What You Get with Windows XP
If Windows XP is your foray into Windows, you're lucky to have escaped the early days of changing jumpers, editing the config.sys file, running out of "system resources," and suffering with the Windows 3.x Program Manager. However, dealing with the problems of the early days of Windows is a good way to build coping skills and is the only way to appreciate some of the things we now take for granted, such as Plug and Play and fast Internet connections.
Getting under the hood of Windows is not only a great way to take charge of the operating system and make it conform to the way you work and think, but it's also a very effective method for learning more about your computer and the technology that makes it work.
The basic "shell" interface (Explorer, the Desktop, and the Start Menu) in Windows XP is not that different from that of its immediate predecessors, Windows Me and Windows 2000. The new "Windows XP Style" (discussed at more length in Chapter 2) adds an optional new look to all dialogs, controls, windows, and even the Start Menu, but everything still works pretty much the same as it did in every version of Windows since 95.
What follows are a few highlights and lowlights of Windows XP, most notably for those who have upgraded or who are thinking of upgrading from a previous version. Some may seem insignificant; others may mean the difference between upgrading to Windows XP and waiting for something better to come along. All of these, naturally, add up ...
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