Windows XP Vs Windows 2000

Windows 2000 and Windows XP are essentially the same operating system (known internally as Windows NT 5.0 and Windows NT 5.1, respectively.)

Microsoft has added a host of new features to both versions of Windows XP, but nothing that appears to be absolutely compelling for business users. One of the new features called "Fast User Switching" allows to to run two separate logged in sessions at once. This allows a user to do everyday work such as e-mail using a non-privileged user account, and then run an Administrative session at the same time without rebooting or resorting to the "Run As" command. This also allows you to quickly log onto any users workstation and make administrative changes without logging them off. The remote assistance feature of XP can also help reduce support costs by allowing your Help Desk staff to interact with a user's PC over the network. XP's built in ZIP compression support can also save your company a lot of money in licensing fees if you are currently using a third party utility such as WinZIP.


Windows 2000 benefits:

=> Windows 2000 has lower system requirements, and has a simpler interface (no "Styles" to mess with).
=> Windows 2000 is slightly less expensive, and has no product activation.
=> Windows 2000 has been out for a while, and most of the common problems and security holes have been uncovered and fixed.

Windows XP benefits:

=> Windows XP is somewhat faster than Windows 2000, assuming you have a fast processor and tons of memory (although it will run fine with a 300Mhz Pentium II and 128MB of RAM).

=> The new Windows XP interface is more cheerful and colorful than earlier versions, although the less-cartoony "Classic" interface can still be used if desired.

=> Windows XP has more bells and whistles, such as the Windows Movie Maker, built-in CD writer support, the Internet Connection Firewall, and Remote Desktop Connection.

=> Windows XP has better support for games and comes with more games than Windows 2000.

=> Windows XP is the latest OS - if you don't upgrade now, you'll probably end up migrating to XP eventually anyway, and we mere mortals can only take so many OS upgrades.

=> XP is less prone to crash than its previous versiond and 2000.