Product Description

WINDOWS XP PRO W/SP2 EN

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #690 in Software
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2005-03-03
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows XP Professional
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .57 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
The new standard for efficient and dependable computing. Prepare yourself for the most reliable, secure and responsive Windows yet. Users can communicate, get help, and access their data in a whole new way. Add to that ease-of-use and next-generation Internet services using Microsoft.NET, and this standard isn't just new&it's unprecedented.

Better browsing and email
Service Pack 2 features for Internet Explorer:

Customer Reviews

Actually pretty good
I have 6 PCs one each running on 98 and 2000 and four on XP. In comparison, 98(rev B) is excellent and generally very stable but lacks some critical facilities e.g. the ability to view picture thumbnails. That said, the machine that it's on is in regular use as a word processor and does a grand job. 2000 is brilliant. Never falls over, has the ability to show thumbnails (albeit only one file at a time) and is not too hungry for resources. Let's pass over ME, that was pathetic and had more bugs than the natural history museum. The one machine that originally had ME was upgraded to XP (without any problems).

XP SP2 is, in my opinion, the Microsoft operating system most fit for purpose to date. This is written 6 months after the release of Vista! Why? Well, in my experience XP is stable and capable of running the vast majority of software without crashing. It's not perfect but it does 99% of everything most people will ever need.

Mac OS - great but you have to buy an expensive Mac to go with it, so limited range and a WHITE KEYBOARD would last about 30 seconds with me and it's £50 extra for a black one!. Linux - now getting worth a look but still doesn't support much of my legacy software and a touch geeky. Vista - don't get me started here, just read all the reviews with less than 3 stars.

The good points about XP: stable, runs almost everything, only one legacy program I have won't run with it but that's not a major issue. Decent networking, reasonable number of automated task wizards, lots of built in drivers, good support and now well sorted (post SP2). Clear and easy to use interface easily customised to suit most users. Can handle both business use and most media applications.

The bad points: You can argue security and I would agree, but a decent 3rd party firewall & virus checker should see you ok. Otherwise, not much to grump about. Downside is that it's limited to 2GB of RAM.

Oh, I've now also had to remove Vista from no less than 3 machines and install XP Pro at the owners' request. Does that tell you something?

My intention is to hang on to XP Pro as long as I can and hopefully skip the Vista bloatware until something better comes along.

The world's most unrealiable operating system!
Having read the reviews listed here and as a regular long term 'power' user of Windows XP I felt the need to set the record straight about this operating system, particularly for all those thinking of purchasing it or who have used previous versions of Windows before, including XP without service pack 2.

In the last several months I have had to waste countless hours restoring i.e. formatting and re-installing, maintaining and repairing this operating system, on not one but three machines. Numerous times, I have had to go through this same tedious process, when XP has for no apparent reason just corrupted, shutdown or failed. A year ago I had to put up with this same fiasco three times in one month when XP suddenly caused my laptop to die, again for no apparent reason and not because of hardware failure.

As for the security issues with this operating system, believe everything you hear about its vulnerabilities, we are talking about thee most exposed operating system in the world! As a result it is fundamental, particularly if you use a Broadband connection to access the Internet, to have a multitude of firewall, spyware elimination, virus protection and general internet security software installed if your machine is to stay afloat for even a few hours.

For those who are considering moving from 98, 2000 or even the dreadful ME, don't get me wrong, XP does look a lot better, does work more efficiently with hardware, particularly the plug and play USB function, it is faster, provides some nice features such as remote assistance, which allows you to see your friend's desktop and help them out with any problems, as well as letting you see thumbnails of your images in a filer window and for that it gets one star from me. However, when it comes to reliability, stability and speed, out of all the operating systems that I have used, Windows is the absolute worst!

For all those reviewers or users who have recently started using it and think it is the best thing since sliced bread, I would say that yes you have the best version of Windows available and those using earlier versions should upgrade. However, I think it only fair to warn you that even though it is an improvement on previous versions, it is still Windows and although it may look fantastic when you first get it up and running, give it a few months or a year, and it will undoubtedly screw up, slow down or fail believe me; even with the alleged Service Pack 2 and numerous updates. In short despite the relatively few benefits, personally this OS has wasted more of my time than any other and when it comes to issues like those I have described above there are in my opinion no excuses!!

Stable, more secure and user friendly.
Windows XP is the newest (25/06/05) version of windows around, and it is the best. Stable and with Service Pack 2 more secure.
Built on the Windows NT Kernal, and Windows 2000, it is like Windows 2000, with make-up and some excellent features, including user friendliness. Right from install XP wants to help you, with wizards galore it is hard to go wrong.
Service Pack 2 adds extra security for the home user, more intelligent updates, a firewall and a security center, that tells you what you need/ have to do to keep you safe.
For the average, and slightly above average this OS is excellent, plays all my games, plays all my music, it simply works, most of the time. You can even run older games and programs as Windows 98/ 2000 or Me. Great!
Microsft XP has security holes, but if you were hacker you would hack the most popular most succesful operating system around!
Linux is an alternative, but is un-tested, nobody really bothers to hack it as so few people use it, and it is open source, so every one knows the code that builds it!
With XP you get qality and service. It won't always work, no OS ever could, but it has backup features and restore points so when things do go worng its not for long and it as though nothing has happened.