Chapter 1. A Welcome to Windows XP

Microsoft Windows XP is the latest and, technically speaking, the best version of the most-used software in the world. If you recently bought a new PC, Windows XP probably came preinstalled . If you already own a computer (running Windows 98, Me, or 2000, for example), you can buy Windows XP separately to upgrade your machine (see Appendix A).

No matter how you get it on your PC, however, you'll be spending a lot of time with Windows XP. It's your computer's face; it's the first thing that greets you when you turn on your machine, and the last thing you see before it blinks off.