Windows XP: To Upgrade, or not to Upgrade

I've been diddling around with Windows XP now and again on my system. My first take on Windows XP was "wow, this looks really different", but then quickly realized that different is not necessarily good.

All the die-hard Windows users will find that they will spend much of their first hours of using Windows XP in order to re-orient themselves with the new interface. But fear not, Windows XP can be configured to look like its predecessors if you're resistant to Microsoft's monopolizing change.

The biggest issue I have with any new Microsoft Operating System (OS) -- specifically Windows XP -- is its incompatibility with existing hardware and software. The most popular complaint from many of my colleagues is that their CD Burners won't work with XP.

Even my favorite text editor wasn't compatible with Windows XP. Yet, I suppose that most of us would be deeply concerned about the lax security measures also facing the new operating system. Read more about the Windows XP bug that allows anyone to hack into your system if you're connected to the Internet, here:

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/12/20/1929208&mode=thread

So is it fair for me to judge too soon about Windows XP not being what I expected? Absolutely. My reasoning is that Microsoft has to get me to drop my existing OS in order to start using their latest and greatest. So far, that hasn't happened.

Windows 2000 Professional is the most stable, up-to-date Microsoft OS available and is reasonably supported by many hardware and software vendors. Windows 2000 Professional is built on the same technology as Windows XP and doesn't come with the extra overhead that would require me to purchase a newer, faster computer. Bonus.

My bottom line advice is that if you're thinking about upgrading to XP, wait a bit. At least wait long enough until a Service Pack is released (a Service Pack is thought of as a major patch to the OS) and is freely available from Microsoft. I would imagine that by the time the first Service Pack is released, most of the software and hardware vendors will also find solutions to their incompatibilities. If you're looking for an OS that doesn't crash on you constantly and cause you to reboot your machine, run Windows 2000 Professional.

Read more about what other users are saying about Windows XP:

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/12/14/051218&mode=thread

http://www.techtv.com/