I've been running XP on a couple of boxen for several months now (I was on the beta, legit and all).
From a technology perspective, it is probably Microsoft's best OS yet. (Of course, that's what
they say about every new release of Windows). Although it's probably a kind of heresy to say it, it's about as stable as MacOSX. Yes, I've managed to get a BSOD on it, just as I've been able to Kernel Panic X. It's fast, it runs all my Windows apps well, and it's reasonably easy to work with, although it still has a lot of the inconsistencies in the UI that Windows has always had, but it
is improving.
A lot has been said of the Fisher-Price-esque UI "Luna" - with all its bright primary colours. First, you
can turn it all off, making it look very much like Win2K. Funny thing is that, like Aqua, it can grow on you. I absolutely
hated Luna when I first saw it. I wasn't real hapy about Aqua either, but I've gotten used to both (although Aqua is obviously much nicer) and the "classic" Windows look just looks antiquated (as does Platinum).
As for the copying of X feature (iMovie, DiscBurner, etc)... Get used to it. Apple has "borrowed" their share of Windows behaviours over the years, and we'll probably see more of this in the future. Although if I
ever see the word "Start" on the menu bar in X, I'm going to build a cabin in Montana and disappear...
That said, what I cannot tolerate is the insidious nature of Windows and the invasion (perceived and real) of privacy that Microsoft is attempting to pull off with XP.
First, there's the activation thing. Now, understand that activation != registration. Registration is optional (to a point), while activation is not. As many others have noted, it's very distasteful to me to have to justify my actions WRT changing hardware, reinstalling, etc that is likely to happen in my environment. The increase in the number of changes, if true, may seem like a good thing, but it's still a question of justifying my (perfectly legal) behaviour to Microsoft, merely because they say I have to. Not good.
What's worse, though, is this whole Passport thing. The notion that I should use the same credentials to use my stored credit card information as I would use to log into Hotmail is just madness. With Microsoft's track record when it comes to security makes this a terrifying prospect. Of course, if I had a
choice it may not be so bad, but this is Microsoft. Just try to use Hotmail, or MSN messenger (or MSN for that matter) without a Passport account. Good Luck.
Microsoft so desperately wants people to stop thinking of software as a product, and instead as a service so they can charge for it on a subscription basis. The irony is delicious since it was Microsoft that for years has refined the concept of software as a product, with terms of use and all. I predict that within 2 years, there will begin to be a "mandatory" upgrade for Windows as Microsoft struggles to maintain their revenue stream. Hint - they're already struggling.
Add to all of this the various lock-in strategies (just try to effectively use anything but IE), bait and switch tactics (Did you know that you can use Media Player in XP to make MP3s? Well, you can, but you can only encode at 64Kbps bitrates. Of course, if you'd like better quality, you can always make .WMAs.) and other dirty tricks, it makes XP difficult for me to recommend to anyone.
