Microsoft Windows XP Professional Complete package

WINDOWS XP

I have tried the last beta of XP beta and it has to be said that this is the best OS that the big M have made yet with the whole of the Windows desktop brought up to date and has been smoother and given a great new look, resembling Windows Millenium, but much better. All of the windows and bars have a more round look to them with handy little tool tips to help you find your way around abd Microsoft have left the familiar bits like the Start button, taskbar and system tray more or less alone.

The Start button brings up a menu that while familiar is very much an advancement. The last five programs that have been used are now listed, and there are links to "My Documents, My Recent Documents, My Pictures, My Music and My Computer" Clicking any will take you to the relevant folder. Underneath these are a button for the Control Panel and something that says Connect To, the Connect to button is where you connect to your Internet Service Provider (in my case BTInternet), or you can show all connections, Other buttons include Programs, Help, Run and Search, as well as the icons for Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. The shut down button has also been re-vamped, removing the silly drop down list of Millenium and bringing back a three button option.

Now lets take a look at the system tray which is in the same place as ME and this hasn't changed a great deal but something that goes in it has, and thats the two little monitors that indicate when you are connected to the internet - Double clicking this when you are connected brings up a dialogue box that is far more useful than the old version. It now lists data sent, data received, what modem you are using, the phone number and more importanatly your IP address as this is very useful for us online game freaks!!

The folders have changed with the icons becoming prettier and easier to distinguish. Also when you open every folder, on the left hand side is a new toolbar which has links to useful stuff associated with the folder. Adding a new folder is just one click away as are My Documents etc., although if you want you can go back to the classic look of ME if you wanted to do so.

this might seem like this is all cosmetic touches but there is many changes under the hood so to speak (EG there is a firewall built in now)which though are not always what you see off hand you will notice them as time goes on.

There are three versions of this operating system the first it called home edition and like its younger brother ME it is aimed the the familu offering features more useful for entertainment like games, music etc the second one is called PRO and this is aimed at the office and has features around security and lan networks as well as having other features that would not be of much use in the home but are well suited for the needs of the office, the third version is made for the 64bit titanium cpu and i do not know anything about this version apart from it is going to be aimed at small servers etc

The Beta versions had an activation code which needed to got before you could make full use of it or a time bomb would activate and you would no longer be able to use it but this is just for the beta and will not be in the full versions so if you have read about this and was not sure then you know know

Also there is an option before you install where it scans your PC and checks it over and tells you what software wont work may not work and will need to be reinstalled this is also done with hardware telling you which will not work and which will need newer drivers this way you can save this as HTML and go and get all the newer drivers and versions you will need before installing this way you will not have the same problems which people had when moving over to ME