Windows XP is perhaps the most controversial operating system yet to come out of Microsoft. Announced last week, it faces opponents from many angles, from competitors to consumer-activists. As with every new technology, users here at AnandTech are quite interested in this newcomer to the operating system market.

After probing the AnandTech Forums for several days observing discussions surrounding Windows XP we discovered that Windows XP was already quite widely used by AnandTech readers even before its official release. Wanting to get some input from members of the community who had already tried the system we put out a series of questions which would help gauge users' thoughts on the new system.

1) How does it change the way you use your computer?
2) Why did you upgrade?
3) If you haven't upgraded, will you?? Why or why not?
4) Do you have any favorite features?
5) What are the features you dislike?

Most of the responses we received were obtained from users with experience on prerelease platforms of Windows XP, however there were some users who had obtained a copy of the final product. Also, with the release date of Windows XP falling so recently, many users pointed out a lack of driver and platform support for the new system. This will probably change in the next month and may change the tone of some of our respondents.

Instead of trying to summarize their comments into one large conglomerate, we have chosen to present the responses to each question independently. Although some of the responses did not categorize their answers this way, we did our best to categorize any pertinent information into the correct area.

There were a variety of answers ranging from extremely positive to very negative, however; the results appear to have captured the opinions of a broad segment of the hardware enthusiast market that is partially represented on the AnandTech Forums.

How does it change the way you use your computer?

Most users reported little or no changes in their everyday usage of the system, however; there were small details that many users considered important. If they were upgrading from Windows 2000, users commented mainly on the increased compatibility, especially with legacy 16-bit code, using XP's new compatability mode. Upgrading from Windows 9x systems, users commented on the increased stability and robust architecture of the system, which allows the system to run for longer periods without rebooting.

"The nice thing about XP, is that I can now game and do work with the same OS. I don't really use my computer differently, though I no longer have to restart all the time, so that is a huuuuge benefit. "
- Brad Halpin (Spike2756)

"…Improvements will likely benefit less savvy or less familiar users … experienced users are more likely to know every nook and cranny of the OS … these users are likely to be less impressed with the changes."
-- Andy Hui

Users who do not perform activities which tax their current OS-- such as users of Windows 2000 who do not need legacy gaming support, or users of Windows 9x who do not user their computer for extremely computation-intensive tasks or for long periods-- may not notice many of the improvements in XP.

"It hasn't change the way I use It … W2K was the 'changing point' for me. It allowed me to leave my computer on as long as I wanted without rebooting all the time (unlike 9x) and gave me the ability to multi-task without fear of corruption and crashing."
-- (AirCooled)

Microsoft claims that one of their primary goals in developing Windows XP was to simplify tasks and group them for easier access. As such, many tasks that previously required third party software are now built into the operating system. Several users commented on this feature as a major selling point of the new OS.

"I plug in my CompactFlash or SmartMedia cards and XP automatically opens them up for me (and asks me to open the disk, start a slideshow, etc.). A lot of tasks are grouped together for easier use. The scanner utility is a GOD SEND."
-- Brandon Hill (NFS4)

Why did you upgrade?

Upgrading to Windows XP from other systems is something that Microsoft would like to see everyone do as rapidly as possible. For this reason, Microsoft has invested over $1 billion in marketing this new system and has created a great deal of hype about the new features present in this OS. AnandTech users may be better informed than the average computer user, but that also makes them much more cognizant of the hype and promises for new features in Windows XP.

"I upgraded because I wanted to see what all the hype was about."
-- Andy Hui

Most users, however; cited specific examples of improved functionality as their reason to upgrade.

"The biggest reason I'm upgrading from 98SE is that I want the stability and other advanced NT features (ie: NTFS) but can finally have them along with gaming compatibility."
-- Bryon Daly (LintMan)

"Because Win98SE was unstable"
-- Chris T. (Ctho9305)

"The remote desktop made it easier to manage my parents computer from school"
-- Scott Newton (Scootin)

Many users stated that they were holding off a permanent upgrade until they had an opportunity to try out the new system. Along the same lines, users also frequently cited the reasoning for their upgrading being in that the system was free or very inexpensive in their particular situation. This, however; is also due to the fact that the majority of these responses were collected before retail sales of the software began.

"It was free(MSDN) and I like trying out new stuff"
-- (Sunner)

"Windows XP is the product of Windows ME with Windows 2000 combined, so I knew that was the OS I wanted to get. Besides you can't beat the price I got Win XP for."
-- (Ludacris)

"I'm getting it for free (somebody gave it to me)"
-- Jacob (Athlon4all)

If you haven't upgraded, will you?

This was perhaps the most important question for users who had not yet upgraded. Also, some users had told us they installed on a laptop or some other less frequently used system to demo the software before they made the plunge.

In all, the majority of respondents said they would upgrade. Many users replied that after trying the system on one PC, they were prepared to install it on all of their computers. Many users emphasized that they were impressed with features of the new system, though some expressed concern that the system is still to immature both in driver support and stability.

"I will upgrade the other systems as soon as more drivers are released for XP."
-- Christopher Dudek (Nightfall)

"I am going to upgrade … I don't think that there is anything bad about Win XP. And I couldn't say no and I was curious."
-- Jacob (Athlon4All)

Although the system appears to be popular with the majority, many users expressed a general distaste for the new system, usually stemming from concerns over the issues of Software Activation and licensing that are prominent in any discussion of Windows XP. At least some of the responses were critical that the new system did not implicitly allow the user to violate licensing agreements. Several users explained that the improvement from Windows 2000 to Windows XP did not warrant the high price tag placed on the new system. Combine these concerns with notable decreases in performance as we saw in our initial testing of the system and there are convincing reasons to avoid upgrading if the new features are not compelling.

"I do not plan on upgrading from Win2k to XP because I don't think that XP offers any features or improvements that make a enough of a difference to warrant upgrading my system. With that said, I would not hesitate to upgrade my computer at home from 98 to XP because XP is much more stable and has more (and better) features than 98."
-- (Soccer55)

"Win2k is probably the last MS OS that will remain in my boot schemes. I'm not fond of the newest new licensing structure at all."
-- (Flawedecision)

"I will not run XP due to activation situation"
-- Charlie Gilsten (gil11542)

"No, Win XP does not come with the necessary applications for networking with multiple platforms easily. Putting the OS into a Windows network should not be a problem, but adding it to, and using it with, a UNIX environment would be much simpler if Microsoft accepted standards which include SSH."
-- (n0cmonkey)

"I will buy XP when I can load the one copy on all of my machines at home and forget about the activation thing "
-- Horace Granero (GrumpyMan)

"I would love to upgrade … but the cost is prohibitive for me. I can't afford the professional (nor the home) version right now. I think it is actually worth the money for the improvements Microsoft has made, but for some, the cost of upgrading is just too high."
-- Kenn de Mello (Vadatajs)

Do you have any favorite features?

In order to draw users to the store to purchase Windows XP, Microsoft has to prove to the consumer that there are features that are worth the cost of upgrading. However, Windows XP has another hurdle to overcome. It has already found some moderate opposition from privacy advocates and power users who dislike the product activation technology and copyright protection who deem these too intrusive.
AnandTech users may tend to take their upgrades more lightly than other users simply because they are technically proficient enough to recover from many common problems. However, AnandTech readers are also more likely to carefully weigh the benefits against the competition, creating an interesting situation where users may like certain features but choose not to upgrade or where users may choose to upgrade without noticing all that many improvements.

"I didn't see any features that made much difference in my view"
--Charlie Gilsten (Gil11542)

Despite this interesting situation, readers generally had a wealth of knowledge to share about the real-world improvements built into the system. Users reported a wide variety of positive features, however; several stood out, including the window-theme capabilities of the GUI, faster boot-up and the stability of the NT kernel.

"I liked the built-in theme feature but I feel like it's not going to be utilized all that much without a 3rd party app(WindowBlinds). I like the fact that it boots up as fast as Win ME"
-- PepperBreath

"Driver rollback. Saved me once so far."
- Chris T. (Ctho9305)

"Look and feel more like a mac."
-- Teves Zimmermann (CarbonylXP)

"Windows on toolbar stack according to category when there are too many windows open"
-- (cvlegion)

Users also some features that were present in Windows 2000 or Windows ME, but not in Windows 98 SE such as the ability to apply some driver and TCP/IP changes without a reboot and the ability to control user access and permissions via logins and NTFS file permissions.

"like 2k, you can change a lot of settings (like network settings) without having to restart your computer. also, the fact that you can run executables in past (win9x) compatibility mode is really nice"
-- Brad Halpin (Spike2756)

"I like the new interface and the fact that it can be modified in ways that were previously impossible … For the first time Microsoft released a multi-user OS for home use. Every member of a family can have their own settings and levels of access (with NTFS anyway)."
-- Kenn de Mello (Vadatajs)

What are the features you dislike?

Windows XP has been criticized very strongly in many circles recently for unpopular features. While our readers have shown us that there are some very compelling positive new features, it is important to examine both sides of the argument.

A minority of users stated that they saw no major negative features in Windows XP. Most commented that negatives could be circumvented or removed given a little work.

"None really. It's MS's best OS to date."
-- Brandon Hill (NFS4)

"Nothing yet"
-- Christopher Dudek (Nightfall)

We did see a bit more of a consensus on some of the negative features. Again, while certain features may cause inconvenience, a well-informed consumer can remove or change virtually all of them given some time and patience.

"The candy apple new start menu. You can turn all that crap off though."
-- (PepperBreath)

"The desktop is too MACish so I turned it to Windows Classic"
-- (cvlegion)

"All the stuff that comes with the default install, I don't want their CDR software, I don't want IE, I don't want MSN etc etc, and I sure don't want Luna, WPA, and the millions of services/features that are turned on by default. All in all I think it took me like 2-3 hours post install just to clean up the mess that XP is by default."
- (Sunner)

"The default of the pretty new GUI on a "Pro" version of software."
-- Chris T. (Ctho9305)

Other users had problems with included features that cannot be easily removed.

"I dislike WPA and the REQUIRED MSN Messenger (without a hack it is impossible to uninstall)."
-- Scott Newton (Scootin159)

"I dislike IE 6.0 and the fact that it is built in to the OS. The whole media window is annoying and I have had issues playing some streaming media."
-- Brad Halpin (Spike2756)

Conclusion

In all, Windows XP has been met with much fanfare, but like the release of Windows 98 with it's newfound integration with Internet Explorer, Windows XP has also been met with harsh criticism from many sides. From users criticizing the mandatory installation of Microsoft messenger services and media technology to developers berating Microsoft for obliterating the competition with free, integrated utilities, the idea is the same: Many believe Microsoft is abusing their power as the dominant player in the market.

Whether or not this is the case currently has not yet been examined, but the courts have ruled that in the past Microsoft has been guilty of abusing monopoly power. However, with the trial tied up in court, it is anyone's guess as to when federal regulators will get a chance to review all of the features included with Windows XP and Microsoft's new .NET initiative which are tightly linked through the inclusion of the new MSN Explorer browser in Windows XP.

If AnandTech reader response is any indication, Windows XP will probably be very well entrenched by the time the courts make any ruling surrounding its legality. For now, our recommendation stands: If you need the features, go ahead and upgrade, but if you're content with your current system, there may be no reason to spend the money to upgrade. Just remember, Windows XP requires a faster computer with more RAM and hard disk space than any prior operating system. Be sure your system is prepared before you make the plunge.