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Posted
on July 18, 2001 by Paul
"Crazyace" Bouthiller
What’s
It Like
So, I could finally see the desktop!
First thing I noticed is a very uncluttered desktop, and the
only icon that resides is the recycle bin! Also, down on the
bottom I can see that MSN messenger loaded right up with it.
Windows XP has a cartoon-like look to it, but I must say, it
is a bit refreshing. For those of you who miss the old
fashioned look of older versions, XP does offer a desktop
setting to go back in time, which will give you the look of
Windows 98.
Well now, how does it feel you ask? It
feels incredibly slow on the first system. That might just
be an understatement. It feels ridiculously slow. If your
system specs look anything like my first system, or even a
little better, Windows XP is going to depress you. To even
illuminate desktop settings requires a bit a patience, which
is not saying much. I know after this little review, I will
be turning back to Windows ME for my fossilized system. I
added 64megs of ram to system 1, and Windows seemed to chug
around a little better. It's still a little slow, but the
extra ram really gave it a good kick in the butt. I think I
might have to reconsider my previous decision.
System 2 feels great. It's not as fast
feeling as Win9x, but it does run pretty nicely. After
installing TweakUI for XP, things felt even better! Windows
XP is very stable, and I never had it crash on me. One thing
I did notice was the speed of streamed video online. Now, I
don’t have any type of benchmark, but I can say this. I
was checking out some music videos online, and they looked
fantastic. Like I said, I don’t have a benchmark
comparison, but I know that things were definitely playing a
little smoother and better looking than before.
Compatibility
Like I said before, everything installed
without much of a problem. One quick note, XP did have
drivers for the GeForce 2 card, but came up empty handed for
the classic Voodoo2. After the install, I upgraded the
GeForce drivers to version 12.41. They didn't have any for
XP, but the Windows 2000 drivers worked without any
problems. I then proceeded to install cool bits, but could
not find the overclocking applet in my system properties.
Therefore, I left the GeForce at stock clock, which is about
25% less performance, but since we are only comparing the
two operating systems, it's not a big deal. I am sure there
is a way to install cool bits properly, but I couldn’t
figure it out just yet.
I
tried several programs including Quake, SiSandra, 3DMark,
Tony Hawk, Madden2k, and they all worked without any
problems. They actually worked without even entering any
registry information! I simply booted them up from another
partition without actually installing them, and I didn't
have any problems.
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