Windows XP

 

 

 

Windows® XP Home Edition

 

Windows XP Home Edition sets a new standard for performance and reliability. If you demand the most from your operating system, this version of Windows was designed for you. Find out about all the great features and what you can do with them.

 

 

 

Product Overview

 

Create, share, and enjoy movies

With Windows Movie Maker, Windows XP delivers great software that helps you create, edit, and share the home movies you make with either an analog or digital video camera. When your movies are complete, you can view them and share them with family and friends using Windows Media™ Player for Windows XP.

 

Communicate any time, anywhere

Windows Messenger lets you instantly communicate with friends and family all around the world from your computer, using text chat and even voice and video. Windows Messenger gives you control over who you talk to and when by letting you block certain users, view the typing status of buddies, and control who adds you to their contact list.

 

Record and share memories with digital photos

Windows XP is the best Windows operating system for working with digital photographs. You'll find support for digital cameras and other imaging devices, easy ways to view and manage image files, and lots of interesting ways to share photos with friends and family—including sending them by e–mail, posting them to a Web site, or printing them.

 

Discover, download, store, and play music

Windows Media™ Player for Windows XP is the true all–in–one way to enjoy music and video on your computer. Windows Media Player for Windows XP maximizes your system resources, creating high–quality audio and video files that take just over a third of the storage space as MP3 and other media file formats. That means you can store and enjoy more music on your computer.

 

Share all your home computing resources

In many households, more than one person uses a single computer. Whether you have one computer or a whole network, whether your peripheral hardware includes a single printer or a wide range of devices, and whether you connect your devices and computers with conventional cables or new wireless technologies, Windows XP Home Edition helps everyone in your home access all of the resources they need, from printers to the family photo collection.

Designed to be the best operating system for home networking, Windows XP supports a complete set of home applications along with the infrastructure to support even richer experiences coming in the near future. Windows XP makes it easy for every computer on a home network to share a single connection to the Internet, to access peripheral devices including printers and CD-ROM drives, and to make files such as digital music or photos accessible to everyone. Windows XP supports wireless and home phone line network (HPNA) connectivity, which means you can set up a home network without having to drill holes and run cable. What's more, Windows XP Home Edition can be used as the server for Windows XP Professional, so you can take your work laptop home and plug it right in to your home network.

 

 

 

System Requirements

 

  • PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233-MHz minimum required;* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended
  • 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)
  • 1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.*
  • Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor
  • CD-ROM or DVD drive
  • Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

 

 

 

Product Information

 

 

 

Feature

Description

Impressive Reliability

 

Built on new Windows engine

With Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft has merged the best features of its consumer operating systems with the power, security, and reliability of the Windows 2000 engine to create a new friendlier, more dependable operating system.

 

 

Windows File Protection

Prevents you or your applications from accidentally changing the core operating system files. This helps protect your system proactively and automatically.

 

 

Protected Kernel Mode Architecture

Your applications do not have access to the software code kernel upon which your operating system is based. This greatly improves the reliability of your system.

 

 

Process Separation

Errant applications will not cause your computer to crash. Each application is in a completely separate, protected memory space.

 

 

Side-by-Side DLLs

These provide you with a mechanism for multiple versions of individual Windows components to run "side by side." Now you won't have to worry that your applications will conflict with each other and cause application instability.

 

 

Superb Performance

 

System Monitor

Analyzes hundreds of different system metrics, including memory, disk and network throughput for you.

 

 

Task Manager

Provides you with useful computer performance and allows you to terminate inactive programs. You can also opt for a reporting mechanism that best suits your specific requirements.

 

 

Enhanced battery life

Enables you to improve the battery life of your mobile computer by conserving display power in two ways:

Lid Power. When the lid of a mobile computer is closed, the display is powered off.

LCD Dimming. When a mobile computer is running on battery power, the display is dimmed. Upon reconnection to AC power, the original brightness is restored.

 

 

Internet Connection Firewall

The Internet Connection Firewall helps guard your computer from intrusion when you are connected to the Internet. Now you can rest assured that Windows XP Home Edition is working to protect you from unwanted attacks over the Internet.

 

 

Credential Manager

Credential Manager is a secured store for password information. This feature allows you to input user name and passwords for various network resources and applications (such as e-mail) once, and then have the system automatically supply that information for subsequent visits to those resources without your intervention.

 

 

Easy to Use

 

Easy Setup Wizard

An easy to understand tutorial walks you through the installation process for the operating system, prompting you when necessary to enter information that will customize your PC.

 

 

Dynamic Update

Provides you with different application and device compatibility updates, some driver updates, and emergency fixes for setup or security issues at operating system Setup to help you keep your operating system current and functioning smoothly.

 

 

Personalized Welcome Screen

The welcome screen can be personalized to allow you to share the same computer with your friends and family. Each individual can create his or her own unique account. These accounts are easily created during Setup or from the Control Panel. By default the accounts are not password protected but you have the option to set a password on your specific account if you desire.

 

 

Fast User Switching

This allows you and your family or friends the ability to share a single computer without having to close each other's applications each time you need to access your own account.

 

 

Start menu

Organizes your programs. It is the primary way to access files, folders, and programs on your computer.

NEW: Windows XP Home Edition offers an enhanced Start menu. Access to important and frequently used tasks and applications is made easier with a Frequently Used Programs list and prominent positioning of your most critical folders.

 

 

Task-focused design

Allows you to view your Windows options as associated with your current task. For example, if you are creating a Microsoft Word document, a dynamic menu appears that lists the appropriate tasks such as cut, paste, and copy for the Word document.

 

 

Taskbar Grouping

The different files that you have open group according to the type of application they are—keeping your taskbar clean and organized.

 

 

Desktop Clean Up Wizard

The Desktop Clean Up Wizard periodically checks your desktop and gives you the opportunity to move your unused shortcuts.

 

 

Search Companion

A search companion identifies what kind of help you need and retrieves search information relevant to the task at hand.

 

 

File management

You can quickly find what you need by grouping files and folders and using enhanced thumbnail views and organization that makes sense to you. You can view files in alphabetical groups, by file type, size, or date modified.

 

 

Indexed File System

Provides you with the capability of indexing the contents of the file system; this allows you to locate files easily and quickly based on a file name or search string.

 

 

Files and Settings Transfer Wizard

Enables the convenient transfer of files, documents, and settings from one computer to another. The wizard walks you through migrating files, documents, or settings from an old computer to a new one.

 

 

System Restore

The System Restore feature of Windows XP Home Edition enables you to restore a PC, in the event of a problem, to a previous state without losing personal data files. System Restore actively monitors system file changes to record or store previous versions before the changes occurred. With System Restore, you never have to think about taking system snapshots as it automatically creates easily identifiable restore points, which allow you to restore the system to a previous point in time.

 

 

Compatibility Mode

You can enable an application to run within a compatibility mode that helps mimic older versions of Windows using the built-in compatibility technology.

 

 

DualView

DualView allows two monitors to host the Windows desktop while being driven off of a single display adapter. In the case of laptop computers this could be the internal LCD display as well as an external monitor. For desktops there are a variety of high-end display adapters that will support this functionality.

 

 

ClearType

Supports Microsoft ClearType®, a text display technology that gives you enhanced screen resolution, making it easier for you to read text on your computer screen.

 

 

Uninstall

Uninstall provides you with the ability to restore an upgrade to the previous Windows operating system you were using. This feature only applies if you are upgrading your computer from Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me). It provides you with the ability to uninstall at any point during Setup.

 

 

 

 

 

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