Chapter 17. Opening New Windows: Upgrading to Windows XP

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Why Windows XP?

• Which version for you?

• Can you make the upgrade?

• Upgrading to Windows XP: typical installation

• Upgrading to Windows XP: clean installation

• Updating your copy of Windows XP

Microsoft updates its Windows operating system every few years although the big releases only come once or twice a decade. The latest big release was Windows 95 (back in 1995), which was a total rewrite of the previous 3.X version of Windows. Windows 98 (which followed in 1998) was a less-significant upgrade, and Windows 98 Second Edition (in 1999) was really no more than a minor bug fix. Windows Me (released in 2000) added a few bells and whistles, but was still basically the same operating system released back in 1995.

All of these versions of Windows were targeted at individual computer users, and weren't terribly stable. (They tended to crash a lot, as you well know.) If you wanted better stability, you had to move up to the 32-bit Windows NT/2000 operating system, which was the version of Windows targeted at corporations. However, Windows NT/2000 cost a lot more than Windows 9X/Me, and wasn't as user-friendly.

Which brings us to Windows XP, which Microsoft released in 2001. Windows XP is built on the Windows 2000 engine, but includes an interface and driver support built on what was available in 9X/Me. This means that Windows XP is as stable and robust as Windows 2000, and as easy-to-use as Windows 9X/Me.

All this makes Windows XP the most important operating system release since Windows 95. Although you might not have had a good reason to upgrade to Windows 98 or Windows Me, the performance and usability improvements in Windows XP make upgrading a tempting proposition.