I really hate this product because they way it is advertised is misleading. If you read Microsoft reviews of this product, you would think that this product is the best option out there. Heck, you might even come to believe that 100+ $ for this is product is actually a pretty good deal. Tell you what? They should pay each and every one of us 100 buck for using this unsecure and full of glitches software or O/S as they like to call it. Windows Security has become a major issue for consumers, and Sp2 does little to ease our security worries. For example, there is a adware called cnml.exe that is absolutely undeletable. This shows the flaws of windows registry and its task manager. You go and delete all the related keys such as Winnet.exe from registry, but somehow this program still gets to load itself into memory and send you ads. Now, you even unload it using Microsoft task manager, but that doesn't help you either. So the last chance would be logging in to a linux live cd and deleting all the files such as cnml.dll and so on. So Security issues are still there. The search also sucks. This version of Windows is even more memory demanding which is really unacceptable. Why would windows need all this memory. 512 Mg is not enough anymore and Microsoft personally recommand 768 Mb of ram. The only reason that I am still using this product is the need to develop .net applications using Visual studio.net. So, besides that linux is better in every possible way. You don't like linux? Buy a Mini Mac and go with macintosh. You don't like Macintosh, then go with solaris, but whatever you do, please save your time and skip this product or you'll have security issues like every other user. 3 stars for IIS and .Net platform. 0 for security. 0 for performance. Avge = 6/4 or 2 & 1/2*

Returned software twice. Laptop unable to read either disks due to corrupted files in the 1386 directory. Microsoft, are you idiots reading this? Then get a friggin clue. Why do you think you are loosing market share to the Linix/Java and Mac world? I have been a Microsoft developer for twenty years, and I'm ready to jump ship. This is what happens when you let a bunch of tools from Bangalore take over project development because you're impressed with their fake degrees. (Did you idiots know that some of their masters programs take about here months to complete?) You get what you pay for, and I'm getting sick of paying for your incompetence. This doesn't cost me only the price of the software, it also costs me my time which I value if you don't. Get it freaking right darn it!!! Windows XP software upgrade has been problematic since you first introduced it.

Just switched to a Mac. OS X upgrade is half the price, with 200 times the functionality... do the math, buy a Mac.

XP is only "good" if compared to previous, even worse versions of Windows. That is not really a fair comparison, and really shows how little of the computer world most people are actually aware of.

SP2 is just the latest piece of junk M$ put out to quiet (for a time) their critics. What did they do? Mostly, they turned on a useless firewall (useless because you can get much better for free, not to mention the fact that it breaks a number of applications).

When I was pushed SP2 a while back, it took me 1:30 hours to revert my laptop to a useable state. So, Caveat Emptor.

Running Windows 95 and that means Windows 98 is illegal in your country and you are in the land of needing a new computer fast, feeling that you might have a box that looks like it is running windows 3.1 and to be honest now is your chance to move to Windows 2000 for a more solid operating system. Even NT users found more stability in Windows 2000, 98 users mostly gamers or downloaders, seeing the blue screen of death often, while Win 2K users doing something a little more software intensive like multimedia, graphics and servers that 98 could not manage. So came the day of the duel-processor, having an NT Dual 500mhz, upgrading to Win2K and you still had a fast machine, 64mb and 128mb games cards never really impressing you that much to get a better machine, a games console maybe cheaper and better, XP a little slow for you and besides, 2K was compatible with nearly everything and you could duel boot linux for fun. The only reason to buy a computer between the release of XP and now was if you did not have one and even then plenty of second hand units going around.

Year: 2005
256mb graphics cards, LCD monitors on the cheap, DVD-R media, Broadband, now is the time to upgrade your machine. AMD have some nice chips but the hyperthreading Intel P4 3.0GHz is a killer chip. 1GB of RAM, no problem. A pimpin' fast graphics card and you have a machine that can play Half-Life 2 on full resolution. The best games of the 21st century were released before Christmas this year, with 2005 bringing lots more to come. Broadband on the increase, DVD-R media and life might get less expensive if you are into computers and certainly a whole pile better.

Why not Linux? Well XP2 has the games and Linux not, so we can stop there. For speed on an OS, well Linux is a much faster, but XP2 is not bad on a system with half the ram of the above and a 1 GHz processor. If you are programming or doing fundamental computer work then do check out Linux because it might be what you need and learning Linux is like DOS with a bit of windows with all the free fundamental software you could want. Why not Apple? Well the same as above, but you have a better selection of stuff and to be honest multimedia applications work well on an apple, and why shouldn't they since Apple is industry standard for that kind of design work, so what does XP2 have to offer?

Obviously stability (not to be confused with security). XP2 is a very stable operating system. It is more stable than Windows 2000. For that reason, I made the upgrade. I have not found XP2 doing much annoying or something that I could not fix with Google. Installing is a big deal because you need Internet for verification; however it is fast on a high end system. There are obvious things you must do after you install it like download Firefox and use it instead of IE and try to use realplayer instead of mediaplayer, use Microsoft's AntiSpyware, don't use the firewall, use zonelarm free instead, spend on a good anti-virus software package, turn off the preview pane in Internet Outlook mail or try to find a free mail browser, make sure you get all the latest windows updates, careful what you put into your machine or extract, careful what mail you open, change passwords every week, and you can achieve a secure on-line machine that can do anything most computers can do right now with a company that has admitted that it has a security problem that will be addressed with future updates, but overall one should be impressed with the OS for stability, not speed or security, but for not crashing, as long as there are no hardware configuration conflicts, that do happen, get someone else to build your machine and blame them when it doesn't come together (and it wont come together because things are now cutting edge so get it done elsewhere; if your task bar hangs this is because of routers or USB hubs that are not compatible). The machine like the above is a 5 star experience but God help those who don't address security issues the moment they go on-line with it which is a bit like just driving your car off a cliff. Expect to loose everything to a virus and have your address details stolen with all your VISA card info.

XP2 PRO is 5 stars if you visit a place on the web called Gibson research incorporated, a highly respected individual in the security community who developed a way that people can test the vulnerability of their PC on-line. He developed a series of a security fixes for XP1 and XP2 problems. Bookmark that page and use it to have a somewhat secure and stable XP2.

Also remember, forget the HOME EDITION, go PRO.