XP questions

[Pissed_Macman]

I'm writing a paper, need a few questions answered. Giving me links or just telling me would be helpful.

1. What kind of upgrades have been released and how have they been released?

2. What are the hardware requirements to run it at a decent speed?

3. How is its networking with other OSes?

Thanks

[Refalm]

1. One major update has been released: SP1. This incudes bugfixes, WMP 9, and an "Add/Remove programs" update ordered by court. You can choose what Windows XP use as default for internet, e-mail, etc.

It's distributed through Windowsupdate.com, Windows XP's built-in "Automatic updates" and new Windows XP CD's which already include SP1.

2. The CPU isn't important. The memory is. I'd say:
P-MMX 200 MHz with 96 MB RAM and 16 MB RAM SVGA. 64 MB RAM will result in a painful overall slowness.

3. At the moment, Samba supports NT Domains, Active Directory, etc. So if Microsoft doesn't take steps against, Linux (in combination with Samba 3) is compatible with Windows networking. I don't know about Mac OS X, but I think they're still at Samba 2, which doesn't do NT Domains very well, and doesn't support Active Directory at all.

[psyjax]

I run windows 2k, and it networks flawlessly with OSX. XP is built on the same basic kernal, and I belive the networking fetures are identical.

So ya, it should network with no problem at all.

[Xeen]

1. Like Refalm said, one major update: SP1. However something interesting that you maybe can use in your paper is that MS was also forced to release SP1a, which is identical to SP1 except that it removes Java. Also lots of patches have been released for holes in the system, IE, DirectX, WMP, and some other components of XP. And 2 patches had to be released to patch holes created by prior patches. , funny, but a sad truth.

2. For hardware, MS says XP requires 233 Mhz and recommends 300. From experience, I say XP is a turtle on anything less than 500 for serious multimedia stuff. 64 MB RAM required, MS recommends 128. That should be decent. Though MS says you need 1.5 GB of HD space, it'll install even on an approx 800 MB or so partition. If you throw out all the junk, it'll 600-700 MB not counting the pagefile.

3. Networking is just like all the other windows systems. Is compatible with anything I think. The only problem I've noticed in XP's networking is that it too stupid to detect when you're ethernet is not plugged in, and sometimes take about 5 minutes to logon (if you logon to a domain), and can take even longer to respond if you accidentally click on My Network Places when you're not hooked up.

[Refalm]

quote:xeen: I say XP is a turtle on anything less than 500 for serious multimedia stuff. 64 MB RAM required, MS recommends 128.

Well, of course Windows Movie Maker won't run so well on a P-MMX 200, but that's not what we're talking about. Windows XP runs decent on a P-MMX 200 with 96 MB RAM, even with Luna and the effects on (except menu shadows and transparant selection).

Linux is better though, it runs amazingly fast on the computer metioned above, while Windows XP runs at "an acceptable level" on it.