Windows XP offers some clear improvements over Windows 2000. But
anyone currently in the process of deploying Windows 2000 now faces
a dilemma over whether or not to upgrade.
When questioned on whether Windows 2000 users should upgrade, John
Gray, Microsoft's group programme manager for Windows XP, takes a
more conservative line than the normal Microsoft banter.
"Users cannot go wrong with either Windows 2000 or Windows XP," he
says. "If they are in the process of rolling out Windows 2000,
continue [the rollout]."
For people still evaluating Windows 2000, Gray's advice is to start
looking at Windows XP. He said it is entirely possible to switch
mid-way through a rollout from Windows 2000 to XP.
The most likely scenario Microsoft envisages within corporate IT is
the preloading of XP on new PCs. "For new machines XP works very
well within an existing Windows 2000 environment," Gray
explains.
An issue many IT staff could face with the new operating system is
whether to expend resources installing it, or simply apply the
latest service pack to Windows 2000.
"Windows XP has better power management, fixes and enhancements.
But all the critical patches are available in Windows 2000 Service
Pack 2," says Gray, stressing that "rolling out a service pack is
not as extreme as rolling out a new operating system".
Protection against viruses
Many experts view XP as a so-called point release of Windows 2000 -
many of the flaws in the original should have been ironed out in
XP. But in the light of recent security attacks on Windows-based
systems, Simon Moores, chairman of the Microsoft Forums user group,
is not convinced. "I doubt that XP will offer better protection
against viruses," he says.
From Moores own experience, one area of security concern within XP
is MS Passport, the login Microsoft provides for users of its
Instant Messenger service. "XP repeatedly requests the user's
e-mail address and password to create a Passport-commerce account,"
he says.
Worryingly, Moores also found that users risk being spammed by
subscribing to Passport on an XP-based PC. "The Passport agreement,
which you accept when you click OK," says Moores, "permits
Microsoft and its partners to send you an unlimited number of
commercial e-mail messages."
In addition Moores says users cannot rescind Microsoft's permission
to use their e-mail address. They must unsubscribe from every
partner's e-mail list individually.
"I'm sure that many users would be just as happy with Windows 2000,
but XP's attractive consumer features will probably make it
irresistible to many," said Moores.
However, the upgrade could cause problems for the unsuspecting
user. Despite Microsoft's claims that the new operating system
includes the latest drivers and patches, Moores feels it fares
particularly badly in its support for Java.
"Instead of including the latest version of Java support, as the
recent Sun-Microsoft lawsuit settlement would suggest, XP will
default to a four-year-old version. Users can get a new Java
download, but its 5Mb size will discourage many," he says.
Easier deployment
In a paper entitled
Windows XP:
Corporate benefits, Giga Information Group analyst Rob Enderle
says XP works better on current hardware than previous Microsoft
operating systems.
Because of the significant number of changes to hardware during the
next 18 months, Giga identified one feature of XP as potentially
"critical to companies undertaking large or ongoing hardware
deployments".
Enderle says that unlike previous versions of Windows, which
generally required driver support from the hardware suppliers as
part of the installation process, XP checks on the network for
updated drivers. He says this process provides one more check to
make sure the hardware and related drivers are correct, and thus
delivers a far better software upgrade experience.
Enderle notes that this feature should have a positive impact on
hard-disk imaging, a procedure used during large-scale deployments
to load the operating system rapidly on to many machines.
"XP appears to handle massive changes in hardware much better than
2000 did," says Enderle, adding that Windows 9x products are not
even in the same league. To test this, he took hard drives out of
one AMD-based machine and connected them to a new Pentium 4
machine. This procedure effectively "installed" XP on to the
P4-based PC, but the hardware drivers required to make the
operating system work properly on this new PC came from the old AMD
hardware.
"With a couple of reboots - and the use of the Windows and Office
XP disks for authentication - we had the new machines up and
running in a matter of minutes with full functionality." This,
Enderle concludes, suggests that a single operating system image
should cover a vast array of hardware, simplifying both image
management and support requirements.
The new operating system clearly offers improvements over Windows
2000, but any upgrade should be balanced against the needs of the
business. Many of the features are aimed at home users, but there
is a place in corporate IT for XP, particularly in terms of simpler
deployment and hardware support.