Fri Mar 14, 2003 7:00 pm by Gary Bolton
Yes I agree with you. Both are good! While XP Pro has the much nicer interface to look at, I never really liked the fact that it installed MSN Messenger by default, and also came with its own Zip Utility, and Burning Software. Because they are both very lame. These were my main reasons for going over to Windows 2000 Pro. They might seems a bit silly to you people! But I like the fact that Windows 2000 Pro did not come with these options already installed. Making it more a matter of choice as to what you wanted to install. Seeing as I only use Nero here. I never really liked having that installed running alongside XP Pro's own burning software. I also use WinRar also that covers both Rar and Zip files. So again there really was no need for the Zip Utlity that came with XP Pro.
But in saying that I always liked the look of XP Pro. And it was much more friendly to the eyes! Plus it also have some other good features like a better Picture viewer. And seemed to run a bit faster than Windows 2000 Pro! But I have had no problems here regarding stabilty on both O/S's. They are both Mega Stable here. If that was'nt the case I would have gone with the most stable version straight away!
I have noticed other things also though. When I installed the X-Tension game. My "MK1 Sidewinder Procission Pro" Joystick plugged into my USB slot does not work on the steering side of things in the game. The software for it was installed by Windows 2000 Pro itself, just like XP Pro does. But it worked running under XP Pro playing the same game. Strange one that! I do have the option to plug it into my sound card instead, But I haven't tried that option yet! So it seems to be a USB issue running under Windows 2000 Pro. I have not looked yet to see if there is a Software Driver for my "MK1 Sidewinder Procission Pro" running under Windows 2000 Pro that might fix this problem. But in saying that. I also had Adobe Photoshop 7 installed on XP Pro that would not download any updates from within the program. Even with my Firewall built into XP Pro disabled. But it does running on Windows 2000 Pro. Plus I have also noticed other little querks regarding certain software programs that run perfect under Windows 2000 Pro, but did'nt on Windows XP Pro. Even though they were surposed to have been XP Pro compatable. So it swings in circles really! But the Joystick problem regarding my USB Slots is a funny one, that I'm not to happy about.
But I have also read that there is a Monitor issue running under XP Pro. It does not display your "Monitor Frequences" correctly. And you have to manually fix this problem yourself with a Patch of some sort that you can download from Microsoft. They posted an article on this problem. I can't remember were now! But I did read it at the time! I can tell you that there is no Patch on MS Updates that fixes this problem automaticly. Also I find that games seem to be displayed a bit crisper when running my "Radeon 7500" under Windows 2000 pro. More so than they were running under Windows XP Pro. I could see certain things in the "X-Tension" game running under XP Pro, that were not quite right. It's hard to describe what I mean by this. It seemed as though I could see a segment in space at times. With a very faint line blocked around it in a square shape. Now this problem has totally gone altogether running under Windows 2000 pro using the exact same driver. Because the driver used covered both Win2K and Win XP Pro in the same driver, and it was there latest one from ATI's website. The 3.2 Catalyst driver.
I could also go into a few other things, but I think this story is getting long enough now. And I ain't getting paid for writing a Novel. Lets just say these were also other good reasons as to why I decided to switch my O/S back to Windows 2000 Pro.
Choices, Choices. The mind boggles!
Edited by - Gary Bolton on 14-03-2003 20:08:36
