Alix
23-08-2002, 10:45
What happens if I don't activate Windows XP?
If you don't complete the product activation process after 30 days, Windows XP will still boot, but you'll be unable to launch Windows until you call the Microsoft Clearinghouse and enter the code.
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I rebuild and/or upgrade my PC all the time. How many changes can I make before I have to reactivate Windows XP?
The Windows XP Product Activation Code is based on a combination of 10 system hardware settings, including CPU, NIC card, RAM, Video card, sound card, etc., If your machine has a PCMCIA slot (most laptops), you can change 9 of the 10 items before you need to reactivate XP. For most desktop systems, you can change up to six items, however changing the same component repeatedly counts only as one change. Also, adding additional components doesn't count as a change. If you purchased a new PC with Windows XP preloaded from the manufacturer, the product ID is linked to the BIOS, so you can technically change as many hardware components as you wish, as long as you don't change the system BIOS.
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Should I deploy Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional in my company?
If you are planning to deploy Windows 2000 before January 2002, or are already deploying Windows 2000, you should probably stick with Windows 2000. If you are planning a deployment after June 2002, you should consider Windows XP Professional.
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Is there an XP Server?
No, there isn't. "XP" is only the designation for the Microsoft's desktop Operating System. Microsoft next server version will be designated ".NET" and is due to be released in the first half of 2002
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Will my software run on Windows XP?
Windows XP is built on the Windows 2000 kernel, so for business users who are already running applications on Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, the upgrade should be pretty smooth. Microsoft says that over 90 percent of Windows 2000/NT and Windows 9x applications distributed in North America in the past three years already work on XP. Notably, one of the applications that doesn't work is Novell Client 32 V4.80. This incompatibility will have an impact for business users who are still running in a Novell environment, but I'm confident that Novell will probably release a new client within the next few months. For home users who are more interested in gaming, there are several issues with older games that rely on DOS. A large percentage of the games we've tested in our labs work just fine with XP, but serious gamers may want to consider dual booting XP with Windows 98 to support legacy games, and older controllers. Also, since XP is a new operating system, your system and disk utilities, as well as AntiVirus software will not work with Windows XP and will need to be upgraded.
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What about Hardware Compatibility?
According to Microsoft, Windows XP supports 12,000 devices straight out of the box, including the top 1,000 best-selling devices sold during the year 2000. At this writing, over 300 hardware devices have earned the new XP logo--meaning they've been subjected to higher testing standards. However there are still a large number of hardware devices that aren't compatible and are waiting for updated drivers. These include multi-function printers/scanner/fax machines, web cams, CD writers, etc. You can use Microsoft Compatibility Advisor to check your system before you upgrade, and/or check with your hardware manufacturer to see if they posted new drivers for Windows XP.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What about stability and performance?
There has been a lot of Microsoft bashing going around in the press and on discussion forums regarding XP's performance and stability, most of it has been crap. Many of the published evaluations you'll see are between the Win9x platform, which isn't really fair because XP is built on the NT/Win2000 code base. Of course it's faster and more stable than the 5 year old code for Windows 9x (including Windows Me). However, when you compare Windows XP with Windows 2000 they're pretty evenly matched. On systems with +600Mhz processors and 512Kb of RAM, our XP installations run just a hair faster than the same systems running Windows 2000. We were very skeptical when we first loaded Windows XP Professional on our lab PC's, but for the most part, we've been happy with the new Operating System. Our "clean" installations of XP Pro on a variety of desktops and laptops went smoothly and have been very stable. We did run across a few upgrade issues as well as unexplained lockups on a single test system (a Dell Latitude C600). If you can, always try to install Windows XP on a clean system, instead of upgrading a current installation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How secure is Windows XP?
Again, this depends on what you are comparing it to. XP is vastly more secure than Windows 95/98/Me (which didn't have any security), and is on par with Windows 2000. There has been a lot of hype about the Remote Desktop and Remote Assistance features which can allow another person running Windows XP to interact with your desktop, however there are several adequate safeguards in place to keep someone from doing this without you knowing it, and so far hackers haven't figured out a way to exploit it. Another controversial topic is Microsoft's use of full raw sockets API in Windows XP that could theoretically allow hackers to use XP workstations as "zombies" in a broad based denial of service attack. (Click here for more info). Of course these issues are in addition to any programming errors, code glitches, and oversights that may come up in the course of any operating system release. In our opinion, a properly configured Windows XP Professional system is no more a risk than a Windows 2000 system
If you don't complete the product activation process after 30 days, Windows XP will still boot, but you'll be unable to launch Windows until you call the Microsoft Clearinghouse and enter the code.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I rebuild and/or upgrade my PC all the time. How many changes can I make before I have to reactivate Windows XP?
The Windows XP Product Activation Code is based on a combination of 10 system hardware settings, including CPU, NIC card, RAM, Video card, sound card, etc., If your machine has a PCMCIA slot (most laptops), you can change 9 of the 10 items before you need to reactivate XP. For most desktop systems, you can change up to six items, however changing the same component repeatedly counts only as one change. Also, adding additional components doesn't count as a change. If you purchased a new PC with Windows XP preloaded from the manufacturer, the product ID is linked to the BIOS, so you can technically change as many hardware components as you wish, as long as you don't change the system BIOS.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Should I deploy Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional in my company?
If you are planning to deploy Windows 2000 before January 2002, or are already deploying Windows 2000, you should probably stick with Windows 2000. If you are planning a deployment after June 2002, you should consider Windows XP Professional.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is there an XP Server?
No, there isn't. "XP" is only the designation for the Microsoft's desktop Operating System. Microsoft next server version will be designated ".NET" and is due to be released in the first half of 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will my software run on Windows XP?
Windows XP is built on the Windows 2000 kernel, so for business users who are already running applications on Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, the upgrade should be pretty smooth. Microsoft says that over 90 percent of Windows 2000/NT and Windows 9x applications distributed in North America in the past three years already work on XP. Notably, one of the applications that doesn't work is Novell Client 32 V4.80. This incompatibility will have an impact for business users who are still running in a Novell environment, but I'm confident that Novell will probably release a new client within the next few months. For home users who are more interested in gaming, there are several issues with older games that rely on DOS. A large percentage of the games we've tested in our labs work just fine with XP, but serious gamers may want to consider dual booting XP with Windows 98 to support legacy games, and older controllers. Also, since XP is a new operating system, your system and disk utilities, as well as AntiVirus software will not work with Windows XP and will need to be upgraded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What about Hardware Compatibility?
According to Microsoft, Windows XP supports 12,000 devices straight out of the box, including the top 1,000 best-selling devices sold during the year 2000. At this writing, over 300 hardware devices have earned the new XP logo--meaning they've been subjected to higher testing standards. However there are still a large number of hardware devices that aren't compatible and are waiting for updated drivers. These include multi-function printers/scanner/fax machines, web cams, CD writers, etc. You can use Microsoft Compatibility Advisor to check your system before you upgrade, and/or check with your hardware manufacturer to see if they posted new drivers for Windows XP.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What about stability and performance?
There has been a lot of Microsoft bashing going around in the press and on discussion forums regarding XP's performance and stability, most of it has been crap. Many of the published evaluations you'll see are between the Win9x platform, which isn't really fair because XP is built on the NT/Win2000 code base. Of course it's faster and more stable than the 5 year old code for Windows 9x (including Windows Me). However, when you compare Windows XP with Windows 2000 they're pretty evenly matched. On systems with +600Mhz processors and 512Kb of RAM, our XP installations run just a hair faster than the same systems running Windows 2000. We were very skeptical when we first loaded Windows XP Professional on our lab PC's, but for the most part, we've been happy with the new Operating System. Our "clean" installations of XP Pro on a variety of desktops and laptops went smoothly and have been very stable. We did run across a few upgrade issues as well as unexplained lockups on a single test system (a Dell Latitude C600). If you can, always try to install Windows XP on a clean system, instead of upgrading a current installation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How secure is Windows XP?
Again, this depends on what you are comparing it to. XP is vastly more secure than Windows 95/98/Me (which didn't have any security), and is on par with Windows 2000. There has been a lot of hype about the Remote Desktop and Remote Assistance features which can allow another person running Windows XP to interact with your desktop, however there are several adequate safeguards in place to keep someone from doing this without you knowing it, and so far hackers haven't figured out a way to exploit it. Another controversial topic is Microsoft's use of full raw sockets API in Windows XP that could theoretically allow hackers to use XP workstations as "zombies" in a broad based denial of service attack. (Click here for more info). Of course these issues are in addition to any programming errors, code glitches, and oversights that may come up in the course of any operating system release. In our opinion, a properly configured Windows XP Professional system is no more a risk than a Windows 2000 system