Windows XP is a much “friendlier face” on top of the very solid Windows 2000 platform. Whereas the release of Windows 2000 was aimed at business and corporate users, XP is aimed squarely at consumers and will come out in a “home user” edition as well as the Professional edition for businesses. I have heard that the Windows XP Server, and Advanced Server versions will not be released this year however.
Minimum system requirements are reported to be: 300 MHz Intel Pentium II or compatible processor, 128 MB RAM, 2 GB of free hard drive space, SVGA plug and Play monitor, 12X or faster CD-ROM or DVD drive, and a network adapter if you want to network machines. Internet access is recommended. I will be covering this in more detail as time goes on, and I should have a version to demo to the Advanced SIG members in the next few months. I am also firming up a visit by Microsoft representative Eric Johnston in December to demo the OS for you.
Windows XP is considered by many to be the first major consumer upgrade since Windows 95. If you are interested in multimedia, digital cameras, enhanced TV technologies, improved gaming, built-in CD burning, movie making, improved Internet Connection Sharing [ICS], Internet Explorer 6, Windows Media Player 8, wizards for home networking, Internet connections, photo printing, Web-publishing and storage, automatic system recovery, system restore, driver rollback capability, an Internet Connection Firewall, 3rd party cookie alerts, greatly improved help and support services, and the ability to run many legacy Windows and DOS programs in a software compatibility mode, PLUS a stable OS that rarely has to be re-booted, then this is the OS for you.
There is a lot to like in this new OS. I recently spent several days in Redmond, Washington at a conference held on the Microsoft campus covering Windows XP, and I have to tell you I was impressed with what I saw. I had been invited to Redmond to participate in the Expert Zone briefing and to become a Microsoft Associate Expert. The Associate Experts mission, should they decide to accept it, ;o) is to help others learn about the new OS and participate in the public Microsoft hosted Expert Zone newsgroups. Newsgroups are a great way to get help and information. Like any public newsgroup there are some occasional spats where participants rant at each other, but they are also a good source of information given by people willing to help and exchange tips and techniques. Often you run across a humorous gem or two that make you smile and even laugh out loud. The interest and excitement building up around the upcoming release of XP has even gotten the MAC community curious. The following exchange is reprinted with permission of the authors:
"Brian Gore" wrote in a posted message:
-----Original Message-----
Hi,
I was hoping that someone could please help me!
I am trying to install Windows XP on my Apple IMAC
Specs:
333 G3 CPU
128 Ram
Mac Os 9
6 Gig
8 meg ATI Expert
24x CD
I tried to install my copy of beta 2 but I get the error that the media is unreadable and may
not be formatted for my computer. Very Strange
Can Someone Help!!!
------------
"Chris Jackson" replied, tongue-in-cheek:
Brian;
You have to go through some elaborate steps in order to get this to work. First, pop open the IMac. Fish around for the G3 chip. Go ahead and pull it on out. This can be safely discarded.
Next, you'll have to go out on eBay and find a Commodore 64. Don't ask my why this works - it just does. Pull open the Commodore and remove both the CPU and the SID chip. Using Elmer's Glue, attach them to each other. DO NOT cut corners and use discount glue. You need to attach these to the socket where your G3 was. You'll probably notice that they don't fit in properly, which is where you will need a hammer. BE VERY GENTLE. You don't want to break them apart. Once you have them in place, you need to secure them. Take your entire IMac and gently place it into a large pizza oven and/or pottery kiln. Leave it there for several days - you want to make sure everything sticks together nicely.
When you remove your IMac from the oven, you'll notice that the CD drive is probably very much misshapen from the heat. This is fine - it just makes getting data into the machine a bit more challenging. But it can definitely be solved. Using a microscope, take your Windows CD and examine each individual bit on the CD. As you view them, call them out LOUDLY. "One! Zero! Zero! One! One!" Continue until you have read the entire contents of the CD to the smoldering machine. (This is what the SID chip is for.) Once you have completed, the machine will either boot into Windows, or you have misread. It may take many, many readings - it's easy to mis-read a bit from a CD, in case you haven't tried. Just keep trying.
If you're short on time, you could also try buying a PC. How pedestrian.
--
Chris Jackson
Associate Expert, Windows XP
----End message----
After everyone had a good laugh, other suggestions were more down to earth, such as using Virtual PC [www.connectix.com] or VMware software [http://www.vmware.com/] to enable the MAC to run another OS in a virtual machine.
If you would like to access more information about Windows XP online, Microsoft has a new Windows XP site located at the “Expert Zone”: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/. Here you will find information on Windows XP Professional and Home editions, information about their Preview Program, articles, tips and links, as well as the Expert Zone Community Newsgroups. More information will be added as the release date draws near.
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