Microsoft Windows XP: Tell Me How This Is Any Better Than Win2K.
Written: Apr 04 '02 (Updated Apr 04 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Uh, it looks like it's working.
Cons: But it's a lie. A dirty, evil lie.
The Bottom Line: Nice pictures, horrible OS. Gamer beware, flee from XP.
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| Alkaiser's Full Review: Microsoft Windows XP Professional (E85-00086) For ... |
When I bought my last system 2 years ago I decided I was going to buy everything top of the line, latest processor, latest graphics card, latest sound card, and to top it all off, the latest operating system.
End results, my computer wound down its usefulness bearing a non-functional ELSA GeForce 2, and Windows 98, which had been acting strange ever since I had stored some filenames labeled in Japanese on my computer. (Windows refused to delete them, and HD degradation continued from there.)
So, this time I decided I was going powerful, yet tried and true.
The Setup
AMD Athlon 1900+
Abit KR7A
512 MB of DDR RAM
Asus 8200 GeForce3
60 GB HD
All of these parts had been out on the market for a good amount of time, and had plenty of time to settle in, and resolve all their big issues.
All of their big issues except the ones Windows XP seems to be taking with them.
Installing the software went fairly easy. Pop in the serial number and get ready to go. It'll ask you for the language packs you want, and after that, it'll go through, detect all your hardware, and try and set it up as best it can.
So far, so good. Setting up user accounts is easy, too. I had a problem with certain people treating my computer like a public terminal, and therefore, I'd sit down to surf and find my Internet Security Settings set to allow all ActiveX Controls to be automatically enabled, unsigned or no. Then, later on, there was this lame Search bar tacked onto my browser, and the worst of all...Comet Cursor.
This time around, I'm not having any of that. XP lets you set up user accounts easily from the get go. Plop a guest account in right from the start, and never worry about people messing up your files. You also get to throw a nice little picture up and a hint for the password, as well.
So, after setting up the accounts, I was ready to go. I tried to view a webpage, and everything worked fine...except I was getting choppiness while scrolling down the page.
I did not buy an $170 3rd Generation GeForce card to have it encounter choppiness while looking at WEBPAGES! What about my gaming? This would no doubt suck royally, as well. So I look to see the problem. XP didn't detect my graphics card. So I install the latest drivers. Drivers that Asus lists on their site as being for XP...only XP isn't buying it.
They report that they're not part of the XP Certified set of drivers, or what not. I don't care. I install them. And everything works. I'm happy. Maybe this WinXP thing isn't as bad as we all thought.
Yeah, and maybe Microsoft isn't deserving of punitive damages for its running a monopoly and punishing computer resellers that have the audacity to sell operating systems other than Windows.
I reboot. My computer dies.
I reboot again. Same result.
At first, I figure this is as a result of me adding in the 2nd hard drive that I wanted to copy all my old data from. Turns out that's not it, because I d/c the drive, and it still dies.
So I tell WinXP to use the lsat known good configuration. It works. I'm relieved, because the last known configuration I had working was my GeForce 3, and everything I needed installed.
Only WinXP doesn't see it that way. It reboots into 800 x 600 16-bit color on " ". Instead of being my 1024 x 768 32-bit color on my Asus 8200. I try and reinstall the drivers and reboot.
WinXP crashes.
I figure the driver off the web may be a bit too new, so I resort to the CD in the Asus Box. It pops up a screen in the setup that specifically states this is the setup portion for WinXP. XP blaks again at the drivers being non certified. I get prompted for a reboot.
WinXP crashes.
Well, guess who's had quite enough of this garbage and is installing another OS, perhaps going back to Win98.
If you said me, you're right. Thanks for the colossal waste of time Windows XP! At least now I have more animated desktop assistants to hate, and pretty pictures for the login buttons.
If you're a gamer, I recommend staying away from XP at least until they get another 2 or 3 versions under their belt. Return to Castle Wolfenstein doesn't like XP, and neither does Half-Life. (and as a result, Counter-Strike) XP also refuses to acknowledge my roomate's burner, and disables it every time the machine starts up.
If you're just the everyday ordinary websurfer, word processor, e-mailing, movie viewing computer user, it probably won't hinder you too much, and will probably crash less often than Win98. (Although watching some DivX movies on my friend's week-old laptop causes a series of horrendous crashes and BSODs) This review probably doesn't apply too much to you. You also probably don't care that Microsoft is spying on you with the OS, and issuing duplicate activation numbers for the software, locking people who legitimately purchase the software and giving them no recourse.
But if you're a gamer who enjoys getting their system to run optimally, and don't enjoy the hassles of trying to fidget with every little settings just to get the thing to work as it was designed, you will not like XP. Been there, not doing that.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
Alkaiser
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Clayton Chan
Location: Irvine, CA
Reviews written: 655
Trusted by: 344 members
About Me:
Broke the 700 pound mark on my leg lifts.
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