Why Windows XP????????????????????

[Dooin' it]

I'm not gonna come straight out & say that XP sucks but here's my scenario...........

Using Windows since '95 & used everything in between. I'd have to say that it's a toss-up in efficiency between Win98SE and WinME. (I know some hate ME & still haven't heard a good argument against it outside of network ability.......seriously!)

I've just started using XP as I'm usually rather stubborn & I am not liking this sucker so far! This thing is the most heavily weighted OS I've ever used. (ME was/is much faster).

Some things are the same........some different (no biggie)
Still a bit overdressed for an o/s (but again, no biggie)
XP still can't read a .pdf file by itself (you've GOT to be kidding me)
XP update was downloading last nite for hours (I'm stuck w/ dial-up at home) got to 58%, shutdown to leave home, came back, rebooted..........all 58% LOST! (you've GOT to be kidding me)

Programs open more slowly in XP than any other MS o/s I've used. (again........I'm dyin' to see improvements here but you've GOT to be kidding me)

I need more RAM, right?......WRONG!! Runnin' 512mb of DDR333.
I need more processor right?....WRONG!! Runnin' P4 2.4 (not celery)
80g WD 7,200rpm HD
All on a brand new Dell 4600c.

What gives???????????????????????????????? (Before I format this whole thing & throw ME on it)

[QCompson]

In my experience, XP is much better with memory management and stability than ME. When I was running ME, I usually had to reboot at least once a day (or else it would get slower, and slower, and slower), and with XP I can leave it on for a week without any performance degradation.
I also never noticed any significant slowdown in application launching speed in XP as compared to ME. And no, I'm not kidding you...

[Xeroid]

XP is ok as far as windows goes. Give XP a chance, it's much more stable than 98. Go to http://www.tweakxp.com/ and it will show you how to remove/disable some of the fluff and improve it's performance.

Once you tweak it, it should be as fast as what you were getting with 98 plus much more stable. I'm sure our other members will have some other links for you to take a look at too.

[Scott Tiger]

Sounds like you need to either

A: remove all the junk that Dell installs on thier new pc's. That stuff really adds up and slows the whole system down.

B: Defrag your hard drive

C: Get Windows 2000 Pro if both A and B don't satisfy you.

[meese]

Go ahead and use Me. I'm afraid you have a lot to learn my friend.

1) XP can't read PDF's because PDF is an Adobe file type. Adobe has a patent on it. If MS did that they would be sued by Adobe.

2) There are third party programs that can continue your download from where it left off. Why did you think XP would have this feature? Again they would be sued by other venders. I'm not aware that Me had this feature?

3) Your gonna have updates whether you use Me or XP.

4) XP is much more stable than ME. If an app freezes in Me, you got to reboot. With XP you can kill the app without rebooting.

5) XP has event logs so you can identify problems when they occur.

6) XP can use NTFS file system (and its recommended) which is much more secure and fault tolerant.

7) Read Scott Tiger's post above.

8) Read Xeroid's post above.

9) Read QCompson's post above.

I don't have the time to waste comparing these two OS's, but like I post before, if you think winXP sucks and win9x is the answer, I think you are nuts.

[Dooin' it]

Ya.........that's why I didn't want to "harp" too hard right off. I know new things can take some work but I never saw any type of slowing w/ WinME & I certainly loaded a ton of crap on it & ran it long enough.

As for stripping it down, I may just do that. In fact, I was even thinking of reformatting & installing JUST WinXP (even though it's still a Dell-proprietary version) and foregoing the other 15CD's they include in the package that are all already installed on the HD. (I just think this might be easier than trying to eliminate the Dell-bias programs 1 by 1. ???????????

[Xeroid]

I did a clean install of XP (with no other programs), Dooin'it. I still found the tweaks helpful.

[Bob The Great]

A nice speed increase in normal desktop usage can be gotten by double clicking on my computer then right clicking on the drive and selecting properties. Now uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching". That will make stuff like openening a document or clicking on the start menu run more smoothly.

[rpertusio]

You should also take note that XP determines which programs you use most often, and optimizes your computer.

For example, launching the same program every day will trigger XP to create a "PreFetch" file that helps it open faster next time. When you defragment, it will put your 'most frequently accessed' files at the front of your hard drive (where it can read faster).

These optimizations may take a short while to go into effect. After a mere 3 reboots, XP starts to optimize.

In short, XP was designed to optimize itself (and theoretically get faster) the longer you use it. Don't give up too early!

- rp

[MDS]

Dooin' it I felt the same way at first as my new lappy had xp home and I hated so bad the lappy became my wifes fav. computer and I stayed with my win2kpro until about 6 months ago I needed to install my 200gig HD is I decided to give XP Pro a try again and now I must same it is better then other OS with win2kpro falling next in line other then linux. Give it some time I think once you use it a bit you will get to like it.