The Right Operating System for You

Extolling Windows XP

Windows Vista's long gestation and protracted birth pangs are over at last, thank heavens. Vista's running nicely on my fairly modern desktop system, and I've enjoyed using its updated interface and utilities for everyday work and recreation. But before we get to the new kid, a few words about good old Windows XP.

Despite its reputation for swiss-cheese security, XP quickly became a very successful OS. Before XP (and its admirable predecessor, Windows 2000), Microsoft operating systems crashed, died, and blue-screened weekly or even daily. Though crashes still occur, they're far less frequent than in previous Windows versions, and some XP users (including me) have PCs that rarely see so much as a hiccup.

XP has been the biggest-selling operating system in the universe for almost half a decade now, so it's where most of the action is. Whatever you long to do with a PC--accounting, blogging, photography, engineering, aimless wandering on the Internet--the necessary hardware and software will work under Windows XP.

Of course, to keep that copy of XP running smoothly, you'll have to work to keep the wolves at bay. While Service Pack 2, Windows Security Center, and Internet Explorer 7 have closed a lot of holes, XP is sure to attract hackers and malware writers for years to come. Your firewall, antivirus software, and spyware protection remain as important as ever.

According to Forrester Research, 40 percent of business Windows customers will transition to Vista within the next year, and consumer adoption will expand gradually from 12 million users in the first year to 73 million after four years. Microsoft will continue to roll out Windows XP security fixes for at least five years after it releases Service Pack 3, currently slated for the first half of 2008. So relax. There's no rush.