Twenty years after it was released, Windows XP remains one of the most popular operating systems ever. It was designed for home use, but it also has advanced features for higher end computing environments.
It is true that it requires more disk space and processing power than other modern operating systems. However, there are ways to make it run on lower spec computers.
Features
Windows XP provides the tools to unlock the full potential of your PC. It lets you acquire, organize and share digital photos; enjoy high-quality digital music; and stay connected to friends and family with instant messaging, voice and video capabilities.
It features a new, more intuitive interface that includes an improved navigation pane and folder view that allows you to easily manage files and folders. In addition, XP enables you to switch between the navigation pane and task pane to maximise the viewing area of your computer.
XP also has more advanced debugging capabilities such as attaching a debugger to a non-crashing user-mode programme and dumping the memory space via dump command. It also supports vectored exception handling (VEH) in addition to Structured Exception Handling.
In addition, XP improves the kernel page write protection limit to 1.3 GB of contiguous virtual address space. It reengineers the paged pool to consume less of it, making more available for device drivers. Lastly, it provides an enhanced connection manager that makes it easy for users to customise their remote access settings.
Installation
Before starting the actual installation process it is important to make sure that your computer is set to boot from the CD. You can do this in the BOOT menu of your BIOS. Once you have done this the program will load and start installing Windows XP. The first screen will ask you how you want to install Windows XP (quick or standard). Press Next to continue. It will then check your system for compatibility and if you have enough hard disk space to install the program.
Once it has finished this it will start creating a partition on your hard drive. This will be the C: drive where all your programs and data will reside.
It will then ask you for the names of the people who will use this computer. This will allow Windows XP to create individual accounts for each person who uses the computer. This will help protect each users personal information, files and settings.
Compatibility
In its day, XP was considered to be Microsoft’s crowning glory, the pinnacle of PC operating systems with a perfect balance of simplicity and reliability. It was the first consumer edition of Windows based on the NT kernel. This was a major milestone for Microsoft and meant that future versions of Windows would be able to run legacy applications without the need for Compatibility Modes.
In addition, XP was the last version of Microsoft’s OS to support both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of its underlying architecture. This allowed XP to run on computers with a wide range of processors, from the lowly 486 to the high end Pentium 4.
However, even though it was the last version of Microsoft’s OS that supported both 32-bit and 64-bit hardware, XP has been discontinued, meaning that any freshly discovered vulnerabilities will never be fixed. This leaves XP users as sitting ducks for hackers and many opt to keep their systems isolated from the internet, using only local programs that are guaranteed to work with it.
Security
Regardless of whether an organization chooses to keep Windows XP connected to the Internet or not, it must take major steps to ensure that these systems are protected. The CTU research team has found that compensating controls, such as disabling the Internet connection or isolating the XP computers from more sensitive areas of the network, do not reduce security risks to an acceptable level.
The last day of support for XP was April 8, 2014. Microsoft will not release any new security updates for this version of the operating system. To an attacker, this means that unpatched vulnerabilities will remain open for as long as the XP operating system is in use.
However, a few tools are available that make attacking XP systems more difficult for external hackers. For example, modern whitelisting software sold by vendors like Bit9 makes it more difficult for XP systems to execute code. Similarly, the free EMET tool lets IT administrators backport some of the memory protection techniques used in later versions of Windows to XP, such as Structured Exception Handler Overwrite Protection, which helps prevent buffer overflow exploits.