Windows XP

Windows XP was originally launched during October 2001 and both home and professional editions are available. Windows XP home edition offers additional features over and above those included with Windows 95, 98 & Millennium Editions and also uses a new Windows engine. Windows XP professional edition is similar to the XP home edition, but with more features designed for working within an office network environment. Windows XP professional replaces Windows 2000 professional, which in turn was built on Windows NT4 & NT3.5. The main new features for both products have been summarised below.

Windows XP Home Edition.

1) Windows 2000 style stability and reliability.

2) Support for new hardware standards.

3) Start menu automatically shows commonly used files and applications.

4) Improved support for personalising multiple user settings and switching between different users.

5) Improved handling of File Associations so that the necessary file viewer can be downloaded from the Internet.

6) Context sensitive help showing relevant information depending on your current task.

7) Files have thumbnail images and can be arranged in any order depending on user preference.

8) Greater picture viewing, publishing and photo printing features.

9) Includes Internet Explorer 6 and built in Internet firewall protection.

10) Simplified web publishing.

11) Improved built in ‘troubleshooters’ including Windows 95 / 98 / Me style safe mode start-up options.

12) Background automatic invisible downloading of new Windows XP enhancements from the Internet.

13) Dynamic installation or updating of operating system files where required by a program installation.

14) Automatic backup of old device drivers, so that these can be re-installed in the event of problems.

15) The ability for support professionals to remotely access a user’s computer for troubleshooting purposes.

16) Windows updates obtained via the Internet can now be automatically applied to all user profiles.

17) System restore, enabling network administrators to restore a computer back to a previous configuration.

Windows XP Professional Edition.

1) All the features listed above for Windows XP Home Edition.

2) Increased Professional Edition applications support so older programs can run in Windows 95 / 98 / Me mode.

3) The ability for network administrators to troubleshoot a users computer over a network or Intranet.

4) Greater unattended and network installation support.

5) Computer cloning tools for setting up multiple new computers with identical configurations.

6) Simplified and extended group policy settings with a feature to first preview the effect of new policies.

7) Peer to peer networking support for connecting with peer to peer networks running older versions of Windows.

8) A network setup wizard.

9) Support for networks comprising of mixed cable / wireless connections.

10) Wireless networking support.

11) Internet Explorer 6 administration kit.

12) Improved file encryption for files accessed by multiple users.

13) Improved remote user features including the ability to download profiles remotely and new password manager.

14) Two monitor support i.e. a laptop can simultaneously display on its own screen and on an external monitor.

15) Support for enhanced online video and audio conferencing.

The above information is not designed to be a comprehensive list of all features, but a condensed overview of some of the major enhancements of Windows XP and also a comparison between the home and professional editions.

Windows XP is not due for replacement until late 2005; however a number of enhanced features and improvements were provided in service pack 1 early in 2003 and service pack 2 was released in mid 2004, which provided a major security overhaul in the light of recent virus / worm attacks.

Please email support@ITCroydon.co.uk for questions or support on Windows XP.