What is Microsoft’s Windows XP?

Deepak Gupta
Deepak Gupta December 8, 2021
Updated 2021/12/08 at 3:37 AM

We are going from Microsoft Windows XP is an operating system. A series of programs that gives us accessibility to manage the resources of electronic devices that use microprocessors (mobile phones, DVD players, computers, among others), thus having different versions, with the aim of better adaptability to the times and, above all, everything, to what the user needs.

Windows XP (Windows Experience) is a version of Microsoft Windows, available only for computers, successor to Windows 2000. It was launched on October 25, 2001 and managed to become the most used in the world. At a technical level, its constitution is based on the architecture and the Windows NT kernel, being the first system with this feature. Microsoft sold Windows XP in several editions that tested features such as “product activation” and service packs.

Windows XP Vista

Characteristics Windows XP

  • Firstly, access to the start menu was improved, being much faster.
  • The first hibernation option was implemented to save energy.
  • More colorful, striking and refreshing interface, as Windows 98 had a dull, boring appearance, with shades of gray and black.
  • It gives the user the possibility to choose between the new or the old version of the driver.
  • Quick user change, as XP allows quick end / login.
  • Windows XP provides a new graphical interface called Luna used for computers. It rearranged directories and added other visual effects which rearranged directories and added other visual effects.
  • Its graphical representation is more gentle than that of its predecessors.
  • The user can disconnect an external device and install new applications without the need to reboot the system.
  • It features a Remote Desktop that allows the user to work on a computer through their graphical desktop via the Internet or another network. This option makes it possible to access your files from another device located elsewhere.
  • It also has ClearType, designed to improve the appearance of lit text on liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and similar Flat Panel CRT monitors.
  • Support for most digital subscriber line (DSL) technology Multilingual User Interface (MUI). With this package we can change the language of Windows XP (from English to any other language chosen by the user). In previous versions, several computers had Windows XP with English at startup by default. The situation was cumbersome since in order to change it to another language, a new copy had to be purchased.
  • Deployment of service packs that included many new features or new compatibility

Service pack

The Service pack 1 It was an update pack that included new compatibilities, such as: USB 2.0 support. Native SATA support and more than 137GB could be used.

The Service pack 2 was the most accepted, as it had new updates and many new features. Among the most important are: Firewall, Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth support, Windows Security Center, 24 new languages ​​and image changes in login and in some or another icon.

Service Pack 3 which was the latter, had notable improvements in Windows Vista, such as Windows Media Player 11 and Internet Explorer 7.

Editions Windows XP

In principle, the two versions of Windows XP were Home Edition and Professional Edition, its most common editions. The Home Edition, which is intended for Home use, and the Professional Edition, which has other features such as the likelihood of linking to a domain, rather than just workgroups. These editions were later reinstalled on computers sold by major computer manufacturers. However, Microsoft released 5 more versions for specific audiences.

From the Professional Edition we can point out that it had many functions that were not in the Home Edition. Among its characteristics we could find Windows Server through which it was possible to manage a group of PCs from a computer. It was widely used in computer science classes, it also had what is called Specific Access, that is, it gave you specific permissions on files to perform certain actions.

Around work, there was a lot to avoid having to create user profiles since it was restarted in “safe mode” or a specific tool was used. Another of its characteristics was the presence of the Remote Desktop Server, which offered the possibility of accessing a PC remotely through the internet. Offline Storage, on the other hand, allowed to save a copy of the files that were in a PC connected by Internet, managing to work offline.

On the other hand, we have the Professional x64 Edition, which is an edition supported by Windows Server 2003, much more complete than the one mentioned above. It supported 64-bit chips manufactured by AMD (its extension AMD64) and by Intel (IA-32). But other chips like Opteron and Athlon 64 were also used with this operating system.

Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA)

The Windows Genuine system is responsible for verifying whether the copy of Windows is original or not, warning the user in case the program does not pass the validation process. When the product key is not original Windows sends a warning asking the user to validate a Microsoft license and if he does not do so, the system is not downloaded, the desktop goes black and its operation is impossible.

In June 2008 Microsoft officially reported the non-circulation of Windows XP from that moment, but they continued to offer technical support for months and even years. What from that moment the users who had this operating system on their computers were not going to have more security updates, leaving the computer unprotected and exposed to hacker attacks. And it was in July 2015 when Microsoft finished sending security and antivirus updates, this being a risk for people who still use the Windows XP operating system today.

critics on Windows XP

There are many criticisms and investigations that XP has been subjected to, one of them is due to the incorporation of various applications for which there was a third-party market, such as firewalls, multimedia players (Windows Media Player) and instant messaging programs ( Windows Messenger). On the other hand, another of the criticisms has been based on its instability, its vulnerability to viruses, worms, for presenting deficient programming codes.

Also many laughed at the appearance of Windows XP, supposedly for being too youthful. There wasn’t much DOS support either, as Windows XP is based on NT. Other things that users disliked were the activation of the license that had to be done in a limited time; otherwise, it expired. Indeed, there were problems when we changed components on the PC, which caused Windows not to run.

Conclusions.

Microsoft Windows XP has been 20 years since its launch and although it is an obsolete operating system it is still used in some companies, in vertical markets, that is, it is maintained by computers with low hardware conditions. And although it was a point of focus for research and criticism, it was a great success from the beginning, in fact, it is one of the best operating systems in history because in addition to its great appearance, it provided its users with stability and news.


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