RE: Upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows XP

[m.oritz_b.erger@xxxxxxxxxxx (Moritz Berger)]

... nobody expects the Spanish inquisition ...

At my company, we've concluded the transition to Windows XP (from NT 4 and
2000) half a year ago.
There were reasons aplenty, some that spring to my mind immediately:
1. Security. Windows XP has encrypton for offline files and software
restriction policies.
2. Maintenance (self sufficiency), especially improved dependability for
mobile workers. System restore, driver backup, ...
3. Helpdesk support. That one was BIG here: Remote Assistance is a godsend
(we were evaluating other products at the time when Win XP shipped and RA
was a very welcome solution).
4. AV performance: Critical kernel memory allocation size constraints have
been very much extended.
5. Bug reporting: We collect bug reports from all machines to detect driver
and configuration issues (translates to less downtime, frustration and one
might infer improvements in productivity).

I had no say in the decision, so the reasons might probably have gone beyond
that list; I feel it safe to say, though, that some of the arguments above
can be relevant even for smaller companies or freelance workers.
Other improvements (according to MS propaganda) are better wireless support
(802.11b is completely banned right now at my company, so that doesn't
matter here) for roaming, Radius, ... and application compatibility (again:
not applicable here). If you're a notebook user, added power management
smarts might translate to longer battery life. Etc. etc. etc.

We're covered under MS software assurance, so cost didn't factor in the
decision.

If you're in a situation where you would have to pay full price for a switch
from Windows2k to XP AND you don't need any of the above features, I have to
agree with Dov that you should stick with Win2k. After all, that's a pretty
decent OS as well ;-)

Regards,

Moritz


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-framers@omsys.com [mailto:owner-framers@omsys.com] On Behalf
> Of Dov Isaacs
> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 7:51 PM
> To: Nancy Koncur
> Cc: framers@frameusers.com; framers@omsys.com; Frame2Acrobat@egroups.com
> Subject: Re: Upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows XP
> 
> At the risk of offending your IS folks, I'll comment as follows:
> 
> (1) Unless you are running one of very, very, very few programs that
> run on Windows XP, but not Windows 2000, there is precious little that
> is gained up "upgrading" from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. Windows XP Pro
> is basically Windows 2000 Pro with an attitude and a toll booth, minus
> support for AppleTalk (for printing). The user interface is a bit
> dumbed-down although you can force it to work more like Windows 2000
> (which I would recommend). If you are "upgrading" to Windows XP Home,
> you are effectively dramatically "downgrading" since there is much
> less network and file management support in the "home" version than
> there is in the "pro" version (or any version of Windows 2000).
> Note that for existing Windows'95/'98/Me users, Windows XP Pro is
> certainly the route to go (although Windows 2000 Pro is equally
> acceptable).



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