This is it. I have XP Pro installed. Quick a glance at
the system config.

AMD Duron 800 Mhz
D.F.i AK-75 Motherboard
256 MB of PC133 SDRam
8 Gb Quantum BigFoot IDE drive
8 Meg AGP VideoCard

The install was quick, as I had reflected in my mini-review under this same service. This system has been up and running for about 2 weeks now with minor problems, which I suspect would be solved with the addition of more Ram on the motherboard.

I have since added a EPSON C40UX USB printer, which it recognised straight off. Prints wonderfully.

Voice recognition works much better, but then it helps that the installation procedure had some million or so drivers at its disposure.

The New interface is slowly growing on me, I still however detest some small things that seem to be default in Microsofts default browser, make a typo, click twice or retype the whole url.

Sound works beautifully, and after some minor problems getting my DSL to work, it connects fine. To be fair, it was a incompatibility in the access manager with XP that caused the problems, Sympatico has posted two methods to get around this, both by manual and automatic.

I have yet to play with the Remote admin !bug! or delve into the configureation files much deeper then a quick glance.

What I will say though, is I have NEVER had a system quite this sweet, and yes, that includes my Linux Box. So Why dont I install Linux on this one? Simple. I have a Server, and some stuff just needs to be developed for more then one platform (IE, Netscape, mozilla, lynx, et al). That and some internet services do not offer Linux compatible clients, and while I am sure there are equivalent programs in the GNU, sometimes I tire of the added fuss to seek them out.

I am presently listening to [http://www.live365.com/stations/286919] on Live365.com and it comes in not at all choppy like my old laptop, which incidentally is a 266Mhz running Windows 98.

Now onto the touchy subject. Product Activation, as i delved into with my other review, this is not the big deal others are making it into. Sure, they've added another level of protection against piracy, but I have already seen listed 'activationless WinXP' on the internet, and in a local buytradesell magazine.

I had some difficulty activating XP Pro after the first 14 days had expired on me, but that I suppose could be linked to the fact that their servers had a heavy load. First automated attempt was at 3.45pm on a Saturday. Right when I suspect Everyone would be getting home from shopping and picking up the XP product. The second attempt, was approximately at 5 or 6am the following morning. Nice, sweet, It worked. It of course lets you choose the validation method. Phone, Dialup, or Internet.

Windows XP Pro still seems memory intensive, I find it moreso then ever when playing DVD's. That could also be the fault of the software which was written for windows 9x, but I would not count on it.

The New Luna interface is easy to manouver and customize for your own likings. Of couse you can always go retro and keep the classical Windows 9x GUI.

Oh, and I actually tried the windows updates function, it worked with little problem. 1 of 2 tries was sucessful, the drivers for the epson printer didnt go over well.

Oh, one more thing.

If you partition your hard drives like I do, make sure you give it 3 gigs at least.

--- UPdate November 22nd, 2001 ---

One thing I neglected to mention, actually, two or more if your counting.

If you open up your Windows TaskManager, (the old ctrl-alt-del) and it shows you a graph of what your system is using.

Here is a quick snapshot of what MY configuration is using with the following running
Windows TaskManager
WinMX 2.x
Netscape 4.7x
Putty for secure socket connection (ssh replaces telnet)
WinXP's version of IE.
Sympatico DSL (PPPoE) configured and connected.

Average CPU Usage
-- 35% to 55% (on a 800 Mhz??)
-- 100Mb to 125 Mb Ram in use.
-- 348 threads
-- 29 processes.
-- 18220 KB of Paged kernel memory. (total ram for kernel is 22424 KB)
-- 1 user logged in locally.
-- below 1% Network Utilization on a 10Mbps connection (Lan and Sympatico DSL)

I highly suggest when you run this Operating system you stock up on as much ram as you can afford. (and at todays prices (11/22/2001) that should be a motherboard full.

**Please note this is still my review copy of WinXP Pro, Microsoft is dragging its heels on sending the NFR Copy**


Recommended: Yes