(8 votes, average: 6.75 out of 10)
Loading ...The results are in — XP trumps Vista in benchmark tests
How embarassing — Microsoft commissions tests that compare Vista and XP, with the goal no doubt being to show how much better the new version is. Except that’s not what the test results prove.
Principled Technologies Inc., which performed the tests on the vendor’s behalf, showed Vista SP1 actually lagged XP on about 46 per cent of the business-oriented operations it measured. (The gap was 61 per cent on the consumer-oriented tests, but that’s not primarily what we’re concerned with here.)
Important to note is that XP shone in tests on PCs that had just come out of sleep mode. In cold boot tests, Vista picked up the pace. Whether that’s enough to trigger massive Vista adoptions is another story.
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(5 votes, average: 8.4 out of 10) Loading ...Behind the improvements in Windows XP SP3
Preston Gralla, who writes for our Computerworld counterpart in the U.S., published a story this week that examined the benefits of SP3. Well worth a read.
“Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), just out from Microsoft as Release Candidate 2 (RC2), may not necessarily be worth the download now, but when it’s finally released, it’ll be worth the effort. It won’t make any noticeable cosmetic changes to your operating system, but underneath the hood are several security improvements worth having. In addition, one researcher claims it will slightly boost XP’s speed as well.
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(3 votes, average: 8.67 out of 10) Loading ...Third time’s the charm for Windows XP Service Packs
Our colleagues at ComputerWorld U.S. report:
Two weeks after it last handed a new build of Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to several thousand invitation-only testers, Microsoft Corp. has posted that version for public downloading.
“We’re broadening the availability of the release candidate in order to receive further user feedback prior to the release of Windows XP SP3,” a company spokeswoman said in an e-mail Tuesday afternoon. “Windows XP SP3 RC2 will be made publicly available today at 5:00 p.m. Pacific time.”
On Feb. 7, Microsoft seeded Release Candidate 2 (RC2) with the 15,000 or so testers who had been working with SP3 for several months. At that time, the company said nothing about taking the version public.
This is just the second time that all Windows XP users have had the chance to try out SP3, the last scheduled major update to the six-year-old operating system. The only other public posting was of SP3 RC in December.
The release notes are available here.
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(4 votes, average: 8 out of 10) Loading ...Save time with 125 XP keyboard shortcuts
This is a pretty good list by Lori Fialkoff. Some of them will be familar to experienced users but others (like the ones for manipulating active consoles and various menus) could be useful. The idea is not to memorize them all, of course, but to find the ones for tasks that take up too much of your time. And given Microsoft’s June 30 deadline, most of us don’t have enough time.
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(6 votes, average: 9.67 out of 10) Loading ...Why we launched SaveXP.ca
In order to provide some additional background on this campaign and why we think it’s important to ComputerWorld Canada, I’ve written a fairly detailed explanation on my regular blog, Shane Schick’s ComputerWorld. Consider it your FAQ for the SaveXP.ca effort.
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(4 votes, average: 10 out of 10) Loading ...The ‘Save XP’ campaign officially arrives in Canada
In conjunction with launching our online petition to convince Microsoft to change its Windows XP decision, ComputerWorld Canada has published an in-depth look at the issues behind this story, including an exclusive interview with a Canadian IT manager who isn’t willing to upgrade until at least next year. We’ll continue our coverage as this campaign gains steam.
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(3 votes, average: 9.33 out of 10) Loading ...XP wasn’t always so accepted
Although the end of Microsoft’s previous Windows OS has created an industry outcry, a few years ago ComputerWorld Canada published an in-depth look at why adoption did not meet expectations. Among the factors at play: a soft market for technology sales, sluggish upgrade policies and a preference for XP’s predecessor, Windows 2000. If this sounds a lot like Vista’s problems, it’s because it is.
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(3 votes, average: 8.33 out of 10) Loading ...Looking back at Windows XP’s inauspicious debut
It’s easy to forget that Microsoft’s last big attempt to win over OS users came not long after the unprecedented terrorist attack on the United States of Sept. 11, 2001. At the time, it felt like the stakes for Microsoft were really high, and that it desparately needed XP to succeed. Maybe, based on the pressure to hold onto it now, you might say that Microsoft succeeded a bit too well.
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(2 votes, average: 8.5 out of 10) Loading ...After the deadline: Licence issues and additional support
As scary as the June deadline might be, it doesn’t mean enterprise XP users are without hope.
According to our colleague Galen Gruman of InfoWorld, volume licence users will still be able to install XP Pro after the order cutoff deadlines. “If you have a volume license for any version of Vista (not just Business and Ultimate), you may install XP Pro on your Vista PCs using the ‘downgrade rights’ granted in the volume licence,” according to Gruman.
“To downgrade, you can use your existing copy of the XP Pro installation images. Microsoft will also supply an XP Pro ‘downgrade’ installation disc or disk image after the cutoff dates. As noted earlier, OEMs can also do the ‘downgrade’ for you in some cases.
For those that get XP through subscription services, providers are the licence owners and therefore should still be able to offer the OS to customers, althuogh you should check with your local Softchoice rep (or other Canadian provider) to see what the terms and conditions are.
As for support, that’s supposed to end around April, but given the number of Microsoft-certified partners in Canada, there is likely to be a hot economy among resellers who assist customers with their efforts to extend XP. To find some of those firms, check out CDN’s list of the Top 100 Solution Providers in Canada.
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(2 votes, average: 9.5 out of 10) Loading ...100 XP tips and tricks compiled for DIY users
As though in preparation for the end of Windows XP this June, a blogger called Maaruthi has published a 66-page PDF report of troubleshooting advice for Windows XP users. It covers everything from slow bootups to disabling features you don’t want. If Microsoft holds firm to its deadline, we may be relying on more manuals like this.
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