After many years of fixing a broken product, the people at Microsoft have decided to start anew with a generation of operating systems that is sure to please all users. I personally use Windows XP Home Edition and I must say, I am impressed with the improvements. Not only from a cosmetic viewpoint, but also from a stability and efficiency standpoint.
For starters, the most noticeable change is the interface. It looks like something from a child's computer game, but while I was skeptical from the beginning, I quickly grew used to the new setup and found it to be extremely user-friendly. The buttons are larger, which may seem a bit unnecessary, but this provides a definite increase in user efficiency; preventing the user from clicking several times to hit a small button or icon. Next, the new set up hides the background tasks, previously located on the lower right hand corner, until they are needed. However, a quick click of the mouse, and the tasks reappear for easy accessibility.
As far as efficiency goes, aside from the fact that it can take up to 1GB of hard drive space, the memory utilization is kind lower end systems. You will most likely see an decrease in program launch times for most users; even with older systems. Granted, the new system requirements for XP are increasing from those of previous versions.
For the money, it is definitely worth the time and money to upgrade. The upgrade utility works quite well when upgrading older operating systems while providing wonderful support for a fresh start. Be prepared to spend a little time fishing for drivers, but I promise, the wait will be well worth it.



Recommended: Yes