The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Microsoft Windows XP Professional Ash Nallawalla ash@melbpc.org.au

Differences

XP Pro has a few additional features when compared to the Home edition:

• If you have a wireless LAN at home (or work), then you will need XP Pro. Likewise if you need to connect to a Windows domain server.
• Multiple CPU support. Some motherboards have a socket for a second CPU; some support more CPUs. Additional CPUs enable multiple tasks to be run simultaneously without time-sharing. If you have thought that Windows is a multitasking operating system but why do some tasks seem to sit and wait, you will appreciate having a second processor.
• Mobile and Remote Desktop support. With Remote Desktop you can operate a remote PC as if you were sitting in front of it. This is great for help desks and telecommuting.
• Encrypting file system. If you format a drive as NTFS then you can choose to encrypt its contents.
• Offline files and folders. If you connect, say, to an office LAN remotely and want access to certain files after you have ended the connection, you can keep a local copy of such files.
• Administrative benefits such as roaming profiles, remote software installation and group policies.

My past preference has been to do a clean installation, namely with a formatted drive. This time I decided to try an upgrade on top of Windows 98SE. I might as well have done a clean installation, as none of my installed applications were visible to XP Pro! The data was intact, but I had to reinstall the applications. I was worried that my installation of Microsoft Office XP would fail on account of being installed once before but it installed without complaint. I don't know if I have used up my second installation of Office XP but will cross that hurdle when I need to install it on a personal laptop as per its licence.

I have been using Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional at work for nearly a year and found XP Pro to be close to it in many of its functions. After all, it is the replacement for the former, but with a pretty new interface and some improvements.

What I Like

I like the ability to have separate logins for different users with different privileges. I can even assign my own pictures to the different logins. My own password-protected login, for instance, has access to my Internet account on Melb PC but a family member's login hides a large part of my PC to them, including my higher-privileged Melb PC login. On the other hand, they only need to switch on my PC, then switch on their own machine for Internet sharing to be turned on, including dialling my ADSL provider.

I like the stability of XP Pro compared to any other older Microsoft operating system. I can truthfully say that my PC has never hung, but I will admit that one HP laptop at work kept rebooting unpredictably and will need to be debugged to determine the cause. That user also confirmed that his home desktop is rock solid.

I am comforted by the knowledge that XP Pro will run different versions of the same DLL at the same time if two applications require different versions and that I can roll back the OS to a previous condition if a new application causes problems. I have not encountered such a situation so far.

All the network and ISP connections are neatly displayed within one window, with wizards on call if needed.

Zip files no longer require WinZip or similar programs; XP Pro shows zipped files as folders so you can extract the contents easily. Similarly, you can zip up a bunch of files without needing an external tool.

My PC starts up and shuts down a lot faster than did Windows 98SE or Windows 2000 Professional.

I was very impressed at the ease of connecting to my ADSL provider. It took less than 10 seconds. No more third-party diallers, although I may reinstall the free program RASPPPoE as it is believed to be better.

The Taskbar now displays a stacked count of running applications if I have more than five running. This is known as grouping. If I have, say, six Notepad files open, then they are shown as a number against a Notepad button. Clicking it once enables me to choose one of them.

The new Picture and Fax Viewer applet, among other things, enables me to run a slide show of images that live in one folder.

I like the way the System Tray no longer displays a dozen icons that has me wondering what some of them are. After a little while, the system displays only those that show signs of life.

Power users should download the free Powertoys set of utility programs, which includes TweakUI.

Incompatibilities

Two of my applications - Norton Antivirus 2001 and Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum - were immediately incompatible. The latter has a free downloadable patch for XP whereas the former needs to be upgraded to the 2002 version. Factor in an extra $109 or more for that. I use two network cards in the PC to share an Internet connection - one of the cards was so soundly rejected that only its removal would let the PC boot up. I am told that I have to update the BIOS of this 5-month-old PC and all will be fine.

By now many detailed reviews have appeared in commercial magazines and you should read them before you decide whether this version is relevant to you. PC World http://www.pcworld.com has published a list of "XP's Gotchas" that you should read. In particular, XP Pro users should update the installed version with the latest free updates available online from Windows Update. The article also lists various popular third-party programs that need to updated before they will work with XP Home or XP Pro.

Is It for You?

Microsoft consistently talks about the Total Cost of Ownership, particularly if it comes down. Only you can determine whether spending money on Microsoft Windows XP Professional will actually save your organisation more money in the long run. In the meantime, take note of the dates when older Microsoft operating systems will cease to be supported officially:

• Windows 98, 98SE and NT 4 
  30-6-2003
  
• Windows 2000 
  31-3-2004

For smaller companies, the above are more or less cut-off dates. In practice, businesses update computers individually and new hardware is often purchased with the latest operating system.

Should you trash Windows 2000 Professional immediately and upgrade to XP Pro? I seriously doubt it. Should you ditch Windows NT Workstation? That is not an easy answer because the hardware may not be compatible. But what if you are buying a new business computer? Chances are that it will be supplied with XP Pro, but if not, you should ensure that its hardware specifications are sufficient to take it.

Not surprisingly, Microsoft is working on the next two versions of Windows, codenamed Longhorn and Blackcomb, which may emerge over the next four years. Longhorn is expected to ship in 2003. Businesses will continue to use older machines as long as they "do the job", but they should keep an eye on new vulnerabilities if support from other vendors dries up.

Do the latest antivirus programs run under Windows NT 3.5x, for instance? Are older operating systems more susceptible to penetration by crackers? I believe that businesses using Windows 95 PCs should definitely contemplate a hardware replacement and the new operating system. Those running Windows 98SE will find different reasons and time frames for implementing an upgrade.

If you have not used Windows NT or Windows 2000, then allow for some time to learn how some tasks are performed differently from the home operating systems. The Help subsystem is very good and contains comprehensive help and it can also fetch more information if you are online.

Availability

All large software outlets appear to stock XP Pro. Harvey Norman, for example, sells the full version for $669.96 and the upgrade version for $459.95. Harris Technology has them for $629 and $450 respectively.

Reprinted from the February 2002 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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