Windows XP

Product activation and interface
Installing Windows XP will involve less guesswork than previous versions. Microsoft plans to release a compatibility checker called Upgrade Advisor that you can download or get on CD from computer retailers. The Advisor checks system-level software and hardware drivers against a database of compatible products and warns you of any possible problems with your configuration. This is a handy feature, and one that can download an updated list of compatible products when you run it, if you allow it to.

We did encounter some compatibility problems with standard-configuration Dell and Gateway PCs only a couple of months old (modem enumerator software, virus checkers, and Roxio's DirectCD and rollback software GoBack were all flagged as problems). But after uninstalling some apps and getting updated versions of others, the operating system did install OK. (While this was a nuisance, it beat the Windows 2000 experience of installing an operating system and losing hardware altogether.)

Activate me
If you've ever upgraded a Windows OS, you're probably used to entering a lengthy CD key, or code, to install new Microsoft software. But if you buy XP off the shelf, you'll go through another compulsory step called activation. Most PC vendors who preinstall XP will have completed this task for you. Activation isn't the same as registration (which asks you to provide personal info to Microsoft), but you must complete activation within 30 days of installation, or the OS will stop working. While we understand the intent, it's a slightly annoying roadblock.

Expensive extra licenses
The activation antipiracy step prevents you from installing XP on more than one computer, and it's a bit of a nuisance, especially if you don't have an Internet connection set up. Online activation is painless, but the telephone method takes 10 minutes or longer and involves reading and typing about 100 digits. The activation scheme checks the IDs of 10 different hardware components to create a special code for your PC. If your hard drive dies or you change your network interface card or reconfigure more than 5 of these components in your system, you'll have to reactivate your copy of XP. Reactivation is a relatively painless process in which you must call Microsoft, explain your situation, and get a new activation number--not difficult, but it could prove annoying.

Since product activation means you can install XP on only one PC, households with lots of computers are out of luck. Microsoft makes a licensing concession to such home users, but it's a small one. You can buy additional XP licenses at a discount: a paltry 10 percent or so, depending on the retailer (US$8 to US$12). You'll still pay about US$80 each time you want to add XP to another computer. Stingy Microsoft!

Lookin' good
Once activated, however, Windows XP looks a lot better than--and very different from--any previous Windows version. From the outset, XP presents login buttons for each of your PC's users--a look that owes a lot to MSN Explorer's interface. Click your name (and enter an optional password), and XP whisks you off to a screen with rounded, 3D-looking taskbar and dialog boxes. By default, only the Recycle Bin icon shows up on the clean desktop. (You can, however, elect to view a 95-style desktop if you switch to the Windows Classic view.)

The enhancements aren't just visual; some of them make XP easier to use than previous Windows versions. For example, if you open four or five Microsoft Word or Explorer windows, XP groups all the windows for each application under a single button. Click the Word button, for instance, and you'll see a pop-up window with a list of all your open documents.

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