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 Why You Might Not Want to Upgrade to Windows XP Just Yet
By DANIEL CALLOWAY,
TheWorldJournal.com
If you haven't made the transition from Windows 98/98SE/ME or 2000 Professional to the latest operating system from Microsoft, Windows XP Pro or Home Edition, you might want to hold off upgrading until you do some research and look very closely at your PC to see if upgrading is what you should do.
Some areas to consider when deciding whether to upgrade to Windows XP are listed by category below.
(1) Look for application incompatibility:
Not all Windows applications will run on Windows XP. In fact, when you install Windows XP, the Setup program will present you with a list of installed applications that may not run correctly under this operating system. Some of the items on the list, like antivirus software, are obvious, but expect a few surprises.
When I initially upgraded my home PC to Windows XP Professional, I discovered that certain programs that ran in Windows 2000 Pro would not run in XP Pro. Conversely, there were programs that wouldn't run in Windows 2000 Pro that did run quite well in Windows 98/98SE and Windows ME that ran just fine in Windows XP.
(2) Some additional hardware requirements:
Windows XP has more stringent hardware requirements than Windows 9x. For example, Microsoft recommends having a minimum of a 300-MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM, and 1.5 GB of free hard disk space on any system on which you plan to run Windows XP. Obviously, these are far beyond the requirements of the various versions of Windows 9x.
Even if you have a beefy system with plenty of processing power, memory, and disk space, there's still a chance that your system may not be capable of running Windows XP unless each of the system's components is listed on the Hardware Compatibility List. The link to Microsoft's HCL is:
http://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/.
(3) Security problems:
Microsoft has worked hard to make Windows XP secure, but one potential major security hole it left in is the Remote Assistance feature, which allows users to send an invitation for help to the person of their choosing. The recipient is then able to assist the troubled user via remote control.
The problem with this feature is that users can ask anyone they want for help; they aren't limited to asking the help desk for assistance. The assistant has no more privileges than the local user, but the thought of a user allowing someone from outside the company to work on their PC is frightening, to say the least. This could be a potential invitation to hackers who look at every opportunity to hack into your system and steal your private information.
(4) Product activation problems:
Mandatory product activation is another reason for not upgrading to Windows XP. A lot of rumors are circulating about the way product activation works. For example, you may have heard that if too many different hardware components on your system are changed, Windows XP will think it's running on a different system and will conclude that the software is pirated. The truth is that if too many hardware components are changed in a system you may be asked to reactivate Windows. Windows won't simply cease to function.
However, the activation feature is designed to prevent users from running a single copy of Windows XP on multiple computers or from removing Windows XP from one computer and installing it onto another computer. If you have concerns about crashing hard drives or moving your operating system from one computer to another, then you might reconsider upgrading to Windows XP and stick with the operating system you currently run on your PC.
Related web sites:
Microsoft
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