Everyone I know is planning on upgrading to their new upcoming software, I think its called XPs or something like that.
Dear JDN: I disagree with you. I realize that we know different sets of people (unless you count "knowing" the people on this thread), but many people I know, who live in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and the Silicon Valley, are not planning to upgrade to either Windows XP or Office XP.
Office XP is a downgrade from Office 2000. It adds only unnecessary bloat-features and is mostly an "upgrade" for Microsoft's benefit, not for the end user's. It is "enhanced" to give Microsoft more of your money and more control over your life, and give you nothing of value in return. Seriously: nothing.
Windows XP is an upgrade from the 1980-vintage Windows 98 and ME toy operating systems, in the sense that it is actually a real operating system and, if it works properly, should produce fewer crashes. However, it is a downgrade from Windows 2000, which is available now and is a perfectly usable system. Windows XP will require current Windows 98 users to replace or upgrade their hardware. If they do that, they'd be better served just to get Windows 2000. Windows XP for the home user in fact *is* Windows 2000 with some features REMOVED, such as the ability to run on a dual-processor machine, and some features added that are of questionable benefit to the end user. The only feature that some end-users will appreciate is a *supposedly* enhanced ability to run video games in XP over 2000. Whether that ability is really there we'll have to see.
Once again these features are intended chiefly to give Microsoft more knowledge of, and control over, what you do in order to get more money out of you in a variety of ways. They have already been forced to back off of some proposed changes in Windows XP because of public outrage (I am referring to "SmartTags"--"activation" is next).
Microsoft's code phrase for all this is "benefitting the customer." Don't forget that Microsoft is run by convicted gangsters and liars. You should tell anybody you know who's waiting to upgrade to read more about what's really going on. You'd be doing them a favor. I myself use Microsoft software, but I will never upgrade it again except to apply patches.
--QS |
