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.

* Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor

* CD-ROM or DVD drive

* Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

My own computer exceeds these requirements many times over, being

* Pentium 530 (running at 3000 MHz)

* 1024 MB RAM

* 2x200 GB Hard Drive.

Detailed Rating

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Ease of use
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Reliability
Range of extra features / functions
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Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition w/SP2 Complete package

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The Author

sandemp since 21 Oct 2002

Burn the land and boil the sea...you can't take the sky from me. Never has feeling so sick felt... more

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Maybe you have a question about Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition w/SP2 Complete package? Ask here
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  • LawrenceP 13/05/2009 09:37

    Are you aware someone has copied your review? See here: http://www.ciao.co.uk/Microsoft_Windows_​XP_Home_Edition_w_SP2_Complete_package__​Review_5837793

  • Bigbaz 25/06/2005 20:21
    Rated this review as
    Very Helpful

    Out of choice I will use Linux. Most programes that I need are freely available, I dont suffer any crashes, everything works driver wise and best of all it's free. Xp has caused me a miriad of problems, I will not use internet explorer or outlook express for instance prefering the mozilla based alternatives of K-Meleon or Firefox as browsers and the superb Thunderbird for e mail..Baz

  • Soho_Black 01/05/2005 08:19
    Rated this review as
    Very Helpful
  • Alican 26/04/2005 18:46
    Rated this review as
    Very Helpful

    XP seems to work fantastically for us, we have the student package though, so that was abit cheaper. Alice xxx

  • docpov 20/04/2005 17:57
    Rated this review as
    Exceptional

    What impreesed me the most was when I came to install my aging HP printer and XP just found the drivers, not even any need to put the disk in, very impressed.

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