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Windows XP

In his second look at Windows XP, Dave Cook notes that a new user interface is just the beginning of a whole new experience. The good, the bad, and the plain old ugly – it’s all here.

Like it or loathe it, Windows XP’s new user interface is designed with beginners in mind. It’s also, erm… rather colourful. You’ll hardly be able to miss the bright-green Start button, for instance. The Start Menu has also been revamped, with two sections now on offer to help distinguish the applications from virtually everything else on the PC.

The trouble is that when using this new style, it seems to take longer than ever to reach a particular task. Okay, so this is Microsoft’s way of keeping all the vital system files and so forth a little bit further out of reach of the uninitiated. But we think most users will find it all rather irritating. Thankfully, reverting to the old Start Menu is a doddle if we click on the Start Menu’s Properties dialog box.

The Category view, from Control Panel, is typical of the way Microsoft has tried to simplify things. Although it presents you with nine categories, you have to dig a little deeper to actually hit the jackpot and find what you’re looking for. This can leave experienced users scratching their heads while they search anxiously for the most commonly used Control Panel icons. Once again, though, all is not lost. To avoid this unwanted hassle, simply revert to Control Panel’s Classic View via the left pane of Control Panel.

Our advice is this: stick with the new user interface for a week or so. If, after that time it’s still driving you potty, then give it up as a bad job and revert to Classic view. If nothing else, the finger that clicks your mouse button will be mightily relieved.

Product Activation

Controversially, Windows XP is the first Microsoft operating system (but not the first Microsoft product) to make use of Product Activation technology. Basically, you must activate Windows XP via phone or Internet within 30 days. After this period, Windows XP will not work other than to perform the activation process. Once activated, the product is locked to your PC’s hardware configuration. Change your hardware too much and you’ll need to reactivate the operating system.

Microsoft claims Product Activation has been introduced to stop “casual copying” of Windows XP. Its anti-piracy web site states that only four Internet activations will be allowed before you have to phone Microsoft to receive a fix. If further re-activation is required later due to a Windows XP re-installation, for example, or an excessive amount of hardware changes, you’ll have to phone Microsoft to obtain another coded Activation ID in order to unlock the system.

Large corporations, meanwhile, can skip Product Activation by purchasing block licenses of Windows XP. But surely this makes Microsoft’s anti-piracy policy regarding Product Activation all rather meaningless? We’ll let you be the judge of that. Suffice to say that Product Activation is going to be a real pain in the neck to many of Microsoft’s most loyal users; though whether Microsoft is unduly concerned about that remains to be seen.

Next Time

That’s it for now. So far we seem to have been concentrating on Windows XP’s least recommended qualities. But that’s all about to change in our third and final review of Windows XP, when we’ll be checking out some of its most rewarding new features.

Iain Laskey