Throwback - My Review Of Windows XP

Microsoft has finally gotten it right with Windows XP. Microsoft released the first Windows based operating environment several years ago, and named it Windows 3.1. Many, many computer nerds refused to call Windows an operating system because DOS was actually controlling the computer, and Windows provided an easier to use interface. Microsoft touted Windows 2000 as the first operating system, but some users still questioned whether DOS was still really controlling the computer. It really does not matter; Microsoft has chosen to call anything from Windows 95 and beyond an operating system.

Windows 3.1 was really sad, it could not take full advantage of the computers components, would lock up constantly, and it could take as long as three minutes to boot up.

Windows 95 was much better than Windows 3.1, but it still locked up frequently, and still did not take full advantage of the computer's power. The "Start" button first appeared in Windows 95, but the "Start" button is also used to turn off the computer. Microsoft then quickly released Windows 95b which was supposed to fix everything that was wrong with Windows 95. Then Microsoft released the new version of Internet Explorer which allowed Windows 95 to look like Windows 98. Then Microsoft released Windows 98 which was much, much better than Windows 95. However Windows 98 still locked up all of the time. After Windows 98, Microsoft released Windows 98 Second Edition, which was much better than plain old Windows 98. Meanwhile Microsoft was working on Windows NT 3.51 which looked like Windows 3.1, but was much more secure and designed for corporations. Then Microsoft released Windows NT 4.0 which looked like Windows 95, but was better than Windows NT 3.51. After NT 4.0, Microsoft released Windows 2000 for businesses which looked like Windows 98, but was much, much better than Windows NT 4.0. Then Microsoft released Windows Millennium for home users, and it was slightly better than Windows 98 Second Edition. Windows 2000 put Windows Millennium to shame, but Windows 2000 was not friendly to video games or anything you would want to use a home computer for.

Finally, Microsoft decided to merge the two operating systems into one operating system that could be used at either work or home.

With Windows XP, you can take a printer or a scanner out of the box and plug into your computer and start using it. With all of the other operating systems, you would have to install the drivers from a CD, and this process could take up to an hour to complete. You can also open Explorer, select music files, right click and copy them to a CD. With past operating systems, you would have to use a separate program to make a music CD. Microsoft is getting closer to the point where anyone will be able to use a computer.