Windows XP, is it worth upgrading? 2

[iSeriesCodePoet]

I have only seen one review so far in MaximumPC which they gave a perfect 10. But I am very sceptical. I am currently running Windows 2000 on both my laptop and desktop. Would it be worth the $200 - 300 to buy XP. Is there that many more benefits? Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"Kernel Panic has performed an Illegal Operation, so I must defrag the situation before Dr. Watson reads the logs and discovers a lost cluster."

 

[cschaffer]

It really depends on what you want I have been using XP for some time now and have loved the experiance....No BSOD...although I never got one with 2000 either...but XP's support for multimedia and games is one mark above 2000....I have noticed a huge difference in booting speeds in half the time....nd resource managment...user magagment is very easy...allowing my programs to run under my name....while girl friend checks email logged in under her name! I am going to purchase this upgrade...I have experiance with the pro and not the home edition! This is my view and opinion on XP.

Thanks

CS ***************

http://www.digital6.com

***************

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

I tried the beta and liked it. I was just see what other people's opinions are on it. Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"Kernel Panic has performed an Illegal Operation, so I must defrag the situation before Dr. Watson reads the logs and discovers a lost cluster."

 

[teknikal]

As much as I like Win 2K, Win XP simply kicks it's a**! Several of my co-workers have loaded the corporate versions (beta) and haven't experienced one crash in over 4 months. Also, another friend of mine has loaded the OS on a newer laptop and didn't have to load one driver himself. It was all automated.

Like any new OS, you're going to have your basic driver issues with older hardware and some bugs might pop up here and there. But stability appears to be a plus "without" sacrificing speed. Yes, upgrade!

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

Does XP have that feature where you can log on to a domain at Work, but still be able to log on to your own laptop when you are not on a domain? Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"Kernel Panic has performed an Illegal Operation, so I must defrag the situation before Dr. Watson reads the logs and discovers a lost cluster."

 

[teknikal]

Yes, it's basically Windows 2000 and Windows ME combined. All the same features carry over with the exception of some cosmetic differences. Your question about logging into a domain at work and being able to work offline at home, well, many OS's support that (i.e. Win95/98/ME, Win NT, etc...)

If you like Win2K, you won't be disappointed with WinXP, though I can't say the same for Win98/ME die-hard fans! |-0

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

I hate ME, and 98 was okay. Win 95b or c was the best. Too bad USB support wasn't really there. Sounds like this is a universal yes to upgrade no matter what. I guess I will have to get in line and buy it.

The next question, from previous expirience I have learned that buying a full version is better than an upgrade (upgrading caused more problems than it fixed). Will this hold true for XP? Any thoughts? I just re-set up my computer about 2 weeks ago (too much junk on it). If I buy a full version can I still do an upgrade like in Win 98 and ME? Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"Kernel Panic has performed an Illegal Operation, so I must defrag the situation before Dr. Watson reads the logs and discovers a lost cluster."

 

[teknikal]

The rule about upgrade versions will probably always hold true - "avoid them whenever possible". This is mainly due to the amount of guessing work it takes to convert. It can be a pain, even if it does work. Fortunately, XP has a "migration wizard" that makes it easier than before, but it's still best to start from a clean install.

However, if you're going from Win2K to WinXP, I've heard some good things. But keep this in mind. If somewhere down the road you want to format your hard drive and reinstall XP, regardless of why, the upgrade version will require you to install Win2K first...

tek

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

Well, my laptop (the computer I would install it on) has a ghosted image of what is "supposed" to be on there. I bought this laptop through school. I need to talk to them about getting the install disks for Office and SPSS. So, in my case, an upgrade would work, but just to be save, I think I would purchase a full version.

Ah, another question (I am just full of 'em today ;-)) With the activation "stuff". How does it handle PC cards? My modem and wired NIC is a PC card, then I have built in wireless. Would I have problems with swapping cards often, if I ever came to that point. Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"Kernel Panic has performed an Illegal Operation, so I must defrag the situation before Dr. Watson reads the logs and discovers a lost cluster."

 

[wmg]

Mike,

I doubt you will have any problems changing those cards around. MS have coded the activation to only need redoing if you change a whole bunch of things at once (I forget the exact number - somewhere around 5 or so devices).

I'm sure you'll be fine!

 

[dave31175]

Regarding upgrades, I'm assuming this will be like previous Windows versions and you will be able to do a clean install with the "upgrade" edition of WinXP -- it will at some point in the installation ask you to insert the CD of your earlier version of Windows to verify ownership.

So if you already own a previous version of Windows that is eligible for upgrade to the version of XP you are getting (

http://microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/matrix.asp),

there is no need to spend the extra $100 to do a clean install.

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

But with the upgrade, you are using "old code" that could potetially cause problems. By purchasing and installing the full version, you elimiate that posibility. I have had problems with Windows 98 upgrade, I purchased it to help fix problems on my computer, which in turn made it worse. I then did a reformat and reinstall and still had problems. I "found a copy" of Windows 98 full. Most of my problems went away. It was the same version, just different install method. Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"Kernel Panic has performed an Illegal Operation, so I must defrag the situation before Dr. Watson reads the logs and discovers a lost cluster."

 

[dave31175]

Mike, I think perhaps you and I are saying the same thing and just don't realize it.

I would never do an upgrade installation from one Windows version to another. I agree wholeheartedly that upgrade installations usually cause more problems than they solve.

What I'm saying is that you can use the "Upgrade" CD to do a clean (reformat/reinstall) installation of Windows. The only difference (at least with all previous versions) between the "Upgrade" CD and the "Full" CD is that with a clean install, the "Upgrade" CD will ask you to insert a CD of a previous version of Windows just to verify that you own it. Aside from that one step, the "Upgrade" CD and the "Full" CD are identical.

So, if you can verify ownership by inserting the previous version's CD when prompted, why pay an extra $100 for a CD that is identical in every way except the verification request?

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

Let me clerify. The last time I did a "clean install" from an upgrade CD. It copied files from the previous version, thus using the "old code". It might be a bit better, but a CD with all the "new code" is still better. It may not be worth the 100 bucks, but I don't want to be caught with my pants down either. Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"Kernel Panic has performed an Illegal Operation, so I must defrag the situation before Dr. Watson reads the logs and discovers a lost cluster."

 

[dave31175]

Thanks for the clarification... I understand now what you are saying. I've never before heard of that happening, hence my misunderstanding.

I and several of my coworkers have done any number of clean installs of win98 and win2000 with the "Upgrade" CDs and never encountered this sort of problem. It has always been my understanding that 1) the "Upgrade" and "Full" CDs are identical outside of the verification step, and 2) no files are extracted from the previous version's CD during verification, it is only read and examined to be sure it is a valid CD. Unless one or both of those items is incorrect, I don't know where the installation would be getting "old" code.

I wonder how common this problem is. I'll be interested to look into this further.

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

Of course this was Windows 98 upgrade, it asked for Windows 95 disk, then seemed to copy files from the disk. I don't know for sure... Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"Kernel Panic has performed an Illegal Operation, so I must defrag the situation before Dr. Watson reads the logs and discovers a lost cluster."

 

[wmg]

My understanding of the upgrade procedure (Win95-Win98) was that the Win98 clean install (using an upgrade CD) would request a Windows 95 CDto 'check' that you did actually have a previous version that you were upgrading from. No 'old code' should have been copied at that point.

In fact, I actually noticed a Win98 upgrade process checking through *every* Win95 cab file to 'make sure' as opposed to the Win95 upgrade from Win3.x just checking Disk 1 of Win3.x.

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

Okay, that might be what it was doing... Mike Wills
RPG Programmer (but learning Java)

"Kernel Panic has performed an Illegal Operation, so I must defrag the situation before Dr. Watson reads the logs and discovers a lost cluster."

 

[dave31175]

I checked with a coworker who is significantly more experienced and knowledgable than I, and he confirmed the 2 points I had made earlier about the CD's being the same with the upgrade and full versions, and that a clean install with the upgrade cd will not copy any files from the previous version's cd when it's verifying. I wonder, Mike, if maybe something just went haywire and you had a bad install... that does happen sometime. Or perhaps your upgrade CD was damaged. Just speculating, really

 

[LONELUVR]

ok, I was wondering if the new xp will be able to handle more than the 340mb ram that limits win 98 ??,, I have all this extra memory sitting around and cant use it because of win 98,, and i wasnt that confident on win2000 being for my needs,

thanks
steve