Laptop Windows OS question...

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Nate C. <nathanconnorsREMOVE@hotmail.com> wrote:
: Hi folks,

: I'm going to be buying a laptop soon and have noticed that most come with
: Win XP installed. I use XP at work but prefer Win2K which I have on my home
: system. Would there be any disadvantage to stripping XP off a laptop and
: installing Win2K on it?

I think XP might have some power management stuff that Win2K doesn't
have. Also, it's possible that any new laptop hardware you buy won't
have Win2K drivers written for specifically for it. Could be most of
the 2K/XP drivers are interchangable - you'll find out when you try to
install.

Worst case, you install Win2K and you run into problems or don't like
it, then you format the hard disk and re-install XP from the recover
disks that came with the laptop.

Have you considered XP Pro? You could get an upgrade from Win2K.

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
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----> http://www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
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Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

In article <cg10os$t7v$1@lenny.tc.umn.edu>, "Nate C." <nathanconnorsREMOVE@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I'm going to be buying a laptop soon and have noticed that most come with
>Win XP installed. I use XP at work but prefer Win2K which I have on my home
>system. Would there be any disadvantage to stripping XP off a laptop and
>installing Win2K on it?
>
Probably not from a technical perspective, although you might have to dig a
bit to find various W2K drivers depending on the manufacturer.

My own experience would recommend against this for one reason. XP, at least
on the IBM T30 I upgraded 2K-->XP last month, is a lot more convenient for
attaching to wireless networks. I spent over an hour a couple months ago
unsuccessfully trying to connect to the free wireless network at a local
coffee house, with which my XP-equipped T20 had never had a problem. It
wouldn't sense automatically, and even knowing the ssid for the network I
still couldn't get it to work. It had no problem at home; perhaps 2K is less
tolerant of multiple network configurations. When I went to XP, the laptop
suddenly saw several neighborhood networks, secured and unsecured, and could
freely connect anywhere I wanted.

That's a huge advantage to XP in my book. With the XP T20, I've been able to
glom onto rogue wireless signals the rare times I'm travelling, whereas with
the pre-XP 2K T30, this never happened and I was stuck with dialup. Now this
won't be a factor.

Art

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Nate C." <nathanconnorsREMOVE@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cg10os$t7v$1@lenny.tc.umn.edu...
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm going to be buying a laptop soon and have noticed that most come with
> Win XP installed. I use XP at work but prefer Win2K which I have on my
home
> system. Would there be any disadvantage to stripping XP off a laptop and
> installing Win2K on it?
>
> Thanks,
> Nate
>
>

Thanks for the answers guys. Looks like there's no real reason to not keep
XP. I'll just have to figure out how to get rid of all the frilly stuff.

Nate

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

> Getting the look that you want is fairly easy.
>
> The keys are mostly in a few places. First, download and install
> Tweakui (for Windows XP) from the Microsoft web site.
>
> Then explore the various options available by right-clicking the start
> button, then select "classic" desktop, and "Customize"
>
> Add in the various Tweakui options, and you have most of it.
> [DEFINITELy select "classic search" for both Windows and IE]
>
> Of course, changing the wallpaper is straightforward.
>
> There is more, but it's more widely scattered.


Great! Thanks for the tips!

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

You won't miss what you never used or gave a chance to.

But XP is a better OS than 2K, and you can customize it to have a look
and feel so close that you will have to look in Control Panel/System to
know which OS you are using.


Dominique Pivard wrote:
> On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 20:46:04 -0500, "Nate C."
> <nathanconnorsREMOVE@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>I'm going to be buying a laptop soon and have noticed that most come with
>>Win XP installed. I use XP at work but prefer Win2K which I have on my home
>>system. Would there be any disadvantage to stripping XP off a laptop and
>>installing Win2K on it?
>
>
> FWIW, the first thing I did when my ThinkPad X31 arrived was removing
> XP and replacing it with Win2K, a proven OS I'm familiar with. I
> haven't had a single problem (most - if not all - ThinkPads fully
> support Win2K) and I don't feel like I'm missing something by not
> running XP.
>
> Cheers, Dominique

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 08:09:12 -0400, Sparky wrote
(in article <IXGVc.2136$Nk4.1529911@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net> ):

> Subject: Re: Laptop Windows OS question...
> From: Sparky <nemo@moon.sun.edu>
> Date: Today 8:09 AM
> Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
>
> Barry Watzman wrote:
>
>> Yes, quite a few. XP is years newer than 2K. It's a better operating
>> system.
>
> 2, right? W2K is copyright 1999 & XP is copyright 2001. (just trying to
> quantify "years newer", I'm running XP on both desktop & laptop)


Yeah ... but software age really doesn't matter if it supports your hardware.
(I mean, it doesn't "rust" or "wear out" over time ...) <GRIN>

Look for the feature set you want that supports your hardware and have fun.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 02:48:58 -0400, Sparky wrote
(in article <ulXVc.5605$Nk4.4278684@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net> ):

> Subject: Re: Laptop Windows OS question...
> From: Sparky <nemo@moon.sun.edu>
> Date: Today 2:48 AM
> Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
>
> SinghaLvr wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 08:09:12 -0400, Sparky wrote
>> (in article <IXGVc.2136$Nk4.1529911@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net> ):
>>
>>
>>> Subject: Re: Laptop Windows OS question...
>>> From: Sparky <nemo@moon.sun.edu>
>>> Date: Today 8:09 AM
>>> Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
>>>
>>> Barry Watzman wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Yes, quite a few. XP is years newer than 2K. It's a better operating
>>>> system.
>>>
>>> 2, right? W2K is copyright 1999 & XP is copyright 2001. (just trying to
>>> quantify "years newer", I'm running XP on both desktop & laptop)
>>
>>
>>
>> Yeah ... but software age really doesn't matter if it supports your
>> hardware.
>> (I mean, it doesn't "rust" or "wear out" over time ...) <GRIN>
>
> That was cetainly true on mainframes, but I sometimes wonder about
> Windows.

Touche

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Barry Watzman wrote:
> You won't miss what you never used or gave a chance to.
>
> But XP is a better OS than 2K, and you can customize it to have a look
> and feel so close that you will have to look in Control Panel/System to
> know which OS you are using.
>
>
> Dominique Pivard wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 20:46:04 -0500, "Nate C."
>> <nathanconnorsREMOVE@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I'm going to be buying a laptop soon and have noticed that most come
>>> with
>>> Win XP installed. I use XP at work but prefer Win2K which I have on
>>> my home
>>> system. Would there be any disadvantage to stripping XP off a laptop
>>> and
>>> installing Win2K on it?
>>
>>
>>
>> FWIW, the first thing I did when my ThinkPad X31 arrived was removing
>> XP and replacing it with Win2K, a proven OS I'm familiar with. I
>> haven't had a single problem (most - if not all - ThinkPads fully
>> support Win2K) and I don't feel like I'm missing something by not
>> running XP.
>>
>> Cheers, Dominique
>
>
Barry,

Saying that XP is a better OS than 2K does not prove anything unless you
substantiate this. In my experience, drivers working for XP will work
with 2K, the reverse not being necessarily true. Furthermore, I believe
most users knowledgeable with both OS will agree that 2K is more stable,
all things considered.

So, the point I would make would be different, and I know Dominique (
friend of mine) and I do not agree on this: after a certain amount of
tweaking (that 2K does not require), it is possible to remove some of
the very childish aspect of XP and to make it look more efficient, less
flashy and less ressource wasting. I use both, 2K because I like its
stability and serious business aspect, XP because, until someone has the
audacity, the nerve, the money and the motivation, we will have to make
do with MS buggy software. And since using a computer is what I do for a
living, I feel I cannot just ignore XP. Dominique is not missing
anything, just the opportunity to learn one of the few things he does
not already know!

My advice would be: keep XP and install 2K dual-boot or System
Commander. You will have the best of both worlds.

--
John Doue