LinuxPlanet: The StartX Files: How I Spent My Summer Vacation

"Windows XP has been touted as the Linux killer by some in the media, and there is no denying that the stability is much improved. I used RC2 of the Professional version for about a month on my Windows box, and the operating system's crash rate was far lower than using Windows 98 SE on the same machine. But the system did crash a few times, which is more than I can say for my SuSE installation. To be fair, this was a beta of WinXP, so I will reserve final judgment for reports from the gold version.

But let me clue you in on a few things, in case you have not seen Windows XP Professional yet: this is just Windows 2000 in a prettier package. Windows XP Home Edition is a much harder animal to classify: it's like a stumpy Win2000 lite in the same new package. And only Redmond knows what the heck Windows XP Server will look like.

There are worse things for an operating system to have than the features of Windows 2000, mind you. But Windows XP still does not get to the overall sophistication and stability of a well-built Linux box. There is little room for server functionality on this new system and the very presence of Microsoft Outlook means that the whole security issue for this platform is at risk right from the get go."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• RobVal.com: Linux as a Replacement for Windows 2000(Sep 18, 2001)
• ZDNet: WinXP: an OS for Linux lovers (Sep 07, 2001)
• Windows XP Launch Day Roundup(Aug 24, 2001)
• ZDNet: Linux is ready for the long haul(Aug 23, 2001)
• SystemLogic.net: WindowsXP vs. Linux Mandrake: Some Aesthetic Observations (and a gratuitous Ballmer-monkey-dance link) (Aug 07, 2001)
• PC Magazine: Comparing Windows XP, Mac OS X, and Red Hat Linux/Nautilus(Apr 20, 2001)
• technofile: Windows 95, Windows 2000 and the little secret Microsoft doesn't want you to know (Apr 07, 2001)