Windows XP: Networking and remote usage

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Previous consumer versions of Windows had support for multiple users, but it was so poorly implemented that few knew it was there or how to use it. In XP, every user gets their own desktop, document repositories, settings, and security features. What's more, users can switch on the fly between accounts concurrently logged in (although this really only works best on machines with plenty of memory), making it easier for someone to get on a shared computer and take care of a quick task.

XP's networking is patterned after Windows 2000--each physical connection in the system has an independent network stack and can be reconnected or edited on the fly without rebooting. XP is also locale-aware: if you have a laptop that you take home with you, and your network topology is different in the office, XP will automatically reconfigure its IP address and other settings when you reconnect at home. (Remapping network drives with local changes unfortunately doesn't happen yet.)

Setting up a network has never been easier, thanks to XP's Network Setup Wizard, which spells out, auto-configures and diagrams exactly how to create common network scenarios, such as a gateway machine for your in-house network. This feature alone may be worth the price of admission.

The Internet Connection Firewall does a rudimentary job of blocking unauthorized access, but you should replace it with a full-featured personal firewall such as BlackICE Defender, McAfee.com Personal Firewall, Norton Personal Firewall, or ZoneAlarm Pro, especially if you have a cable or DSL connection. Speaking of broadband, XP includes Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) so that all computers on a network can use a single connection simultaneously--each is automatically assigned an internal IP address. ICS also supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) so that when you attach a new UPnP device to the network, it should be automatically recognized.

Both XP Home and Professional play nice with laptops. Suspend-to-disk, or "hibernate", is much faster in XP than it was in Windows 2000, and suspending/restoring the system is also more fault-tolerant than before; it doesn't lock up or go into space during some suspend/resume operations. XP also uses the same hot-plug management controls found in Me and 2000.