How compitable is Win XP?

Point value changed by question poster.

As far as loading external components, it has been fabulous!! Seems like MS has loaded every conceivable driver for you. True plug n play. XP should also be backward compatible. What s/w is giving you problems? You can always dual boot!

I wont say that I have exercised XP very heavily.
However, I have not found any application problems that I did not have in 9X.

I have not seen the old BSOD in XP. It did crash once for me, but it recovered on it's own.

There are some issueswith 3rd party software, and older hardware. But, the MS patches, and software updates from vendors have taken care of those.

Specific issues I have had include;
Intel /Ambient HAM modem
Aureal Vortex Sound card
Roxio Easy CD Creator 5
PowerDVD
All have been corrected by updates from either MS or the mfg.

Like all new OS's, you won't see applications taking advantage of the extra power until the next revision.
The only other issue, is getting used to where MS moved all of the tools I use, and the dissapearing menu items.

Overal, I would recommend upgrading to XP.

Compatibility based on home or business using the 2000 code based to provide robust and a more stable enviroment
The concept that most users would have to purchase more updated equipment to run XP,so that would have meant a projected boost in computer buying,now that this has not happened it may not be the type of system that may fits everyone's needs.
With the new look,which is okay the basic user does not look to spend more on updating hardware to gain the benefits of XP,so it will seem that their is no gain for a basic home user when they discover that they have to do some configuring to play old DOS games.
So how compatible will XP be will be difficult to determine from home users than business users who will reap more from the OS in a business enviroment that involves networking and commmunications over a network.

The compatabiltiy of XP is limited due to the newness of the product. There is a scan you can run of you system, it is on the microsoft website in the XP section. This will check your current hardware and software and give you a run down of any hardware that needs to be replaced and software that needs to be upgraded. It will also direct you to the most current site to update drivers. The whole process is quite easy and makes the enire transition less stressfull. Enjoy.

Hi,

Having used XP for several months now, I wouldn't go back. Once you get used to it (a couple of hours) its much smoother and more user friendly.

Re: compatibility. The biggest issue you'll have will be driver support if you've got older hardware. Microsoft have written tons of generic drivers and these generally seem to work ok, but not for ALL devices.

If you have an old printer, for instance. The generic driver from Microsoft may not give you all the functionality you once had. For example if your printer WAS capable of doublesided printing, after the upgrade it may not be...

I think there was a post about that exact problem recently, in fact.

re: compatibility on software. Its very good. Everything I use runs on it just fine. If there was something that didn't, then there is an option to specifically run it in "compatibility mode" where you can choose from Win95 Win98/ME, NT4 SP5 or 2000.

The only issue you'll probably have is installation. I HAVE come across games that wont install because it detects the OS is too new and bombs out.

I overcame the problem by having dual boot, installing under 98SE and running from XP. It worked fine.

Overall I would recommend moving to XP if your machine is reasonably powerful. I wouldn't bother if its barely in spec for XP, though.

Cheers,
Tim.

I beta tested XP professional and had the full version on my machine at home. I can tell you that it is more stable and customizable than any of the other of the windows offerings. The "tell microsoft about your problem" feature is nice too. Hovever, I have gone back to Win 98SE on my game machine and dual boot between 98SE and Pro 2K on my game server. The biggest problem I ran into was Antivirus incompatibility problems(humungous headache), video driver problems (games, etc still look better on 98), problems burning cdrw's, USB hubs no longer working, Scanner drivers not working properly, and others. I will go back to XP after the first update comes out if I can see a marked improvement in drivers. My recommendation is if you are happy with your current OS, wait until the second edition comes out...............

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